(Story by Tom Howe)
The Davis Graveyard has been a long-term, Portland-area Halloween venue, and is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. If you are not familiar with it, this is not an actual graveyard, but a house with a large yard containing nearly a hundred creatively named tombstones — which just so happens to be located a mere two blocks from the Springwater Corridor path.
The yard also has a giant crypt, a funeral carriage, statues, and other displays related to Halloween. All of this is made of EPS foam that is given a weathered appearance to resemble real stone. The headstone inscriptions are hand-carved and painted to really stand out. It’s definitely worth a visit, and here’s how you can get their by bike…
The graveyard is located slightly below the border between Portland and Milwaukie. If riding directly to the graveyard from central Portland, cross Johnson Creek Blvd and use the sidewalk on the east side to go the two blocks to the graveyard at 8703 SE 43rd Ave. Although Johnson Creek Blvd is a bikeway in this area complete with bike lanes, it is a busy street making it difficult to make the left turn into the graveyard directly from the street.
But instead of taking the Springwater directly to the Davis Graveyard, I recommend riding the 7.3-mile Ride with GPS route highlighted in this article. This route starts at Sellwood Park and goes through the Sellwood-Moreland, Ardenwald, and Lewelling neighborhoods on the way to the graveyard. These neighborhoods are known for their high density of Halloween displays, and the route has about thirty markers for the most highly decorated homes. But in total there are around 200 houses along the route with Halloween decorations of some sort.
Besides the Davis Graveyard there are two other long-term Halloween houses that have their own web presence. These are named Dismal Hill Cemetery and Flye Manor. The latter is the house furthest east on the route, but it is not to be missed, being one of the most-decorated locations in the entire Portland area. The three singing pumpkins are cool with their video-projected faces, and there are a huge number of other creative displays and pumpkins at Flye Manor.
This bike route is notable for having three bike/pedestrian cut-throughs, so it cannot be driven as shown by an automobile. Two of the cut-throughs (at SE Sherrett St and the Glover St Alley) end at a curb that has a very narrow spot to ride through, so it’s safest to hop off the bicycle to negotiate the curb. The third cut-through is two blocks long and named Parsons Path. This used to be a gravel path but is now paved. The path is narrow and widely used by students to reach the Ardenwald Elementary School. If you encounter a pedestrian, stop and pull as far to the side as possible to let them pass. The middle of Parsons Path crosses SE Filbert Street, which has several Halloween decorated houses right at that crossing in both directions.
Near the end, the 7.3-mile route intersects Johnson Creek Blvd just a block from the Davis Graveyard. As mentioned earlier, use the sidewalk for that last block to the graveyard.
This article covers just three neighborhoods of the dozens that exist in the Portland area. Feel free to share in the comments about other Halloween houses that are worth seeing by bike. And enjoy your spooky cycling!