Bacona, Greenville, Meacham, Mountaindale, Five Oaks, Philips, Lenox. Chances are, unless you’ve lived there, you’re a local history buff, or you’re a cyclist who likes to get off the beaten path, you’ve probably never heard of these oft-forgotten communities sprinkled throughout Washington County.
For Hillsboro resident Matt Traverso, these historic communities are the inspiration for what he calls the “Grand Cycling Tour of Washington County.” He’s on a mission to ride to all 150 (or so) small communities in the county — including abandoned logging camps and farming outposts that survive only as mysterious names on maps or on dilapidated wooden signs on the side of a dirt road.
Traverso is a PhD with a day job as a technical writer in the STEM field who also publishes articles on Medium about a wide range of topics from energy efficiency to gardening. He moved to Washington County in 2011 and says, “I won’t move again.” The county is Traverso’s “forever home,” and being a transplant has given him the curiosity to learn more about the area. Being a cyclist has given him the perfect vehicle to do it. Turns out that pedaling and pondering history pair perfectly.
On the website where he documents each ride (26 so far) with photographs and illuminating details about history, flora and fauna; Traverso says his goals for the Grand Tour are twofold: He wants to showcase Washington County as a top locale for cycling, and he wants more people to slow down and appreciate their surroundings.
“This is an exploration of our home,” Traverso writes on his website. “We tend to reduce our local environment to a few important places (work, home, shop, etc.). We ignore everything else as the junk we drive past. This is a community-driven journey to expand our perception of our surroundings. On each trip, I seek out the significant touchstones in each community to learn and share.”
He began this quest in September and far he’s about half-way done. He keeps a detailed record of which communities he’s explored on a map (see above) and his ride reports are excellent. If you are looking for inspiration or just need intel for fun cycling routes in Washington County, bookmark Traverso’s website and follow his adventures on Bluesky and/or Facebook.
Thanks for reading.
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I love this! Thank you for the article Jonathan. Matt, thank you for creating this project for yourself (and everyone else).
Thanks Matt! (Ring ringing my bike bell!) But damn, now I have another 26 + reasons to bike in Washington County (with my Washington state tourist dollars). 😉
Wow, really cool website and map! I’ve already picked out a few rides from Matt’s website that will make really great Sunday exploration jaunts. I especially like that he’s got rides for all abilities and comfort levels.
The picture in Cherry Grove has the church that I lived across the street from until 6th grade. I went sledding down that hill!
Also looks like Lee Falls in the top picture. Maybe not, haven’t seen it in forever. Probably a nice ride out there, I should do it this year.
Looked like a cool place so I looked it up. Google has lots of reviews saying Lee Falls is closed off, with everything posted no parking/no trespassing. Too bad.
That’s crazy. I haven’t been there in over 20 years probably, but the gate shown in the picture with no parking signs etc, has always been there as long as I can remember (so, maybe 35 years). I wonder if someone just set up more aggressive sounding signs, and added no trespassing? Apparently there was a fire so maybe they took that as an excuse to try and block all access. Ridiculous.
Author here. As you note, the gate has been there forever. As I understand it, the gate + no parking was intended to stop out-of-towners from throwing ragers while allowing locals access on foot.
I’m not the first person to write a trip report exploring the falls, either by bike, hike, or fly fishing. Strava heat maps show plenty of traffic, too. So it looks like the general consensus is that it’s ok to recreate here.
As far as I know, the road is public and virtually all the land is owned by Stimson Lumber. Stimson’s road policy: biking allowed outside of business hours. That makes the bikes authorized vehicles to me. The water employees I passed gave a friendly wave, if you want to view that as tacit permission.
There’s also a far more robust gate and fencing a few miles beyond the falls. It protects the drinking water and is undeniably a restricted area. I viewed the first gate as “no cars” and the second as “water employees only”.
That’s a lot of words to say “this seems OK to me“. This could be cleared up if the Washington County commission were to issue a definitive statement. I’m left to believe the ambiguity is by-design.
If you decide to go, be respectful. Leave no trace. Be prepared to turn back if there’s active logging or water maintenance. If you want to get drunk near a river, rent a pavilion at Cook Park instead.
This is super cool! Would love more stories like this. I know that I’m going against the common sentiment here, but WashCo is where most of the true gems of Portland-area rides are. So much beautiful wine country, farms, and rolling hills.
I’ve always wanted to get one of those pies.
As a relatively recent transplant from SE PDX to South Beaverton this is a fantastic resource. There is a lot to explore out here and I appreciate the ride options. Sometimes I like to explore on my own, and sometimes I like to have a specific route in mind. Cheers!