Portland Parks and Recreation is once again in the news with the discovery of an unauthorized bike trail in one of their natural areas. This time, according to a report by KGW TV, the trail is in a far less pristine location than the rogue trail in Forest Park that grabbed headlines back in February.
A series of a jumps and a single track trail has been discovered in the woods below a bluff above Swan Island in North Portland (off of N. Willamette Blvd.). Here’s a snip from the KGW story:
Parks officials have discovered the beginning of a dirt bike trail in what’s supposed to be a natural habitat area on the North Portland bluff.
Bikers carved trail embankments and small jumps into the earth.
I’m not sure what triggered KGW’s interest in this story (I didn’t see any formal press release from Parks about it), but there are a lot of illegal trails in Portland parks — and they’re made by all types of users (not just people that bike). Regardless, this is more bad PR for off-road advocates who are working to improve off-road bike trail access throughout the city.