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Settlers arriving in the early 1800s on the Oregon Trail claimed, cleared and cultivated the area, changing the landscape of cottonwood and rushes to pasture and orchards.

Take time to stroll through a landscape in transition. The area was once the elegant summer home of Paul and Florence Vial. They named their home St. Cloud Ranch after the suburb of Paris where they spent their 1903 honeymoon and early married years.

In their day, Portland’s wealthy citizens purchased many of the homesteads in the Columbia River gorge area and transformed them into country estates.

The showy gardens, greenhouse and small Japanese bridge across Good Bear Creek inspired 1930s Columbia gorge motorists to park their cars and ask to walk the grounds of St. Cloud Ranch. At one time, the ranch also had tennis courts, a swimming pool, boat docks and manicured grounds.

Today, only the orchard hints at the area’s past.

Acquired by the Forest Service in 1990, the site of the old St. Cloud Ranch has been developed to allow public access to an area of local importance. The area is possibly the largest remaining natural wetland in the gorge, providing habitat for a variety of wildlife.

The site is significant to American Indians. The nearby Watlala Tribe utilized the many plant and animal resources on the St. Cloud site. The open meadow offers views across the river to Multnomah Falls, pedestrian river access and several picnic spots.

Also worth noting is the abundance of Himalayan blackberries. Not native to the Pacific Northwest, Himalayan blackberries are a member of the rose family and have the thorns to prove it. When in season, the fruit is fragrant and sweet.

The Trek: After parking in the lot and displaying a Northwest Forest Pass, find the trailhead at the base of a massive sign. Take time to read about the history as well as the plants and animals that call St. Cloud home.

The St. Cloud Trail leads around the outskirts of the old orchard, which is still churning out apples. Planted before the turn of the century, the orchard of Spitzenberg and Newton-Pippin apple trees now provide food and a nesting site for birds and small rodents.

After reading the sign to brush up an the area’s history, set out on the gravel trail. Continuing west, the trail is buffered by dense underbrush. Somewhere underneath it all lies the remains of the once proud St. Cloud Ranch carriage house.

The trail turns east, paralleling the Columbia River. The river can’t be seen because of a massive thicket of Himalayan blackberries. Keep an eye out for osprey.

After passing a slash pile of branches and bushes, take the spur trail to the right. This leads to the shore of the Columbia River and to an unexpected view of spectacular Multnomah Falls just across the river on the Oregon side.

Plummeting 620 feet from atop Larch Mountain, this is the second highest year-round waterfall in the United States. Granted, the view is not as up close and personal as you would get at its base, but it is impressive nonetheless. Plus, there probably won’t be a crowd at St. Cloud.

Walk along the shoreline to get a feel of how wild the area must have been for early settlers, and how formidable the Columbia River was to those plying its waters.

Return to the main trail, continuing around the outskirts of the orchard. If you passed signs along the highway proclaiming “apple maggot quarantine” and wondered just what they meant, here is an example.

Female apple maggots deposit eggs just below the skin of an apple or other host fruit. The damage caused by the maggot resembles a series of brownish, irregular tunnels. The tunnels are enlarged by bacterial decay that often follows. Damaged fruit eventually becomes soft and rotten and cannot be used.

Traps — sugary orbs in the shape of apples and hanging from trees — lure the critters to their surface where the maggots become stuck and eventually perish.

Pass several picnic tables before returning to the rig.

Distance: 1⁄2 mile

Destination: Loop trail

Difficulty: Easy

Elevation gain: Negligible

Getting there: I-5 south to Vancouver, Wash. Just north of Vancouver, take I-205 south. Take the Hwy. 14 exit (last exit before crossing the Columbia River into Oregon). Take Hwy. 14 east.

The parking lot is south of the highway, 0.1 of a mile west of milepost 30 near the community of Skamania. The site is just south of the Burlington Northern Railroad tracks.

If you go: This is a great warm-up or cool-down trek either before or after attempting to summit Beacon Rock. Like much of the area along the Louis and Clark Expedition Trail, St. Cloud has its own place in history.