E-bikes are banned at Multnomah Falls Lodge and one man is working to change that

A.J. Zelada has seen the future of cycling in the Columbia River Gorge and it looks a lot different than it used to. There will be a lot more bicycle users and most of them will be on electric bikes. With some popular destinations in the Gorge managed by the US Forest Service, which still regulates e-bikes as motor vehicles, Zelada is worried that current policies and a lack of parking spaces will choke off growth of cycling in the “waterfall corridor” just as its popularity soars.

The current ban on e-bikes on the plaza outside of Multnomah Falls Lodge is an illustration of how outdated USFS policies that put e-bikes in the same vehicle category as cars and trucks set up a clash with the Oregon Department of Transportation’s adopted policy goal of making the corridor more transit and bicycle-oriented. Zelada thinks the ban is a bad policy and he’s working hard to change it.

Zelada is a long time cyclist and advocate who’s passionate about the Gorge. He was appointed by the Oregon Governor and served eight years on the Oregon Department of Transportation Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, he’s a board member of the Friends of Historic Columbia River Highway and in 2019 he created the Gorge Pedal bike ride.

Zelada has seen the rise of e-bike traffic in the Gorge, especially around Multnomah Falls (Oregon’s top tourist attraction). In summer of 2023 he observed 88 e-bikes arrive at the plaza outside Multnomah Falls Lodge at once. Those bikes overwhelmed the plaza as there were not enough places to park. USFS Recreation Staff Officer Stephen Elgart said in a June meeting of the Historic Columbia River Highway Advisory Committee that the bikes, “generated a safety concern.”

“The useful space in the plaza was impacted as bikes surrounded the planters,” Elgart said. “The USFS considers e-bikes motor vehicles, which are prohibited at the plaza. We are working with our partners to find spaces to put them.”

These concerns spurred the USFS to post a “No E-Bikes on Plaza” sign near the plaza entrance. Zelada thinks that’s a mistake and he wants the ban lifted. He also thinks the USFS should provide more (and better) bike parking and adopt a more bike-friendly stance in general.

“Cycling has changed. Cycling in the Gorge and also our nation is no longer men in lycra cycling for health benefits,” Zelada writes in his bike count report. “They want to see waterfalls, not count the speed nor the miles ‘conquered.’.. and no different than a vehicle, they want a parking place.”

Wanting to get ahead of the issue and gather data to inform policy conversations, Zelada and another volunteer worked with the USFS this past summer to install wildlife cameras and then analyzed the footage to get an accurate count of bikes on the plaza outside the lodge. That footage became the basis of a 19-page report published by Zelada that will present to the Historic Columbia River Highway Advisory Committee at their upcoming meeting on December 12th.

Zelada and his team photographed 10 different days during July, August, and September of this year. When the images came back they counted a total of 567 bicycle users. Of those, 67% were e-bikes. They also noted that a majority (62%) of e-bike riders parked longer than 30 minutes. By comparison, nearly 80% of all “pedal cyclists” (non e-bikes) parked less than 30 minutes and one out of four of them parked for less than 10 minutes. Zelada says this insight suggests non e-bike riders are just stopping for the bathroom and e-bike riders are more likely to be tourists stopping at the gift store and taking in the views of the falls.

Out of 80,000 total images snapped over the 10 days, Zelada saw just one person riding a bike on the plaza.

The counts make the issue clear: e-bike users need a safe and secure place to park, and the current policy banning them from the plaza makes that very difficult. Zelada says the ban at the lodge is at odds with USFS policy on several fronts.

“US Forest Service policy dictates regulations of e-bikes on USFS roads, trails, and grasslands. It does not have a policy for plazas,” Zelada states in the report. “The plaza is not a road nor a trail nor a grassland; it is a concrete plaza created in 1965.”

Zelada also notes in his report that the USFS encourages their own employees of the lodge to bike to work. “So staff using an e-bike for commuting would not be allowed to park their e-bike on USFS land,” Zelada writes.

“Workers at Multnomah Falls wouldn’t be allowed to use an e-bike to get to work, because e-bikes aren’t allowed on the plaza,” Zelada told me in an interview last month. “So there’s a schism between intention and reality. and upper-level management is being very restrictive about the prohibition on USFS land despite fact that their policy on e-bikes doesn’t really say that.”

To remedy the situation, Zelada wants USFS to lift the ban the e-bikes and create bike parking areas to manage demand.

One area Zelada has in mind is just west of the lodge along a wide shoulder that currently lies behind Jersey barriers. It’s a perfect spot, Zelada says, because it’s close to the plaza and has no other foot traffic. But USFS engineers say it’s too dangerous. “Studies do not indicate we will be able to add bike parking in the areas blocked by jersey barrier after the Eagle Creek Fire anytime soon,” Elgart said back in June.

Zelada believes safety concerns are nearly ubiquitous in the Gorge and that — despite concerns from USFS engineers — the location for a physically protected bike parking zone along the highway and near the plaza that could hold nearly 70 bicycles would be “ideal.”

Overall, Zelada feels like agencies with jurisdiction in the Gorge need to adopt a holistic bike-friendly policy in order to welcome riders into the corridor. The State of Oregon has spent hundreds of millions on the Historic Highway State Trail project in recent years with the specific intent of attracting cyclists. It behooves everyone to be on the same page when it comes to having policies that will allow Oregon to make good on that investment.

Elgart with USFS says they’re still collecting data and monitoring e-bike increases. “We do not have a date for when policies will be revised.”

Meanwhile, Zelada is sharing his report with everyone he can — including top brass at USFS. He’s playing a masterful inside-outside game, just as you’d expect from someone with decades of advocacy experience. When I talked to him last month, Zelada clearly understood the bureaucratic hurdles preventing a simple solution here. But he was still frustrated. “My goal is to get more parking. Come on! Let’s do something!” he exclaimed.

— If you’d like to learn more, tune into the livestream of the December 12th Historic Columbia River Highway Advisory Committee meeting. You can also download Zelada’s report as a PDF here.