A 7.3-Mile Portland Bike Route Links Davis Graveyard and Halloween Displays

Davis Graveyard is the best-known stop on a Halloween ride through Sellwood-Moreland, Ardenwald and Lewelling, but it’s only one part of the experience. A 7.3-mile route from Sellwood Park passes about thirty highlighted homes and roughly 200 houses with Halloween decorations of some kind, giving cyclists a neighborhood-scale tour that finishes near the graveyard’s elaborate yard display.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Davis Graveyard, at 8703 SE 43rd Ave. Despite its name, it’s a private home with a large yard, not an actual burial ground. The display sits two blocks from the Springwater Corridor path, just below the Portland-Milwaukie border.

Nearly a hundred creatively named tombstones fill the yard alongside a large crypt, funeral carriage, statues and other Halloween pieces. The tombstones and other structures are made from EPS foam, shaped and finished to look weathered like stone. Hand-carved, painted inscriptions make the names stand out. It’s a substantial display, and the anniversary makes this a particularly fitting year to include it in a ride.

A neighborhood loop with plenty of stops

The 7.3-mile Ride with GPS route begins at Sellwood Park and winds through Sellwood-Moreland, Ardenwald and Lewelling before reaching Davis Graveyard. Those neighborhoods have a high concentration of Halloween decorations, and the route marks about thirty of the most decorated homes. The larger count—around 200 houses with some sort of Halloween display—suggests there’s plenty to notice between the highlighted stops, too.

Two other long-running Halloween houses on the route have their own online pages: Dismal Hill Cemetery and Flye Manor. Flye Manor is the easternmost of the three featured homes and is one of the area’s most decorated locations. Look for its three singing pumpkins, whose faces are video-projected, along with a large collection of other creative displays and pumpkins. Dismal Hill Cemetery adds another established stop to a ride built around more than a single destination.

Take care at the cut-throughs

The route includes three bike and pedestrian cut-throughs, so it can’t be followed by car as mapped. Two—at SE Sherrett Street and Glover Street Alley—meet a curb with only a very narrow passage for riding through. The route’s author recommends getting off the bicycle to negotiate those spots. That small pause is a practical way to handle the tight space without trying to squeeze through on the bike.

Parsons Path, the third cut-through, runs for two blocks. It was once gravel and is now paved, but remains narrow and is widely used by students traveling to Ardenwald Elementary School. Be ready to stop when someone is approaching, then move as far to the side as possible and let them pass. The path crosses SE Filbert Street midway through; decorated houses stand near the crossing in both directions, making it a natural place to look around while keeping the path clear for others.

The route reaches Johnson Creek Boulevard near its end, one block from Davis Graveyard. Riders coming directly from central Portland will also need to cross Johnson Creek Boulevard and take the sidewalk on its east side for the final two blocks to the address. The boulevard has bike lanes and is part of a bikeway in this area, but it’s busy. Turning left directly from the street into the graveyard can be difficult, so the sidewalk is the suggested approach for that last stretch.

Make room for the ride

With dozens of decorated homes along the way, this route invites frequent pauses. Keep the cut-throughs passable, give pedestrians space and take particular care on the narrow path by the school. The route covers three neighborhoods among the many in the Portland area, so it also offers a useful starting point for finding other Halloween displays by bike. Davis Graveyard is a memorable finish, while the homes along the way make the ride itself the main event.