The Ice Age Tonquin Trail is taking one important step back in time – and another big step forward.
Recently renamed for floods that shaped the landscape thousands of years ago, the 22-mile trail now has an official blueprint. Partners along the route worked together on the master plan, bringing the trail closer to reality for cyclists, walkers and runners.
For now, people can explore initial sections of the trail at Stella Olsen Park in Sherwood, Tualatin Community Park and Metro’s Graham Oaks Nature Park in Wilsonville. Someday, they’ll be able to traverse a pitchfork-shaped trail that spans two rivers, two counties and three cities. But, as Metro Councilor Carl Hosticka sees it, visitors will take the holistic view when they traverse spectacular scenery along the trail.
"People may be unaware of which jurisdiction they are in, but the trail allows them to access the entire landscape in the area and enjoy it on a regional level," said Hosticka, who has represented the southwest part of the region for 12 years. "I think that’s a main benefit."
This fall, the trail formerly known as the Tonquin got a new descriptor: "Ice Age." The name was expanded at the request of community advocates, in homage to an era that dramatically reshaped the northwestern United States.
Some 15,000 years ago, a huge ice dam repeatedly broke near the Montana-Canada border, unleashing water, icebergs, glacial ice and debris. Cascading through Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon at the speed of a car driving on the freeway, the floods left their mark. Visitors to the Ice Age Tonquin Trail will find scoured scablands, rich wetlands and kolk ponds
"We figured the Ice Age Tonquin Trail would bring visibility and identity to something that happened thousands of years ago," said Yvonne Addington, past president of the Tualatin Historical Society, who led the campaign for a name change.
Addington got interested in the area’s natural history during the early 1960s, when she typed a research paper for a Portland State University student who discovered a mastodon skeleton in Tualatin. A decade later, when Addington was serving as Tualatin city manager, she helped bring the skeleton back to the city. More recently, she collaborated with other community advocates to create an "Ice Age Tourism Plan" – making natural history a calling card for the area.
Their work dovetailed with progress on the Tonquin Trail. Nearly four years ago, Metro joined forces with representatives from each community along the proposed route to launch a planning process. A steering committee evaluated possible routes and designs, and agreed on who would operate and maintain each section.
More than 1,000 residents have weighed in online, at open houses or at community festivals. Until January 9, people have one last opportunity to comment; after that, the plan will be forwarded to city, county and regional officials for approval.
For many trail enthusiasts, the most exciting progress will come on the ground. The rest of the trail will be built as resources are identified, starting with a 1.5-mile section in Sherwood known as the Cedar Creek Greenway. Residents will have an opportunity to help fine-tune the route and design in the coming months, before construction begins. Meanwhile, Metro is working to secure land for other sections of the trail with funds from a 2006 bond measure approved by voters across the region.
Expanding the Tonquin will be popular among cyclists who want to take longer rides, including those commuting within the southwest part of the region for work, said Clackamas County Chair Charlotte Lehan. She’s also excited about helping people experience the area’s unique geology, which can be overlooked when you’re zooming down Interstate 5.
Existing sections of the Tonquin already have a strong following, Lehan said. She knows first-hand; she walks or bikes through Graham Oaks Nature Park a couple of times a week.
"Any hour of the day, it will be busy – and all ages. People who are leisurely strollers, people who are clearly exercise walkers," Lehan said. "I think it’s a real asset for the community."
Learn more about the Ice Age Tonquin Trail