Vancouver, WA

Another beautiful walk in Old Town Vancouver! I’ve known about Clark College for a long time, but the walking paths were a new discovery for me.
You can follow this map of the paths both on campus and across the street, where you can walk around the tennis courts and the baseball and soccer fields. The map even tells you how long your walk will be.

The paths on the main campus are paved and therefore accessible, but there is a slope, so be ready for a workout.
I started at the south end of campus (there’s lots of parking here on a weekend, but during the week—well, not so much). On McLoughlin Blvd I walked east along the sidewalk til I got to the turn in to Bauer and Baird Halls, then just followed the paths.
There is plenty of paved path for a good walk, although the paths across the street are unpaved . If you work near Clark, I recommend it as a way to get out of doors on your lunch-hour.
Clark’s entire campus is non-smoking, so the outdoor air is truly fresh air. Just what you want in your lungs when you’re getting a brisk walk.

Heading north past Baird Hall, you’re walking under the cherry trees that can be seen from McLoughlin Blvd. There are dozens of them, and this weekend they were in glorious bloom.
The cherry trees give way to more open spaces as the path curves around Scarpelli Hall and you head toward the science building. Think “Picnic,” and “Frisbee”–a great play-space for kids and dogs!

We run out of cherry trees as we head north, but there are plenty of other trees–beautiful, healthy, mature. Clark College has been at this location for about 50 years, and some of trees must have arrived on campus then; they’re that big.

Turning north again on the east side of the science building, you walk past classrooms, a reminder that this is a college, not just a garden for us to walk in. From here the path heads all the way up to the north parking lot, west along the parking lot, and then south toward Anna Pechanec Hall.

Before it reaches the shade around Anna Pechanec Hall, the path curves west between the iconic face of Cannell Library and the chime tower, which looks like an old-fashioned fountain pen.

This is a good time to take a breather and look south toward Scarpelli Hall, and beyond to the cherry trees we walked under at the south end of campus.

The path takes us around the fountain next. You can walk through it if it’s not turned on. Or, even if it is, I suppose!

Here’s a shot of the newly-remodeled Gaiser Hall, and another of Hanna Hall.

It’s all downhill from here! We walk past Hanna and Foster Halls, and then the Frost Arts Center, the Music Building, and the O’Connell Sports Center.

We’re back to the cherry trees again, and soon, McLoughlin blvd. That’s where I left off, but I’ve walked the paths to the west across the street, too. They’re nice, but the real beauty is on the main campus.

It’s easy to get here from I-5: west on Mill Plain, north on Ft Vancouver Way, Right on McLoughlin Blvd, there you are. Or you can check out GoogleMaps.

Hope you have fun with this walk; I did!