Vancouver, WA

As a co-parent whose daughter lives in east county, I love to take the “old” Evergreen Highway at the foot of Ellesworth Road, when taking her home. Sometimes we stop at the fish hatchery and walk back to Ellesworth on a wonderfully wide flat sidewalk with Mistie, our Yorkie. The area is wild enough to make you feel you are in the wilderness but surrounded by homes. You can see the river, watch trains go by, smell the fragrant “skunk cabbage”, and occasionally see trillium in bloom.

The path takes you over small creeks, through the woods, past a small wetlands pond; yet is only about half a mile long. It is perfect for walks with the elderly or young children. When you arrive back at the parking area, you still have the option of visiting the fish hatchery or saving it for another day.

The Vancouver Trout Hatchery opened in 1938 and is now part of the Columbia Springs Environmental Education Center located at 12208 SE Evergreen Highway. The old buildings have been preserved and are still in use along with the hatchery. The hatchlings are housed in round, concrete, fish ponds until ready for release into the river. There is also a viewing pond which was full of large rainbow and brown trout.

The next part of the trip is best taken by car for ecological reasons. Turn left until you come to a long, narrow pond which is also on the left. Nutria presence in the pond has almost destroyed the street side plants and trees, which hid much of the pond from passersby. Nutria, originally from South America, are a small animal much like a beaver but with a rat tail. There is currently a wetlands preservation project to repair some of the damage and I did not see any nutria so they have likely been removed.

The pond is usually teeming with ducks and Canadian geese, and occasionally a blue heron is perched on one leg in the barren, broken trees on the far side of the swamp. But what has caught everybody’s attention for the past year are the huge white geese, which have made the pond their home.

This attention has been both good and bad for the geese. They seem to cross the road towards the railroad tracks between four and five in the afternoon. People who are aware of this know to look for them and slow down…the speed limit is 40 mph and they walk very slowly but have been know to suddenly dart in front of you.

Unfortunately, people have also been feeding them. The first time I saw the five of them I decided to get a picture. As I pulled the car in next to the railroad tracks, they started crossing the street. Rather than take a chance on them getting hit, I slowly pulled back onto the road and left. I have passed that area many times since then, occasionally stopping for pictures and the five have now become three.

Though these first few miles are the most interesting part of the trip, I also enjoy the ruggedness of the scenery toward the Camas end of the old highway. Here you can frequently see Mt. Hood as it rises in the background, though there are few areas where you can pull off the road to take pictures. This makes an excellent short drive for the shut-ins or elderly, when a child needs a nap, or you need a few minutes of calm beauty.