Redwood Trail & Redwood Deck

The Redwood Deck is an open wooden platform in Hoyt Arboretum's grove of coast redwoods and giant sequoias, the arboretum's best-known spot. From the Visitor Center, take the Redwood Trail about 0.4 mile, mostly downhill on packed dirt, then a short climb up the Wildwood Trail to the deck. The easiest way to see it is the 0.9-mile Spruce, Wildwood and Redwood loop.

Getting to the Deck

The Redwood Trail starts near Stevens Pavilion, across the street from the Visitor Center. Hoyt Arboretum Friends describes it as mostly downhill from the Visitor Center, on natural terrain with exposed roots, getting rougher toward the Creek Trail. It ends at the stand of redwoods and giant sequoias beside the Wildwood Trail. From there, an extra uphill switchback on the Wildwood Trail brings you onto the deck.

A wooden signpost on the trail gives the distances: 0.17 mile to the Redwood Deck one way, 0.38 mile back to the Visitor Center the other.

Trail Details

• Length: 0.4 mile.
• Surface: packed dirt, with roots up to 3 inches high.
• Grade: typically about 5 percent, with one pitch of up to 25 percent about 0.08 mile from the start.
• Width: at least 36 inches.
• Rest stops: 10 picnic tables at Stevens Pavilion at the start; a bench in the Larch Collection; a bench in the "Jurassic Forest"; a bench on the Wildwood Trail just before the last switchback to the deck. The deck itself has benches.

The 0.9-Mile Redwood Loop

Hoyt Arboretum Friends' 1-hour loop, marked with squares on the map, is the classic way to see the grove. From Stevens Pavilion, walk the Spruce Trail past spruces from around the world and the Wedding Meadow, drop into the redwoods, stop at the deck, and continue down the trail below before looping back. See hiking and suggested loops.

The "Jurassic Forest"

On a connector between the Redwood Trail and Bray Lane, near the Wedding Meadow, is a group Hoyt Arboretum Friends calls the "Jurassic Forest": trees from very old lineages, including China fir, dawn redwood, monkey puzzle and a Wollemi pine. The arboretum's conifer collection includes the first dawn redwood to set cones in North America in 6 million years. See the tree collection.

Weddings at the Redwood Deck

The deck is one of four outdoor sites at the arboretum that Portland Parks & Recreation rents for weddings and small gatherings, often together with the Wedding Meadow. Permits come from the city's Reservations and Payments office, 503-823-2525. The city warns that equipment noise from the Bristlecone Pine Trail project, about a third of a mile away, may be heard on some weekdays. See weddings.

Good For

• The redwoods without leaving the city.
• Photos. Hoyt Arboretum Friends calls it a popular spot for wedding photography.
• A short walk of under an hour.

Maybe Skip If

• You use a wheelchair or stroller. The trail is dirt with roots and a 25 percent pitch. The paved Overlook Trail is the alternative.
• You want old-growth giants. These trees were planted; planting at the arboretum began in the 1930s.