QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: 8 acres
- Trail Mileage: 0.4 miles
- Pets: yes
- Difficulty: easy to moderate
- Sights: seasonal waterfall, hemlock stand
Stephenson Preserve and Pendleton Park, connected via a 0.4-mile trail, are situated on the side of a steep hill, offering scant views of the river through trees at higher elevations. The forested trail between them brings you close to a large field, and on a spring day, I heard a lot of birdsong.
On the Stephenson side, the loop is just about half a mile, on land protected by the Coastal Mountains Land Trust. To access this trail, it’s best to park at the Rail Trail lot and walk a brief ways along City Point Road to find the trailhead on the left.
There is a larger parking area at the city-owned Pendleton Park. The trail system here is geared toward mountain bikers, but if you stick to the main loop, marked with blue blazes, you can have a decent walk, with a highlight being a mossy stream. The many switchbacks make the hill hardly noticeable! Because the area is popular with bikers, there are lots of twisty side trails, which I tried to avoid but it wasn’t always easy to follow the main path.
Directions: A sizable lot is located at Pendleton Park, off City Point Road, about 0.4 miles past the parking area for the Rail Trail. At the trailhead kiosk, begin your walk on the path behind it rather than heading left, which brings you to twisting bike paths.
