Macleay Park Hike to Witches Castle

If you are looking for a short hike that is dog and kid friendly with great views, this is for you! Macleay Park is a beautiful lush trail right outside of the city in Portland. There is plenty of street parking for the trail beside the Audubon Society. You can type directions into Maps for “Macleay Park” or “Audubon Society of Portland“.

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If you are facing the Audubon Society with the street to your back, go right around the building and follow the trail. You will come to the trailhead with this sign that says “Wildwood Trail”. Take a left at this sign for the trail we did, which is down the mountain to the creek and Witches Castle. If you go right you can do the hike up to Pittock Mansion.

The trail is so lush and everything was blossoming since we went in the spring. A great item that we brought along is “50 Hikes with Kids: Oregon and Washington”. This hike is the very first one listed in the book. It’s got a visual scavenger hunt listed for each trail and educational information. I grabbed the book for $12 on Amazon. Find it here.

The creek is beautiful and pretty much runs the length of the trail. If you’d like to stick your feet in, it’s pretty shallow and there are a few entry points to throw rocks. So just plan to wear water shoes or hiking sandals if you want to play in the water.

The story of the building is an interesting read. An angry father betrayed by his daughter eloping with a servants son. The father murdered his son in law and became the first man to be legally executed in Oregon in 1859. You can read the full story here.

Im not sure why they call it a castle, since it’s actually a really small building, but it’s a house of stone in the middle of the forest and there’s something mysterious about it. It’s a shame that some people have decided to put graffiti on it, but there are still areas without.

We turned around and headed back up at the castle, so total hike was a little less than a mile. If you have the All Trails App, this one is listed as “Wildwood Trail and Lower Macleay Trail”.

Finding the fun everywhere life takes us!
Love, Olivia Michelle