Where: 10945 SE Mather Road, Clackamas, Oregon

Hike Length: 2.9 mile loop

Hike Difficulty: Easy

What to Wear: During the wet season, the trail can be rather muddy. We hiked the Summit Trail at Mt. Talbert Nature Park in March and were perfectly happy in sneakers, jeans and short sleeves.

What to Bring:

• Water
• Energy Bar or Erin's Kick-Ass Hiking Granola

What to Know:

• This park does NOT allow dogs.
• The park opens 30 minutes before sunrise, and closes 30 minutes after sunset.
• Hunting is not allowed
• Mount Talbert is the largest in a string of extinct volcanoes and lava domes that stretches across the east side of the region.
• Free Parking

• Restroom Available

Get Away From It All Without Getting Away From It All

With easy and free parking, and a hiking location that's on the beaten track, you won't find a more perfect spot than Mt. Talbert Nature Park. With two trails to offer, abundant wildlife and family-friendly trails, it's the perfect suburban hiking trail to make you feel like you're away from it all.

You're in the trees as soon as you step away from your car, and both of the available paths will loop around and bring you right back to the parking lot.

We chose to pop over to this suburban hike during our lunch "hour" on a strangely warm and sunny day in March. Tree cover at Mt. Talbert Nature Park this time of year is sparse, allowing the glorious sunbeams to reach us. And they were welcome!

After a slight uphill you'll come to a junction where you can continue up to the "Summit Trail Loop," or take a right and double your hike length by opting for the "Park Loop Trail."

Summit Trail Loop

As we wanted a little bit of exercise and only had our lunch hour to hike, we opted for the Summit Trail Loop at Mt. Talbert's beautiful hilltop nature park. The uphill is only slight, and is perfectly family friendly. 

No Dogs Allowed at Mt. Talbert Nature Park

Though it may sound disappointing that there aren't any dogs allowed on the trails of Mt. Talbert, there's good reason for it. Dogs can easily damage the habitat that the community has voted to protect. Deer, Coyotes, Raccoons and Western Gray Squirrels as well as Woodpeckers and hundreds of other birds reside in the park. Even the presence of a dog on a leash disrupts the normal behaviors of these animals, and the native plants and wildlife rely on us to minimize the impact on their forest habitat. So, for this hike, leave puppers at home.

Bring Your Camera to Mt. Talbert Nature Park

This trail is really pretty, with dappled sunlight from the overhead tree cover and lots of wildlife. You won't want to miss any photo opportunities. There are some uphills/downhills on this trail so you'll want to be in moderately good shape. If you've got some kids with energy to spare, this is a great trail to let them burn off their Froot Loops.

The Summit Loop Trail at Mt. Talbert will take you around an hour. Have fun!

Have You Been To Mt. Talbert? Tell Us About It!

We'd love to hear from you! Leave your experience at Mt. Talbert Nature Park in the comments below. And read more about our favorite suburban hikes in and around the Portland/Vancouver area here.