Author Archives: 44trails

Hood River Mountain Bike Trails – 44 Trails Conditions Report

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Hood River Mountain Bike trails

Attention 44 riders, we’ve been busy clearing spring blowdown on Hood River’s finest single track. Here’s the latest update on what trails have been cleared and are ready to ride in the 44 zone for Memorial Day weekend:

44 trails conditions report44 Trails Conditions

Dog River Trail # 675 – open
Surveyor’s Ridge Trail #688 – open
Knebal Springs Trail #474 – open
Bottle Prairie Trail #455- open
Eightmile Trail #496- open
Oak Ridge Trail #688A – open
Super Connector – open

Fifteenmile Trail #456 – Clear
Cooks Meadow Trail #639 -Clear

Higher elevation trails including upper 450, Boulder Lakes area and Bonnie Meadows have not been cleared of blowdown and are still too wet to ride. Please refrain from riding upper elevation areas that are still wet. Riding wet trails degrades the tread and fuels the argument for those who oppose mountain bike use.

Please respect the multi-use aspect of all trails in the 44 Zone and be prepared for new downed trees and changing conditions. There’s still some trail damage on open trails where downed trees have torn up the existing tread or uprooted trees have blown out the tread, so be alert for hazards. In other words, respect your fellow users and use your head! Have fun out there this weekend.

Hood River mountain bike trail conditions

Spring 2016 Trail Update

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44 trails mt hoodSpring has come early this year and the high country snow around the 44 zone is rapidly melting away! The 44 road is fully open, but some of the spurs – including the 4410 road to High Prairie – are still blocked by snow.

As usual, winter has left us with a mess of blowdown on the trails. We are working on getting things cleared out, albeit slowly.

Here’s what’s currently been cleared:

  • Surveyor’s Ridge north of the two track (Shellrock Mountain)
  • Knebal from 8-Mile trailhead north to Super Connector
  • Dog River (full)

We hope to have Knebal/Super Connector/Dakine Trail trail clear to the Knebal parking area this week (May 15-20) and, hopefully, 15-Mile, remaining Surveyor’s and more by Memorial Day weekend.

Of course, new trees could come down and there’s always a little more brush leaning in on the trails this time of year until they fully spring back from being buried all winter.

FYI, attempting to ride uncleared trails will yield varying success. Depending on the degree of blowdown, you might get an open mile or two only to find yourself faced with an extensive stretch of climbing and bike carrying. So, if you head up to explore, be ready for an adventure. The spring brushout of blowdown is a chainsaw intensive project that requires being certified by the USFS, so we have a select crew of certified sawyers making their way through the network as time allows. If you are up exploring and hear saw work, please approach slowly!

We should have a new trail conditions update by May 20. In the meantime, the lower elevation trails around the Hood River Valley are in fine form. Happy riding.

Mark your calendars for the following events:
July 9 – second annual TRAILGATE event – ride 44 zone, eat, drink and music –
details soon – read about last year’s event

July 23 – Cooks Meadow Extension Trail work – read about Cooks Meadow Extension
Aug 20 – Cooks Meadow Extension Trail work – read about Cooks Meadow Extension
Sept 24 – Surveyor’s/Super Connect connector – more details on this project in June
Oct 8 – Surveyor’s/Super Connect connector – more details on this project in June

 

Polallie Cooper Timber Sale

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Polallie CooperIn case you were not aware, the Forest Service is preparing a longterm timber / fuels reduction plan, aka a Timber Sale, for what is called the Polallie Cooper area on the east side of Mt Hood.

The Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Polallie-Cooper Timber Sale was released recently and the public comment period ends on February 25, 2016.. 

You can download and view a pdf copy of the Polallie-Cooper EA here. It’s a long (300+page) document, but one of the critical concerns to 44 Trails is the USFS proposal to move ahead with a 55-foot buffer on either side of trails that fall within the timber sale. This means cutting to within 55 feet of either side of existing trails.

44 Trails Association, among other groups involved in a collaborative process before the EA was completed, suggested a 100-foot buffer (on each side) be used. The idea behind our 100-foot per side recommendation is to preserve the quality of the trail user experience as much as possible. The trail user experience being based on forest quality and trail/tread quality, both of which, we believe, are directly related to forest canopy where more forest canopy equals a better experience and better tread quality/durability.

Of the trails impacted by the proposal, the Dog River Trail (#675) is the highest profile within the mountain bike community. Not only, could the proposal result in cutting within 55 feet of the trail, it will surely impact the trail with extended closures while the work is being done.

There is a public meeting on Weds., Feb. 10 from 5 to 7 pm at the Hood River fire station in next to the pool in Hood River. We hope to see you there.

This is an important opportunity to let the Hood River Ranger District hear your opinion of the proposal.

You can also submit written comments to the Forest Service, by February 25th, your opinion could help preserve the riding experience on the Dog River Trail and beyond into the future.

To comment or to learn more
contact: Casey Gatz – Interdisciplinary Team Leader
(541) 352-1255 cgatz@fs.fed.us
www.fs.usda.gov/projects/ mthood/landmanagement/projects

Download Polallie Cooper Timber Sale Environmental Assessment