Trail Stories

Living up on Vineyard Mountain puts us in close proximity to several of the OSU Forests recreation trails, and we feel very fortunate to have so many great hiking and dog-friendly trails right in our “backyard”!

My all-time favorite is the Intensive Management and Calloway Creek loop at Peavy Arboretum (choices of short, medium and long routes make it even nicer). Having such well maintained trails to walk on all year round adds to the pleasure of enjoying the beauty, the peace and quiet of the woods, birds singing in the trees, wildflowers, ferns, the variety of trees, and bubbling brooks offering the dogs a drink along the way.

Personally, I love being able to walk out at Peavy with my dogs and these trails have offered my foster dogs a chance to experience being out in the woods, nice trails, good smells, and a chance to wade in the water. Plus the trails are fairly level and shaded which really helps when conditioning overweight and out-of-shape dogs. I even did some rehabbing of myself on the Peavy trails following knee surgery!

Even though many people use these Peavy trails (hikers, joggers, dog walkers, families with young children, even some with strollers), it’s easy to feel like you have the woods to yourself most of the time – walking in the woods is such good therapy!

Thanks to OSU College Forests for giving us the opportunity to enjoy their many trails!

Kay YatesOSU College Forests Neighbor and Volunteer