Tour company will bring you here.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Forest Park, Portland's 5,000 acre urban park and wooden wonderland, might not offer the type of trail access many off-road advocates would prefer; but it's still a great place to ride a bike.

Now, Portland-based Pedal Bike Tours is taking advantage of the park's many miles of gravel and dirts roads by offering twice-daily guided tours.

Calling it the "ultimate Oregon combination of primeval forest and vibrant city," Pedal Bike Tours owner Todd Roll says, "This ride appeals to both casual riders who want to enjoy the greenery and solitude of the park without a long drive to the mountains, as well as more aggressive riders looking to get a good workout on the gravel and dirt road."

For $49 you'll get a bike (if you need one), a lift up to Leif Erikson Road (ride starts at 600 feet) and then be led 11 miles through thick forests and ferns. The tour heads south into Portland and after rolling on dirt and gravel roads, you'll end up just above NW 23rd Street and then wind through the Pearl District back to Pedal Bike Tours' shop in Old Town.

Stay tuned for more news about bike access in Forest Park.

Much-loved Forest Park: better off in the
hands of the State?
(Photo © J. Maus)

State Representative Mitch Greenlick (D-Portland) is sponsoring a bill (HB 2250) that would require the Oregon State Parks and Recreation Commission to enter into talks with the City of Portland about the possible state acquisition of Forest Park.

Here's the entire text of the (very brief) bill:

"The State Parks and Recreation Commission shall make reasonable efforts to arrive at an agreement with Portland Parks and Recreation to acquire Forest Park."

Greenlick lives adjacent to the park (it's also in his district) and during a public hearing on HB 2250 held last month, said the park's long-term health and stability is, "Extraordinarily important to me."
(more...)

City of Portland Commissioner Nick Fish, who oversees the Parks Bureau, has responded (read in full below) to League of American Bicyclists President Andy Clarke about the issue of bicycling in Forest Park.

When Commissioner Fish announced at the end of last month that he would not improve trail access opportunities for bicycles for at least two years, Clarke called the decision, "disappointing". (more...)

A large crowd turned to the Share the Park Ride and Rally at Forest Park on Saturday Morning.
- Video/Slideshow below-
(Photos © J. Maus)

(more...)

Traffic intermingles on Leif
Erikson road in Forest Park.
(File photo © J. Maus)

After expressing their disappointment with last week's decision by City Commissioner Nick Fish to not grant any new or improved singletrack trail access for bikes in Forest Park, the Northwest Trail Alliance has announced a "Share The Park" ride.

The event will be held on Saturday, October 16th. According to the NWTA, it will be a rally and a group ride in Forest Park (on roads where riding is allowed of course) that is intended as a "peaceful action".

From the event announcement: (more...)

[Portland-based off-road cycling advocacy group, the Northwest Trail Alliance, has a long legacy in Forest Park. In fact, they came onto the scene over 20 years ago (as PUMP, the Portland United Mountain Pedalers) in order to make sure cycling wasn't completely prohibited from the park.

That history gives you some idea of how long and how hard local advocates have worked to improve access for bikes in Forest Park. Several members of the NWTA were on the Forest Park Single Track Cycling Advisory Committee whose recommendations influenced the big decision yesterday by Commissioner Fish and Parks Director Santner. Below is an op-ed from the Board of the NWTA.]

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Nick Fish
(Photo © J. Maus)

The City Commissioner in charge of Parks, Nick Fish, announced a set of "actions" earlier today about off-road cycling in Forest Park. I spoke to him on the phone from his office in City Hall about that announcement...

You told Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) today that Forest Park isn't ready for new bike trails. Why not?

"I don't think the park is ready to have an expansion in bike trails right now for two reasons. Number one is that we don't have all the data that we need to make thoughtful decisions; data about who uses our parks, the health of our park, and so on. This was a significant problem I discovered through this process. The second part is that anything I propose for the future is going to be subject to a Type II or Type III land use review, so if we don't have the science ironed out than nothing gets through land use review. Nothing would be more cynical for me than to announce a breakthrough today that I know will be stalled in litigation tomorrow."

(more...)

League President Andy Clarke.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Reactions are starting to come in from this morning's big announcement by City Commissioner Nick Fish that there are no plans to improve singletrack bicycling opportunities in Forest Park. The President of the League of American Bicyclists, Andy Clarke, has expressed his disappointment in the decision. Here's a statement from Clarke: (more...)

Riding in Forest Park.
(Photo © J. Maus)

As we hinted at yesterday, City Commissioner Nick Fish and Portland Parks and Recreation Director Zari Santner have released their much-anticipated set of actions they'll take to address off-road cycling in Forest Park.

The decision includes no new or improved access to existing singletrack trails and no commitment to build new ones.

In their announcement today, Commissioner Fish and Director Santner wrote, "Further restoration and maintenance work is needed in the park before recreational use can be expanded." With that being said, they have committed to move forward with the following within the next year: (more...)

Director of Portland Parks Zari Santner.

City Commissioner Nick Fish. (Photos © J. Maus)

Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish and the Director of Portland Parks Zari Santner are due to release their recommendations on bicycling in Forest Park sometime in the next week or so. The announcement will come 19 months after the issue of how to improve bicycling in the 5,000 acre park was first put on Fish's radar. The journey to this point has been messy and difficult for people on all sides of the issue. In the interest of bringing you up to speed on the issue, here's my recap and thoughts about how we got to where we are today... (more...)

Bicycling in Forest Park.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Portland Parks & Recreation has released results of their 2010 Forest Park Recreation Survey (PDF download). With the fate of bicycling improvements in the 5,000 acre urban park hanging in the balance, I thought I'd take a look at how two-wheeled recreation fared.
(more...)

This landslide resulted in a project
that will close Leif Erikson
Road for four weeks.
(Photo: Portland Parks & Rec)

Portland Parks & Recreation has released details of a closure to Leif Erikson Road in Forest Park that begins this coming Monday (9/13) and is estimated to last four weeks.

Heavy rains back in June caused a landslide that resulted a part of the popular road to fall down the hillside. Parks had already planned to replace a culvert in that area so now the plan is to bring in the heavy equipment and get the job done. Unfortunately, in order to bring in their heavy equipment and trucks, the entire trail will be closed temporarily from Milepost 7 to Milepost 11 (at NW Germantown Road) to all users.

This is unfortunate timing given that it's cyclocross season. Parks is aware of the popularity of Leif Erikson and they made a point in a statement to say, "The City’s contractor may also work seven days a week to finish the repairs as quickly as possible."
(more...)

Commissioner Nick Fish.
(Photo © J. Maus)

City of Portland Commissioner Nick Fish, who oversees Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R), has just announced five new management initiatives that will "address ecological and recreational concerns about Forest Park."

Fish is reacting to mounting public pressure to do something about the deteriorating health of the park. This pressure came to a head last month with a research report published by City Club of Portland titled, "Call to Action." That report admonished the Parks Bureau for neglecting the park and not completing a number of studies and surveys called for in the 1995 Forest Park Natural Resources Management Plan. (more...)

Detail of slide location and detour map.
-Download PDF/Photos below-

Portland Parks & Recreation says a landslide in Forest Park has closed Leif Erikson Drive, resulting in a closure of the gravel road that is popular for biking, hiking and running.

According to PP&R spokesperson Beth Sorensen, the road is now closed between milepost 7 and milepost 7.25 and is not expected to be reopened until repairs are completed in October.
(more...)

Cover of City Club's Forest Park:
A Call to Action.
-Download PDF here-

Deciding how to move forward with improved and expanded biking opportunities in Forest Park got a lot more complicated last week.

On Thursday, the City Club of Portland released a 65-page report on Forest Park that, among other things, states unequivocally that there should be no additional bike trails or access of any kind until various studies are completed. But just a few days before that, the results of a Portland Parks survey on biking in Forest Park found that a majority of respondents favored more bike access (on new and existing trails) and funding for more trails was rated the #1 priority among a list of "management actions" while completing studies ranked at the very bottom of the list.

How Parks Commissioner Nick Fish and Parks Director Zari Santner interpret the scope of these studies and how they balance the City Club report with the survey findings, will be key to the future of biking in Forest Park. (more...)

Parks staffer Dan Moeller on
the illegal trail back in February.
(Photo © J. Maus)

A work party scheduled for tomorrow will work to decommission a rogue bike trail that was discovered in Forest Park back in February.

The event has been jointly organized by Portland Parks & Recreation and the Northwest Trail Alliance. Volunteers will restore the natural habitat around the trail in hopes of minimizing future damage due to erosion or the introduction of invasive species. On the trail itself, crews will cover up the surface with brush, take down jumps and stream crossings, and remove a cribbing wall that had been constructed. (more...)

Tonight's open house will look at
several options for improved bike
access in Forest Park.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Tonight is the long-awaited open house to view bike trail access options recommended by the Forest Park Single Track Cycling Committee. At the event, you'll have the opportunity to learn about all the options on the table, ask questions of committee members, and then offer your feedback to Portland Parks staff.

Three trail options will be presented at the open house. Details and accompanying trail maps of the options have not been fully released, but thanks to committee meeting notes and information provided by one of the committee members, we've got a good sense of what is included in each one.
(more...)

If you want to see more of this
in Forest Park, come to the open
house on Tuesday.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Portland Parks & Recreation will host an open house on Tuesday (April 20th) to hear feedback on how to improve access to single track mountain bike trails in Forest Park. The event comes after eight months of meetings by the Forest Park Single Track Cycling Advisory Committee, which was formed in response to public demand for expanded riding options in the park.

Open house attendees will be asking questions of the committee members and provide input on their trail access and park management recommendations. Local mountain bike advocacy group, The Northwest Trail Alliance is calling the open house "a unique opportunity to show your support for more single track bike trails in Forest Park!"
(more...)

In Forest Park, near location where Land
Rovers were spotted.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Back in February, dogged by intense media attention and reprimand from Portland Parks & Recreation, mountain bike advocates were forced to defend an illegal trail that was discovered in Forest Park.

Now comes word that a pair of Land Rover SUVs were caught illegally driving on a trail in Forest Park and it's likely that you haven't even heard about it.

According to Stephen Hatfield with the Forest Park Conservancy, on March 17th one of their board members, Barbara Nelson, was running on the upper section of the Saltzman Road fire lane when she heard a strange sound. Hatfield says, "She happened to hear some activity over the side of the trail and she looked over the edge and there were two Land Rovers on a connector trail - a short piece of single track." (more...)

Commissioner Fish in front of a map of
Forest Park at a roundtable
discussion last April.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Exactly one year ago today, newly elected City Commissioner Nick Fish made a bold proclamation about the future of mountain bike access in Forest Park. Following an unprecedented groundswell of community enthusiasm and activism calling more bike access in the 5,000 acre urban natural area, Fish told me, "I think there is a need and there is a demand and my job is to see how we can make that happen. I’m not interested in delaying this.”

Fresh off his election to City Council and as the newly appointed commissioner in charge of the Parks bureau, Fish said he brought a "fresh look" at the situation. He continued:

"My interest is not in studying this to death, it’s seeing what we can actually do. I assume everybody comes to the table in the good faith. I am committed to finding ways to significantly expand our current inventory of single track trails."

(more...)