Salmonberry Trail event held at creamery

Local elected officials, volunteers and interested community members gathered for an informational event on the Salmonberry Trail at the Tillamook County Creamery’s Red Barn on August 18.

At the event, groups partnering with the Salmonberry Trail Foundation to advance the project hosted informational tables before participating in an update on the trail.

Salmonberry Trail Foundation Executive Director Caroline Fitchett started the update by welcoming the crowd and thanking the local elected officials for making time to come to the event.

State Senator Suzanne Weber then spoke, sharing her history with the trail, which dates to her time as a city councilor in Tillamook. Weber said that when visiting her native Minnesota she had seen rails-to-trails projects that had sparked her interest in developing a similar project in northwest Oregon and helped get the ball rolling on the idea of the Salmonberry Trail.

During her time as mayor, Weber and then-City Manager Paul Wyntergreen led efforts to build the first section of the trail between the Hoquarton Interpretive Park and Goodspeed Park, which opened in 2018.

Wheeler City Councilor Karen Matthews then spoke about her vision for the trail. Matthews said that she thought the trail should be pursued in a sectional manner, with towns and other groups building parts of the trail as they can and worrying about connecting them later.

Representatives from the Tillamook County Wellness Coalition and Tillamook Coast Visitors Association then discussed the positive impacts the trail would have on public and economic health in the communities it connects.

Oregon Coast Railroad Superintendent Samuel Aldridge said that he and his team were enthusiastic about the trail’s prospects and wanted to offer whatever help they could.

Aldridge said that the railroad had lots of excavating and earth moving equipment that it was willing to lend to the foundation to help with trail construction and that railroad staff would be able to help maintain the trail once it opens. Aldridge also discussed the railroad’s plans to help with the construction of an 1,800-foot section of trail in Wheeler, expected to be complete by October 2025.

Aldridge said that from the railroad’s perspective, the trail was a big win, as walkers and bikers who find Highway 101 too intimidating often find their way onto the train tracks already, and providing the trail as an alternative would increase safety.

A retired teacher and representative from the Northwest Regional Education Special District then discussed the educational opportunities that the trail would make accessible to students in Tillamook and Washington Counties through expanded field trip opportunities.

Finally, Fitchett wrapped up the update with an overview of the projects currently taking place on the trail. In addition to the planned section in Wheeler, more than seven miles of rails and ties have been lifted in Washington County and the foundation plans to have that section of the trail, which ends in Stub Stewart State Park, open by 2026.

Planning is also underway on a section of trail by the Tillamook County Creamery Association’s Tillamook factory and visitor’s center with a projected opening date of 2026.