Hood River Must Do Rides.

[climberevan]

We're in HR right now. I had a fantastic day today: up Oakridge, Surveyor's to Cook Meadow, down Lookout Mountain, 8 mile loop, then Bottle Prairie to Knebal, and down Dog River. 50mi, 9k'. Everything was good, but I'd skip the 8 mile loop next time (only took 30 mins though).

We're riding Post tomorrow, and heading generally N from here in a couple of days. Where should we go on the way to the Olympic peninsula, where we have some gravel stuff planned?

[TBS]

^^^Lewis River
plains of Abraham/Ape Caves

[s_squatch]

up Oakridge, Surveyor's to Cook Meadow, down Lookout Mountain, 8 mile loop, then Bottle Prairie to Knebal, and down Dog River. 50mi, 9k'.

Funny, I did a very similar ride to this yesterday, we probably crossed paths at some point out there. I was the solo kook riding a soma hardtail, probably looking very crushed.

Given your apparent fitness and appreciation of long rides, I'd suggest heading into the G.P. either on FS rd 23 or 25. have had this ride on my list for a while, probably going to give it a go in a couple weeks. https://ormtb.wordpress.com/2022-st-helens-epic/

Or fire this up in a day, https://bikepacking.com/routes/goat-...n-overnighter/. Haven't ridden there, but heard good things and I believe transcascadia was out there a couple years ago and did a bunch of work.

Also lots of good riding off the 23 rd between trout lake and randle. Easy driving from randle/hwy 12 up to the O.P.

[climberevan]

Thanks for the quick suggestions, guys! Yes, I remember seeing you out there, squatch. We were in the WinningBago parked next to you at the TH. I think I saw you at the midpoint of Cooks. The upper portion was covered in downed trees, so you didn't miss much if you didn't end up doing it.

We're trying to figure out how to do the GP rides, but my GF needs cell service to work M-F, so she's cramping my style somewhat. Next trip I'm just going to tell her she can either not work or not come.

[altasnob]

I get decent cell service from the trails at Capital Forest outside Olympia. I wouldn't go out of your way to hit it but sounds like it's on your way north.

[evdog]

Where should we go on the way to the Olympic peninsula, where we have some gravel stuff planned?

When you get to OP, a ride up Dungeness and down Gold Creek is highly recommended. https://www.trailforks.com/trails/go...k-trail-68304/

I'd second Ape Canyon/ Plains of Abraham. Awesome forested climb and then great views of Mt St Helens. Did that one on my trip last fall after Toiyabe Crest. Don't get sucked into the loop with Smith Creek.

[climberevan]

Or fire this up in a day, https://bikepacking.com/routes/goat-...n-overnighter/. Haven't ridden there, but heard good things and I believe transcascadia was out there a couple years ago and did a bunch of work.

Well, we ended up going straight to the OP, where we did a fun 3 day bikepack from the coast to Port Angeles. I also rode the local PA Zoo trails, which were very fun.

Yesterday I rode Osbourne Mt loop, which I highly recommend. It's been recently cleared, probably by moto guys.

Today, as suggested, I did the Goat Mt Gusto route in a single ride. It took just over 6h, with very significant downed trees, especially on Tumwater. Holy crap, though: this area is amazing. The lake in the middle where they suggested camping is absurd. I'll be back after a week or so in Bellingham etc.

[singlesline]

Any suggestions for shuttleable detours while driving along the columbia river highway?
Visiting my MIL in Portland in August and I could get my wife to drop me off at the top of something as long as the ride down doesn't leave her waiting for too long (or she has something to do in the meantime).

Something like this route seems like a reasonable contender:
https://www.trailforks.com/route/pos...lon=-121.65093

Looks like Syncline might be an option too, but a recent report on trailforks sounds like the road connection might be closed.

Will also have a free Saturday by myself--will take any recommendations for non-shuttle rides. Staying in Portland but happy to drive any direction.

[climberevan]

Based on what i experienced at Post, it's getting pretty dry. It will be pretty blown out by Aug in a lot of places, but the shuttle is really convenient.

If you can get her to detour south, starting at Bennett Pass and riding Gunsight to Lookout, then Bottle Prairie if you can handle the small climb out, then down Dog River would be a fun day. You can ride down Cooks to avoid the Knebal climb but BP it's worth it.

[Dantheman]

Something like this route seems like a reasonable contender:
https://www.trailforks.com/route/pos...lon=-121.65093

That would be pretty good. For some reason it skips Upper Grand Prix which you definitely don't want to skip. I'd also recommend deviating off that route at the top of El Dorado and riding 3 Blind Mice to 2 Chair 2 to X Chorus X. 2 Chair and X Chorus have some pretty big jumps, but they all have ride arounds and even if you skip them it's a super fun, the berms are on point.

If something more old school/backcountry-ish is your jam, check out Upper Cooks to Cooks Meadow to Dog River which is off OR-35 south of Hood River a ways.

[singlesline]

That would be pretty good. For some reason it skips Upper Grand Prix which you definitely don't want to skip. I'd also recommend deviating off that route at the top of El Dorado and riding 3 Blind Mice to 2 Chair 2 to X Chorus X. 2 Chair and X Chorus have some pretty big jumps, but they all have ride arounds and even if you skip them it's a super fun, the berms are on point.

This worked out great. We were delayed so I was racing daylight, but got in a full top-to bottom. Dirt Surfer was fun, I could ride that stuff all day.

Your deviations were on point. The Blind Mice-2 Chair 2-X Chorus X-FMX detour was solid. Eventually the features got too big for me to attempt solo/without time to inspect and backtrack (and eventually too big for me to do at all), but I had fun on some of the smaller doubles and it was nice just to see some of the big wooden features.

No idea why that route skipped Upper Grand Prix as that was a fantastic trail (and wasn't any harder than other stuff that they did include on the route like Bad Motor Scooter).

All in all, Post Canyon is a really cool spot. Must have rained a little because the trail wasn't too dry or blown out at all.

Later in the trip I did a day at Timberline's bike park. Surprisingly mellow. I rode every single trail that was open and nothing was too much for me to go into blind. The new B-52 trail was way too dry and loose still, but should be super fun when it beds in a little more.

Also pedaled some laps at Sandy Ridge. Nice mix of stuff in there and having the climb road fully paved feels luxurious. Flow trails were in much worse shape than Post Canyon--big brake bumps in the berms, etc.--but the techy stuff was neat.

[Particle]

That would be pretty good. For some reason it skips Upper Grand Prix which you definitely don't want to skip. I'd also recommend deviating off that route at the top of El Dorado and riding 3 Blind Mice to 2 Chair 2 to X Chorus X. 2 Chair and X Chorus have some pretty big jumps, but they all have ride arounds and even if you skip them it's a super fun, the berms are on point.

If something more old school/backcountry-ish is your jam, check out Upper Cooks to Cooks Meadow to Dog River which is off OR-35 south of Hood River a ways.

BUMP! DTM what were your faves from the trip?

Going to be up at Hood June 17-25 camping and hanging while my kiddo does a ski race camp. I haven't been to the PNW since pre-pandemic, kinda beyond excited and want to do it ALL but know I need to narrow the focus. Stuff I've heard of and probably want to hit:

-Sandy Ridge
-Post Canyon
-Syncline (I rode this once ~15 years ago, awesome)
-Hood area? Bike parks? Didn't they close permanently due to lawsuit?

What can't I miss? Thanks for any help maggots. Might also do a day or two in Bend area - think I can figure that one out well enough though.

[Laps]

Following. Will be in Randall area Aug 10-18 with wife. Any chance there are shops that rent worthwhile mtbs or should I slog my own across the country?


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[Sinfield]

Syncline isn’t worth it in June, especially with the rate stuff has been heating up/drying out already this year. 44 trails would be a better choice then.

[Mani_UT]

Syncline isn’t worth it in June, especially with the rate stuff has been heating up/drying out already this year. 44 trails would be a better choice then.

Not worth it because they are better choices?
I think syncline rides well all year long. For someone looking for scenery I think it's still worthwhile IMHO.

[singlesline]

-Hood area? Bike parks? Didn't they close permanently due to lawsuit?

Ski bowl closed theirs, but Timberline is open and expanding--I rode there last summer.

Though depending what you are looking for, "expanding" might be the key word there. They didn't really have any big jump lines/features or anything (and I believe the smaller option was closed). Mostly blue/green flowy stuff and some harder technical trails. Definitely not an extreme bike park (maybe wary of that lawsuit?), way bigger stuff and flowier berms at Post Canyon.

The longest new trial (B52?) was freshly cut and in desperate need of precipitation to help bed it in--perhaps a winter's worth of snow will have helped there, because it had potential to be a pretty fun lap.

Edit: to be clear, it was still pretty fun though but it felt more like "regular" riding with the benefit of a chair lift than "bike park" riding.

[Dantheman]

BUMP! DTM what were your faves from the trip?

Going to be up at Hood June 17-25 camping and hanging while my kiddo does a ski race camp. I haven't been to the PNW since pre-pandemic, kinda beyond excited and want to do it ALL but know I need to narrow the focus. Stuff I've heard of and probably want to hit:

-Sandy Ridge
-Post Canyon
-Syncline (I rode this once ~15 years ago, awesome)
-Hood area? Bike parks? Didn't they close permanently due to lawsuit?

What can't I miss? Thanks for any help maggots. Might also do a day or two in Bend area - think I can figure that one out well enough though.

We were only able to ride Post and Cooks-Dog River so I can't comment on anything else. If you've never ridden Post that's a must-ride. Super convenient and the trail building is amazing. Must-rides in Post for me would be Blind Mice, 2 Chair 2, X Chorus, Bad Motor Scooter, Grand Prix (can link all these up easily into one descent), Blade Runner, and Mitchell Ridge. El Dorado is a really nice climbing trail. We didn't manage to ride Dirt Surfer but that's supposed to be great, too.

Upper Cooks-Cooks Meadow-Dog River was a great backcountry ride. Tons of "riding an Imperial speeder through the forests of Endor"-type sections. Highly recommended if you can swing the shuttle (and assuming it's snow free and the deadfall has been cleared, both might be iffy mid-June).

Punch Bowl Falls is a really cool swimming hole, but the water will probably be pretty brisk in mid-June.

[muted reborn]

Ski bowl closed theirs, but Timberline is open and expanding--I rode there last summer.

Though depending what you are looking for, "expanding" might be the key word there. They didn't really have any big jump lines/features or anything (and I believe the smaller option was closed). Mostly blue/green flowy stuff and some harder technical trails. Definitely not an extreme bike park (maybe wary of that lawsuit?), way bigger stuff and flowier berms at Post Canyon.

The longest new trial (B52?) was freshly cut and in desperate need of precipitation to help bed it in--perhaps a winter's worth of snow will have helped there, because it had potential to be a pretty fun lap.

Edit: to be clear, it was still pretty fun though but it felt more like "regular" riding with the benefit of a chair lift than "bike park" riding.

I regretted spending a morning at T-Line bike park (even with a free ticket) after realizing what was around the corner at Sandy ridge, later that same day when I went to SR.

[Particle]

Not worth it because they are better choices?
I think syncline rides well all year long. For someone looking for scenery I think it's still worthwhile IMHO.

Mani are you in HR now?! Sick. LMK if you want to ride a bit. And coming from Utah, kitty litter will feel like buff loam goodness up there. Thanks for all the beta everyone, good stuff.