New trail opens at Sandy Ridge mountain bike area

Detail of new trail.s

The Sandy Ridge Trail System just gets better and better. The trail network, already a huge hit with off-road biking enthusiasts around the region (check out our coverage of it here), has just added a new bridge and a new section of trail.

According to the Northwest Trail Alliance, a temporary closure of the area ended on July 24th and is now re-opened “with some very welcome additions.” The new features include a bridge over Little Joe Creek and a brand new section of trail. A new, 2.25 mile loop has been added to the Three Thirty Eight trail and it includes a technical, rock drop section and a bypass for less experienced riders who’d rather avoid it.

New bridge over Joe Creek.
(Photo: Michael Whitesel)

The new bridge was built by the Bureau of Land Management to the tune of $60,000. The NW Trail Alliance says the bridge will help by “saving wear and tear on the streamside and keeping rider’s feet dry.”

With this new addition, Sandy Ridge now has 6.5 miles of trail. The BLM, working with NW Trail Alliance and the International Mountain Bicycling Association, continues to add trails and eventually plans to have a total of 16-18 miles of singletrack.

In addition to being an extremely popular destination for mountain bikers throughout the region (it’s about a 40 minute drive from Portland), Sandy Ridge will also play host to the Oregon Super D downhill racing series. The Sandy event is slated for September 5th. Contact Brandon Ontiveros at brandon[at]oregonsuperd[dot]com if you’d like to volunteer for the event.

You can download a PDF of the updated Sandy Ridge trail guide via the BLM website.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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MadKnowledge
Steve
13 years ago

Good to see this place progressing, the whole 16-18 miles can’t come soon enough. As it is right now (with only 6.5 miles), it hardly seems worth the drive unless you want to take a few laps of the same stuff. Not knocking the project–I think it’s fantastic– I’m just eager for it to be built to a reasonable length.

Brian
Brian
13 years ago

The new trail (338) is fantastic, thanks for the coverage Jonathan. Great technical climb with a bunch of table tops and hippers on the way down. This area keeps getting better and better, and it is just the tip of the iceberg. Thanks to all who have contributed to the project with dollars and/or sweat. Please consider joining the Northwest Trail Alliance (nw-trail.org) so that projects like this can continue to happen.

RWL1776
RWL1776
13 years ago

This former PUMP member would like to thank all of those former PUMP members, and other MTBers, who came out to the public input meeting 3+ years ago, and told the BLM “this is the plan we want”…..and now you’ve go it!

Thank You to the NWTA for carrying on in the fine tradition of PUMP and expanding riding opportunities for MTBers in the PDX area.

LONG LIVE PUMP!

Logan
Logan
13 years ago

It’s so great to hear about mountain bike trail success stories like this. I hope that the cooperation between land managers and and the mountain bike community seen here can be used as a model in the future. Let’s build!

DP
DP
13 years ago

“As it is right now (with only 6.5 miles), it hardly seems worth the drive unless you want to take a few laps of the same stuff.”

Man, it is totally worth the drive, and I’ve got no problem riding multiple laps there. By the time you get to the bottom, I can’t wait to get back to the top and ride it again. It will be nice when there is more trail though, I agree.

f5
f5
13 years ago

Anyone who says it isn’t worth the drive hasn’t been there.

Bjorn
Bjorn
13 years ago

I have to say I think it is more than worth the drive. Also one thing to remember if you ride it all you also ride up 4+ miles on the road so even just riding everything once puts you over 11 miles.

alan
alan
12 years ago

I took the plunge yesterday and loved it, best track I have ever ridden. But I think the upper half is classified wrong. I don’t think it is intermediate, more on the advanced side and dangerous.