Oriole West Trail

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · Fall Colors · River/Creek · Wildflowers · Wildlife

There are no restrooms or potable water at the trailhead.

The trail starts by meandering through an old pine forest, but then slowly drops for two miles down to the valley and creek where the looping section begins. After significant rainfall, the creek may be more then you can hop across or hike through with shoes. Hiking the loop counterclockwise will take you along a neat section of trail with large rocks on your left and a creek below to the right.

Soon the trail kicks up for a long and steep-ish climb back to the ridge tops. Just after the top of the climb, the small Doan Cemetery will be about 30 feet off the north side of the trail. The trail bounces up and down along the ridge tops for a few miles, but a series of switchbacks around six miles into the hike drops you back down to the creek. You'll cross the creek in a different location as you did earlier before starting the long 2 mile climb back to the parking lot. The first two mile section is mostly gravel service road, and the rest of the trail is usually wide enough to hike two-wide, but since the trail is open to horses, the surface can be heavily chewed up in places. You'll encounter quite a bit of soft mud if you hike this trail after a wet spell.

The trail is fairly well-marked in blue diamonds and rather easy to follow.