EE Wilson for wet day walk

It was a wet week and not one very conducive to walking. I did manage to get a little mileage in though, with a 1.5 mile stroll at Lewisberg Saddle on Wednesday and a 1.5 mile hill climb at Sulphur Springs on Friday. Today, being another soggy day, we were looking for a route that would minimize the muddy dog factor. E.E. Wilson Game Management area was just the ticket.

E.E. Wilson is located north of Corvallis, right off Hwy 99W. Once a military base, it's now a state managed game reserve that is crisscrossed with paved roads in the midst of open fields, regenerating scrub, and marsh. We walked a simple out and back for a very pleasant 2.45 mile jaunt.

The upsides to EE Wilson are plenty: tons and tons of streets to walk that are now blocked to traffic, lots of wildlife to enjoy (we heard Marsh Wrens, Virginia Rail, Red-Winged Blackbirds, and frogs to name a few), and no mud even on very wet days like this one. There are plenty of downsides to this area, too, though: being a game management area means hunters so you'll need to be aware of what season it is and avoid the area when hunting is going on. It's very near Hwy 99W so there's lots of traffic noise and in addition, it's right across from Coffin Butte (the local landfill) so it sometimes smells a bit iffy. Nonetheless, it's a very pleasant place to be and the dogs love the puddles for splashing and the fields for mousing.