The Landscape Architect’s Guide to

Portland, Oregon

Transportation

Springwater Corridor

Your Guide

Jean Senechal Biggs, ASLA

senechal_small

The Springwater Corridor Trail is a 21-mile paved trail that connects southeast Portland to Gresham, Oregon, and further south to Boring, Oregon. It travels alongside the former Springwater Division Line, an inter-urban electric railway that dates back to 1903, and accesses a series of natural areas, including Johnson Creek, as it flows towards the Willamette River.

The trail makes up a key part of the 40-Mile Loop, the bold vision for interconnected parks around Portland developed by landscape architecture firm Olmsted Brothers, which dates back to their work for Portland in 1903. It is an early example of sustainability in Portland, with its vision of setting aside land for parks and creating green connections between them. Today, the 40-Mile Loop is a vision for a regional network of more than 140 miles of trails.

In 1981, the 40-Mile Loop Land Trust was established with the primary objective of acquiring land to make the loop a reality. Due to the efforts of the 40-Mile Loop Land Trust, the city secured the land for the Springwater Corridor, purchasing it from the railroad in 1990. Portland Parks & Recreation developed a master plan in 1992, and construction of the trail soon followed, with the initial segment opening in 1996. Later additions to the trail were built in 2000 and 2005. In 2014, a one-mile section, known as the Sellwood Gap, remains to be built and planning efforts are underway.

View Other Sites in This Topic

spring1

Gateway to Nature

The northern entrance of the Springwater Corridor is marked with a gateway sign at SE 4th Avenue and Ivon Street in Portland’s Central Eastside Industrial District. The trail serves both commuter and recreational cyclists, and provides a paved off-street path for running, walking, and rolling.

Image: Jean Senechal Biggs spring2

spring2

Springwater on the Willamette

The asphalt-paved trail along the east bank of the Willamette River provides views of Ross Island and glimpses of downtown Portland and the South Waterfront district on the west side of the Willamette. This three-mile section of the trail – also known as Springwater on the Willamette – opened in 2005 and provides stunning views of the river through the trees and grassy meadows.

Image: Jean Senechal Biggs spring3

spring3

Rails and Trails

Along this section of the Springwater Corridor, the former Portland Traction Company rails remain. The line is still in use and currently operated by the Oregon Pacific Railroad.

Image: Jean Senechal Biggs spring4

spring4

Open for Wildlife

Views from the trail open onto the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, a floodplain wetland that was Portland’s first migratory bird park. Thousands of birds fly through the refuge during their annual migrations.

Image: Jean Senechal Biggs spring5

spring5

Detour on Neighborhood Greenways

At SE Umatilla Street, the trail detours through Sellwood. Trail users travel along marked neighborhood greenways – residential streets with low volumes of auto traffic and low speeds where cyclists and pedestrians are given priority. Pavement markings, called sharrows, highlight the presence of bikes in the street. Through policy direction from the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030, Portland is creating a citywide network of neighborhood greenways to improve safety, enhance livability, and accommodate the continuing growth of cycling in the city.

Image: Jean Senechal Biggs spring6

spring6

The Three Bridges

Back on the trail at milepost 5, near SE 19th Avenue and Umatilla Street, is a dramatic sequence of three bridges built in 2006 by Portland Parks & Recreation. These bridges connect the Springwater over three obstacles – Johnson Creek, McLoughlin Boulevard, and the Union Pacific Railroad – instead of sending trail users onto busy streets to access the corridor further east.

Image: Jean Senechal Biggs spring7

spring7

Through the Canyon

The land on both sides rises above and the Springwater Corridor changes from the open, grassy trail to a dense, vegetated canyon where one hears birds singing and insects strumming in the summer months. Electrical transmission towers are visible and in use along the corridor, a reminder of the early development of the Springwater Line by the Oregon Water and Power Railway that included the construction of hydroelectric dams at the end of the line and then transmitted electricity back to Portland through the corridor.

Image: Jean Senechal Biggs spring8

spring8

Connecting with Nature

Just off the trail, Tideman Johnson Park enables people to connect with nature and encounter Johnson Creek. The Springwater Corridor crosses the creek in several places as it meanders on its way to the Willamette River. Restoration of the creek, a waterway affected by decades of nearby industrial uses, has been an ongoing effort that dates back to the mid-1980s and is now led by the Johnson Creek Watershed Council. Work is underway to restore riparian zones and create habitat for birds, beavers, and spawning salmon.

Image: Jean Senechal Biggs spring9

spring9

Marking the Way

Wayfinding markers are a consistent design along the trail, identifying key junctions and mileposts. Each includes the logo for the 40-Mile Loop, reminding trail users the Springwater Corridor’s connection to the regional planned network of over 140 miles of trails in the Portland area. As the trail continues east, it provides a unique, off-road connection to a series of public parks, community resources, and natural areas including Beggars Tick Wildlife Refuge, Furey Community Garden, Zenger Farm, and Powell Butte Nature Park.

Image: Jean Senechal Biggs spring10

spring10

Historical Connections to Transportation

The Springwater Corridor passes through Southeast Portland neighborhoods, industrial areas, and natural areas and into Gresham, Portland’s suburb to the east. The trailhead at Linnemann Station provides access to the corridor and includes a small building with a community room modeled after the original depot building that burned down in 1995. The trail continues further east from here through to Gresham.

Image: Jean Senechal Biggs