Build Lebanon Trails

It’s striking how many improvements have been made to downtown Lebanon buildings and storefronts just in the past few years – modernizing through restoration. More of the old brick and original windows are being exposed on the inside and outside of the shops. The owner of the Bloom boutique and tea shop spoke of how it took a year to remove the plaster on the inner shop walls to expose the original brick underneath.

The 2021 historical downtown tour was jointly sponsored by Build Lebanon Trails, the Lebanon Museum, and the Lebanon Downtown Association. Alysia Rodgers, the tour leader, is Economic Development Catalyst for the City of Lebanon and has been responsible for the grants that have made many of these improvements possible.

If you missed the tour, you still have a chance to benefit from it, thanks to the printed tour guide that was prepared by Linda Ziedrich, vice-president of the Lebanon Museum Foundation board of directors. The locations in the guide are included as markers in the Google map below.

An easy, level, out and back walk on paved surfaces from Gill’s Landing RV Park to Riverview Park. Return by the same trail or the soft-surface Eagle Scout Trail.

Explore Lebanon’s crown jewel, Cheadle Lake, with this walk from the parking lot on the north to the parking lot on the south with an optional detour along the Island Loop trails.

Cheadle Lake used to be a mill pond, but it has been rehabilitated into a beautiful lake with great views and numerous types of wildlife. Look for bald eagles, ospreys, pond turtles, Canada geese, and river otters. And look up to see if you can identify the Green Peter and Bald Peter peaks to the south, Ridgeway Butte to the east, Middle Ridge to the west.

This trail is a great lunchtime walk! It starts at the Oregon Veterans Home in Lebanon and follows a section of the Northside Community Trail out to the end of the trail on the west. Besides the Veterans Home, this section of the trail offers a view of several large Lebanon companies that normally remain hidden away from view: Pennington Seed, Entek, Linn Gear, and Laticrete. If you want to extend the walk past the end of the Northside Community Trail, you can also walk along Twelfth Street and see the Cascade Performing Arts Center and even stop off at the Summit Ace Home and Garden Center on Tangent.

An easy level walk on paved surfaces from the Had Irvine trailhead around the Marks Slough Loop and back. View of the South Santiam River from one point on the Marks Slough Trail. This is a shorter version of the Boulder Falls to the River Walk.

An easy level walk on paved surfaces from Boulder Falls Inn to the South Santiam River and back. Visit a Japanese garden and view of the South Santiam River from one point on the Marks Slough Trail.