Note: I'm currently on a family trip and not working normal hours. Email and message responses will be delayed and story and posting volumes here and on our social media accounts will not be at their usual levels until I return to Portland September 4th. Thanks for your patience and understanding. - Jonathan Maus, BikePortland Publisher and Editor
Our latest video (by Amit Zinman) shares the sights and sounds of the recent Hidden Gems of the Springwater Corridor ride.
Veteran ride leader Tom Howe began in Sellwood and shared several cool stops on the way to Leach Botanical Garden in east Portland. We learned some train and trolly trivia, pondered the history of Johnson Creek, and took time to see beyond the obvious edges of the Springwater path.
Enjoy the video!
Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)
Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, contact me 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 paying subscriber.
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We need a MAP! There is SO much I’ve been missing!
Agreed, does the ride leader, Tom, have a ride with GPS route perhaps?
Plug for Deep Creek Park. The Springwater doesn’t have to end in Boring. For those adventurous few who enjoy a hikabike, not even in Barton!
How do you cross Deep Creek to avoid going to Barton via Amissiger Rd? It is fine to take Amisigger TO Barton because you’re screaming downhill but going back to Boring is pretty sketchy as car traffic treats this like a highway and there are places where guard rails cause tight spots. Tickle Creek Rd, while great, adds a bunch of mileage and vertical and isn’t for everyone.
There are two crossings. N Fork of Deep Creek and Deep Creek respectively. Both require you to ford at your own risk. The crossings are easily fordable in the Summer, and less so during times of heavier rain. Both Crossings are on public property (within Deep Creek County Park). Yeah Amissiger is awful. I don’t ride it. Tickle Creek Road is fine, but then you have to ride 211. I don’t ride that either. After crossing you’re on the Cazadero until past Eagle Creek. Hence the importance of these crossings.
As far as I know the effort to provide easy access to the ROW and build bridges across the creeks remain indefinitely stalled, primarily due to staffing shortages.
Is the goat farm still on the Springwater, near Powell Butte?
You mean sheep?
He means sheep….
Last I saw the goats were at 92nd and Ellis in Lents.
It has been a long while…
Goats are back in North Portland along the cut.
Be careful if you ride here with kids. Unfortunately a lot of unstable people on the Springwater. Leach Gardens has a lot of unsavory characters. I personally had a bad experience there. I now avoid it.
This video is the Portland experience in a nutshell: pretend that the mildly interesting stuff is amazing while ignoring the multiple screaming, stomping elephants in the room.
The truly real gems of the Springwater Corridor that nobody wants to mention, as with all long bike trails, are the best places to go to the bathroom. But a video about that might be too much information….