The Portland Health Course is a '70s-era fitness trail set in the forest along SW Terwilliger Blvd.
Opened to the public back in 1974, the course was part of the Swiss parcourse fad that swept through the nation. The Terwilliger Blvd trail was the pipe dream of Wilson High School track coach Ray Narin, brought to life by the Portland Parks Bureau with a grant from the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
The course was conceived as a two-mile, 20-station fitness trail along the side of SW Terwilliger Blvd, guiding users through simple calisthenics and to exercise equipment constructed off the pathway.
Sadly, fitness trails were a fad, and after the '70s faded into history, so too did the Portland Health Course.
Over the last four decades, the course has fallen into disrepair. Signs are rotted and falling apart. Exercise stations have been taken over by brush. Of the 20 original stops, only 15 can still be found, and among those only about a dozen are easily identifiable.
There has been talk between the Portland parks bureau and Friends of Terwilliger about renovating the course.
This multi will bring you to 5 Health Course spots with easily identifiable structures or signs. You will gather info at these spots to calculate coordinates to the final.
The posted coordinates are for the start of the multi. If you are interested, there is a reference waypoint further uphill at the sign that marks the start/end of the health course.
It’s about one mile to walk from the first to the last waypoint, and then about a quarter mile to walk to the final (although it's only about a tenth of a mile as the geo-crow flies). Most, but not all, of the waypoints are reachable from pavement. Parking pullouts are at or near the waypoints. Fitness fans may enjoy walking/running along the route, but it’s also possible to cover much of the distance by car.
This trail is popular with walkers, runners, bicyclists, and dogs.
You will find the final at N 45° 29.ABC W 122° 40.DEF
Waypoint 1 - the posted coordinates (down Buhler Cut Off trail): A = Add number of horizontal plus vertical metal elements; multiply that by 2
Waypoint 2: B = number of letters in first word of description
Waypoint 3: There are two signs within about 130’ of each other. The more northerly one (left-hand one) has an even number. You want the other one, the right-hand sign that is down a short, faint trail. C = Number on top of sign, plus one
Waypoint 4 (on SW Lowell Ln): There is a tall metal structure, and two short ones.
On the tall structure, D = number of vertical elements plus number of horizontal elements plus 2
The two short ones look like letters.
- If each looks like the letter H, E = 2
- If each looks like the upside-down letter L, E = 6
- If each looks like the letter A, E = 8
Waypoint 5 (in the woods behind the pullout): F = number of horizontal elements plus number of vertical elements, minus one. (Don’t count the chains.)
The checksum (total) of the numbers you got for A through F = 32. For parking/trailhead coordinates, subtract 0.031 from north and add 0.037 to west. Take the little road north of the guardrail.
The final is at a new addition to Terwilliger Parkway that will be developed into a public overlook.
I found more Health Course spots, but because it seemed confusing to list them as additional waypoints, I’ll describe where to find them as you work your way down SW Terwilliger Blvd. from the posted coordinates. The distances are approximate and represent walking/driving distances (not as the geo-crow flies.)
There is a sign just off the sidewalk about 380’ down from waypoint 2.
If you continue about 100’ further from that sign, there is a trail stairway that heads steeply downhill. If you follow that trail about 600-650’, you’ll pass two spots with metal fitness structures.
There is a sign about 130’ down from waypoint 4 - look downhill in the brush.
About 530’ down from waypoint 4, on the right side of the intersection where US Veterans Hospital Rd. joins Terwilliger, you can see a sign and metal rail structure. This is also visible in Google Maps street view.
About 160’ up from waypoint 5, downhill in the brush, there is a sign and a long set of parallel metal rails.