This greenway preserves a remnant of the gallery forests of high-arching cottonwood, maple and ash trees that once shaded much of the Willamette River bottomlands. In summer, the songs of Swainson’s Thrush and Black-headed Grosbeak fill the forest, and Yellow Warbler sings from riverside willows. Scan for Spotted Sandpiper and Killdeer on gravel bars, and Bald Eagle overhead. Red-eyed Vireo is sometimes heard along the trail. Do note, the trail can be quite overgrown with nettles at times. This greenway is officially part of the Willamette Mission State Park (Site H4 on Heritage Loop) across the river. Nearby corn fields on Grand Island have regularly hosted huge flocks of roosting Barn Swallows in late summer/early fall – at least 250,000 in some years. Nearest facilities are at Site Y10, which is 1.2 mi S of the turn from Hwy 221 onto Grand Island Rd.
From the Hwy 18 Bypass in Dayton go S on Hwy 221 (Wallace Rd) for 5.8 mi. Turn E on onto Grand Island Rd. After 1.2 mi, turn R (S) onto Upper Island Rd. After another 1.2 mi, stop at the small parking spot on the R side of the road, next to a white gate. From here, a trail enters the forest on the S side of the road, and proceeds through the forest for 0.5 mi to a channel of the Willamette River. GPS 45 07 N, 123 01 W.
