Birch Trail
A quiet dirt on-ramp — gentle switchbacks down NW 53rd to the Wildwood, the easy start to a south-central loop.
On this trailThe Walk
The Walk
From the grassy trailhead the path tips gently downhill and switchbacks its way to the Wildwood under bigleaf maple and Douglas-fir — roughly 140 feet of easy descent, steeper underfoot than its length suggests but never a grind. In spring the slope fills in with Oregon grape and the broad, pale leaves of waterleaf. At the bottom, a wooden bench and a posted map mark the junction, and the real walk begins: turn onto the Wildwood, or link over to Holman Lane to close the loop back up.
Runner note A tidy, honest little connector to bookend a south-central loop — quick down from 53rd, quick to climb back up, and quiet enough that you rarely have to share it. Watch the switchbacks in the wet months; the tread greases up like all of the park’s dirt.
Getting there
StartBirch Trailhead on NW 53rd Drive to EndBottoms out at the Wildwood Trail
- Start
- Birch Trailhead on NW 53rd Drive — a grassy sward on the west edge of the road; cross to the trail
- Orientation
- South-central park, off NW 53rd Drive — the southernmost of the 53rd Drive pullouts, roughly half a mile south of the Keil/Wild Cherry/Dogwood parking
- Parking
- No formal lot — pull off onto the grassy verge along NW 53rd Drive; usually room to spare, since this is a quiet access point well south of the busier 53rd pullouts
- Other access
- From below, off the Wildwood Trail at the Birch junction — the way you'd reach it mid-loop rather than from the top
- Ends at
- Bottoms out at the Wildwood Trail, where a posted park map and a wooden bench mark the junction. On foot you can climb straight back up, or turn onto the Wildwood and close a loop — most people link it with Holman Lane for the classic Holman Lane–Wildwood–Birch circuit
- Transit
- No direct transit; reach the NW 53rd Drive trailhead by car, or arrive on foot via the Wildwood from a longer walk
- Accessibility
- Not accessible — a natural-surface descent with switchbacks and no paved section; no facilities at either end
- Dogs
- leashed
- Best
- year-round, in daylight; drier months for the firmest tread, some mud in the wet season
Keep going
Plan a route from hereAdditional resources
- Hikespeak — Holman Lane Loop (Wildwood / Birch)The classic loop that uses Birch as its closing leg.