Up and Down - South Hill Stairclimbs

Not too far from my place are a few fairly decent stairclimbs that I'll share with you today.  It's a short walk that you can incorporate into a larger neighborhood walk if so desired.

Parking is on the street. On weekends, you can park at the nearby high school (just east off the map). There's also street parking near Taylor Ave & 24th, as well as along 22nd and 21st street. I came from the direction of the high school.

South Hill Stairclimb
Parking permit: none needed
Elevation gain: ~180 ft
Distance: 1 mile round-trip

The main stair climbs are along Taylor Ave between Lenora Ct. and 19th St, but there's a nice drainage basin area between 22nd and 24th with some nature paths.

There's a bit of a loop through here, so you can take that if you like.

Heading up Taylor Ave from the trail, it's pretty much a straight shot uphill. You hit the first small stair climb just before 21st St.

Cross the street and go uphill, and you'll run into the big stairclimb. It has 104 steps, which is the third-longest stairclimb that I'm familiar with in town. (Woburn St stairclimb has 105, and WWU has a 106 stair climb near the Viking Union building...any other big ones in town?)

At the top of the stairs you can go right and that will take you into Lowell Park. I'm currently waiting for it to dry out a bit to map out the park. Google Maps doesn't accurately show the trail system and the city doesn't have any official park maps either. It's muddy when it gets wet, so when it's dry and my schedule lets me I'll be exploring that area.

For more stairs, you can go left. The road dead-ends, but there's a path that leads around a hedge and...voila!

Puppy photo-bomb at the bottom

I didn't know these stairs existed until recently (when I was trying to find a map for Lowell Park, actually), because from the top of the hill they aren't readily visible, and there are only a couple houses on that section of 19th St so you wouldn't just wander there to view them from the bottom.

I found a sketchy-looking, muddy, not-very-legit path that led between lots and through a greenbelt to get back. I ended up at the bottom of the large stairclimb.

I came across three deer when I came out near the bottom of the stairs. Unfortunately my dog scared them away. In the middle of the pic below you can just see the butt-end of one of the deer darting around the bushes.

The dog, of course, was fairly pleased in himself for chasing off three large deer.

That's all I have for this week. It's been damp lately, and I've been busy with internships. I want to get Lowell Park soon though, and if I can't make it there I have ideas for more walks and, if the weather cooperates, some legit hikes as well. We'll see what I get to.