Overhead look at the Rocky Point Recreation Area via Google Maps. Rocky Point Road is in upper right corner.

At the end of last month the Portland-based nonprofit Northwest Trail Alliance (NWTA) announced a groundbreaking partnership with Weyerhaeuser Company that opened up 3,100 acres of off-road riding just 14 miles from downtown. While still raw and relatively undeveloped, the Rocky Point Recreation Area is the best and most expansive place for mountain biking and gravel grinding that doesn’t require an hour-plus drive for Portland residents.

Since we posted our story at the end of July, NWTA’s lease has become effective and the group has released more information about how to access the area. In order to start riding and exploring out at Rocky Point, here’s what you need to know:
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Riders at the entrance to the new park at a preview day last week.
(Photos: Timberline Lodge & Ski Area)

After nine years of court battles and delays, a new mountain bike part at Timberline Lodge is finally ready to ride.[Read more…]

Lease boundary map. Multnomah Channel and Sauvie Island are on the right.
(Click to enlarge)

Portland-based nonprofit Northwest Trail Alliance has signed a lease agreement with Weyerhaeuser that allows them to manage nearly 3,000 acres of forested land between Highway 30 and Skyline Road just 15 miles north of Portland City Hall.

To put the size of the parcel into perspective, it’s roughly equivalent to a section of Forest Park between the Thurman gate in northwest Portland and the St. Johns Bridge.

This is literally and figuratively a very big deal.

Known as the Rocky Point parcel because it straddles Rocky Point Road, the land offers a trove of opportunities for both gravel and singletrack trail riding. The northern part of the property (about 20% of total land on the lease) is already a well-known spot for mountain biking with access via turnouts on Rocky Point Road; but the trails are informal, undeveloped — and due to forestry operations — access is often closed without warning.
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Tom Armstrong from the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability is the lead project manager for the Off-Road Cycling Master Plan. I think it’s safe to say that he now has a much better understanding of what he’s working on.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Hoping to create a stronger appetite among policymakers for more off-road cycling trails, volunteer advocates with the Northwest Trail Alliance offered up a tasty appetizer on Friday.
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People turned out in large numbers for a 2015 rally to protest the lack of cycling access in River View Natural Area.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

It’s been over four years since the City of Portland embarked on an effort to create a master plan for off-road cycling. The draft of the Off-road Cycling Master Plan came out in November 2017.[Read more…]

The 26-acre Brock property in Lake Oswego’s Luscher Farm Area, a picture perfect site for close-to-home trail riding.
(Photo: Chris Rotvik)

Story by former Northwest Trail Alliance President Chris Rotvik.

It’s 2020. Tucked away in a semi-wooded corner of the 148-acre Luscher Area in Lake Oswego is Farr Bike Park (just 10 miles south of Portland), with trails designed by local builder Chris Bernhardt. Riders, many of whom pedaled in on BMX bikes and dirt jumpers, drop in to one of four lines — beginner to black diamond — and punctuate each run with the fist-bumps and bonding that flow like trails in this segment of off-road cycling.
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Oregon is ripe for more — and better — off-road cycling access. But it won’t happen unless we ask for it.
(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

On February 27th the Oregon Mountain Biking Coalition (OMBC) will host its first annual lobbying day in Salem.

The OMBC launched in October of last year with a mission to, “Advocate for, create, enhance, and protect mountain biking experiences in the state of Oregon.”
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Karey Miles and Deann Garcia enjoying the fruits of their labor atop Winter Rim above Summer Lake.
(Photos courtesy Rebecca Hamilton/West Coast Women’s Cycling)

The Oregon Timber Trail – a new, 669-mile backcountry singletrack route that a rider can follow from the California border to the Columbia River – is a gem of an idea poised to become the definitive off-road cycling experience in Oregon.

Don’t miss the event this Saturday (11/17)!

And as a new trail that’s only two seasons old (it launched in 2017), it’s a gem that’s still a little rough around the edges.

“The Oregon Timber Trail is a new, unrefined route.” notes the OTT website helpfully, “and this guide is likely to be incorrect or lacking in some sections.”

Heartened by these encouraging words, four women from the West Coast Women’s Cycling team (Deann Garcia, Aliza Richman, Karey Miles, and Heather Van Valkenburg, along with Bill Garcia) set out to ride the trail from its southernmost terminus in Lakeview up to Oakridge, a 305-mile stretch that covered all of the Fremont section and about half of the Willamette section (the trail is conveniently separated into four “tiers” to make trip-planning easier).
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A packed room for the OMBC Summit held last weekend in Bend.
(Photos: Gabriel Amadeus.

Oregon is home to some of the best off-road cycling anywhere. From mountains to deserts, the coast, and rivers — the diversity of terrain is matched only by the amount of the hard-working groups that tend the trails and make sure the best places to ride stay open and accessible.[Read more…]

Now you can get some of this without having to drive.
(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Love riding the trails at the Sandy Ridge Trail System; but don’t love the hour or so drive it takes to get there?

Or maybe you’ve wanted to ride there but don’t have a car and/or are philosophically opposed to driving to ride?

You’re in luck, because the great Fat Tire Farm bike shop in northwest Portland has launched a new shuttle service. And to make it even better, they’ve got a fleet of awesome rental bikes you can use on the trails.

Here are the details:
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