Recommended Portland Area Bike Rides

My favorite road and mountain bike rides around Portland.

FeedbackBy Preston Hunt, 27 May 2003

Resources

ByCycle - directions optimized for bicycles

Road Rides

Portland Bicycle Maps

From the Portland Office of Transportation

Thunder 100

Haven't done this yet.

Portland Wheelmen

Organized group with tons of daily ride options for all skill levels.

Team Oregon Rides

Lots of good stuff

TODO: Team Oregon Vernonia Loop Long

92.78 miles, 4830' elevation gain. Map (warning: BIG download)

Crazy Pelican Century

A route from Beaverton to the coast that minimizes elevation and maximizes safety. It's similar to the Reach the Beach route.

West union to Maggie's Buns (Forest Grove)

Out and back. 50 miles RT through beautiful Hillsboro countryside. Very low traffic and minor hills. Great ride.

Helvetia Road to Loagie Trail to Highway 30

Loop. 30 miles RT. Mostly no traffic. Substantial elevation gain.

Crown Point/Columbia River Gorge Scenic Highway

Exit 17 outlet stores to Multnomah Falls and back is 35 miles RT. Approx. 2000 feet elevation gain total. Great ride, stellar views, can be windy. Shoot to have entire ride done before noon to avoid traffic (even after noon, the traffic isn't all that bad).

Hood River/Rowena Crest

Recommend by Jeff Einarson. Old highway between Hood River and Mosier is closed to cars. Approximately 35 miles RT, minimal elevation gain.

Metric century course from Peach of a Century

See Salem bike club web site. Very nice ride with views of Mt. Jefferson and the Cascade mountain range. Starts at Chemeketa Community College in Salem (city riding conditions), but quickly transforms into low traffic country roads. Very well marked route with painted symbols on the road (compliments of Salem bike club). Approximately 60-62 miles RT.

Hagg Lake

Pick any point, bike to the lake, and then loop as many times as you want. Traffic variable, but usually fairly low at the lake.

Geoff Weaver's house to Loagie Trail.

33 miles, ~3200 ft. elev. gain. Start at Geoff's house, go up Kaiser to Helvetia, then up the Logie to Skyline to Thompson and back to Geoff's.

Springwater Corridor

Paved path exclusively for biking and running. Seems appealing, but most of the trail was converted from an unused rail line by dumping concrete over the tracks. The resulting path is extremely bumpy. The path also intersects many busy roads and has been crowded each of the times that I've been on it. Not recommended.

I-205 Bike Corridor

A pretty nice bike trail, and not as loud as you might think given its proximity to the highway.

Marine Drive

Great views of the airport and the Columbia River. Separate bike path at times, otherwise generous bike lane is available. From Portland, take Marine Dr. exit from I-5 N and park across street from boat launch. Follow Marine Drive to Troutsdale and then do ride #3 ("Crown Point/Columbia River Gorge") if interested.

Council Crest to Bald Peak

Council Crest - Terwilliger - Lake Oswego - Mountain Home Road - Bald Peak (Myron/Geoff ride)

Highway 30

Busy and loud highway, but wide bike lane and it's a straight shot all the way out to the coast. Portland to St. Helens is approximately 60 miles RT. Portland to Scappoose is about 45 miles RT. Fairly flat, great for training rides.

Goose Hollow - Crown Point

Basically same ride as "Marine Drive" above, but start at my condo. Ride across Hawthorne Bridge and head east until you intersect the I-205 bike path. RT distance to Crown Point approx. 65 miles.

Portland Three Peaks Ride

Hit three high points in Portland, all with great views: Council Crest, Mt. Tabor, and Rocky Butte. Approximately 40 miles and 3000 feet elevation from my condo. Lots of route finding and city streets; not very time efficient, but a fun ride and a great way to see the city.

MTB Rides

1. Forest park. FL1, FL3, Holman Road, Springville Road (upper and lower), FL10, Newton Road, BPA, FL12/FL13. (See [http://www.lclark.edu/~kolitch/ this page] which has a pretty cool [http://www.lclark.edu/~kolitch/cycling.html#Skyline%20Climbs elevation profile].)
2. Brown's camp.
3. Gale's Creek. Just east of Brown's Camp (a popular ride) on Hwy 6, on the north side of the road. Trails are new, it's 35 minutes from the west side of Portland, and it doesn't get a ton of pressure because there are some fairly robust climbs on the rides. 35 miles of new trail along the Wilson river roughly 10 miles past Brown's Camp, sort of by Elk Mtn. may be coming soon.
4. Hagg lake.
5. Mackenzie River Trail
6. Surveyor's Ridge.
7. Hood River Whoopee Trail
8. Mt. St. Helens (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/getaways/29088_helens28.shtml)
9. Falls Creek (4 miles up, 16 down, requires car shuttle)