Just wanted to update readers to this trail since previous reviews are outdated. The trail was repaved last summer (2010) and is much smoother East of 122nd! Finally! The bridges and all the construction are completed and there are no issues with this trail anymore besides the last section near Boring is still unpaved. Also, one can continue past Boring now. If you look past the gas station, you'll see where the trail picks up again. It continues for another 3 miles and is also unpaved, but covered with gravel and ends at a bridge abutment. In doing some Google research it appears that Metro is trying to buy the last few remaining areas to continue this trail much farther beyond Boring and into Estacada.

I took this trail end to end, well, the paved portion anyway. Overall, I found the trail to be quite well done, most of the large streets crossed had lights, and the signage was decent. Paving is rough in the Portland section, though it was quite tolerable on my cyclocross bike. The largest issue I found were the crossings not protected by a signal. Drivers were confused as to what to do, as well was I. Signage between the two sections of the trail in Portland near Sellwood were a little lacking, but wasn't tough to deal with.

That being said, being able to cross the entirety of the greater Portland area, during rush hour, without much fuss and a very short section of street riding, I'd give the trail a 8 out of 10.

Holy cow, this trail has got to be one of the bumpiest trails I've ever ridden on for one that claims to be asphalted. The entire trail is not as bad, but most of it is, unfortunately. My wife & I started at SE 182nd Avenue & biked west on a beautiful June day all the way to the amusement park (& onward). Around Gresham the scenery is very nice as one passes through rather bucolic settings. There's a bridge that has been condemned where you will need to veer onto local streets in Gresham, but the ride is fine. The absolute best part is the section that has brand new pavement as one approaches a cable bridge.

Be warned: SE Umatilla Street is currently undergoing construction. There are signs that tell you this.

I would ride this trail again, but not east of SE 122nd Avenue.

"East of the 3 bridges area, the asphalt has reached the end of its useful life. It really needs resurfacing. The detection loops for the traffic signals are too close to the road being crossed and forces the bicyclist to block the sidewalk. The loops need to be relocated to at least 20 feet away from the intersection. I did like that most of the traffic signals featured a red, yellow, and green signal for the path user. "

This trail desperately needs to be resurfaced over its entire length. It could be a great path to ride but is terrible in its current state.

"Starting in Sellwood on Umatilla Street, you can skate all the way to the Steel bridge, over to the west side and back over Hawthorne. There are only a few places with bad paving (between OMSI and Hawthorne bridge) but it is very short. It's a very fun trail. "

"The Springwater Corridor is a great bike path. The pavement from Portland to Gresham in nice shape. The gravel from Gresham to Boring is in nice shape too. Just east of 122nd Avenue, look for birds in the wildlife sanctuary. This is a great path for a daytime there-and-back bike ride."

"The Springwater Corridor, while a vast improvement from other routes, is not particularly frinedly to inline skaters with its choppy asphalt and tons of gravel and barkdust. The asphalt was in need of repair or replacement years ago; now all it serves is a great way to shred wheels. "

"By John O. Andersen, January 4, 2003

On Saturday, December 28th, 2002, my daughter Heidi and I rode a big part of Portland's Springwater Corridor, a former rail corridor that has been converted to a multi-use trail. It's one of some 1,203 trails nationwide that are listed online by the Washington, D.C., based Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.

We started our journey by cycling to the nearest light rail station to our home. We took our bikes onto the light rail train, and rode it downtown. We detrained at the Yamhill District stop.

At that point, we had hoped the light rain would've ended (after all, in Portland, it only rains at night and stops in the morning, right?). But no, it wasn't to be.

So we donned our budget raingear including plastic bags on our feet, and headed south in Waterfront Park, and then east over the Hawthorne Bridge.

We continued south along the Willamette, soon joining the brand new trail (adjacent to the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry) which connects downtown Portland with Sellwood.

Even though it was a wet, gray, and dismal day, we passed a few joggers, and perhaps one cyclist on this portion of the journey. Apparently we weren't the only crazies!

Notable on this leg of the journey, is the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge (with lots of Great Blue Herons--we saw a few), the floating houses on the Willamette, Ross Island, and easy access to the nearly a century old Oaks Amusement Park--hey Disneyland, you've got a few decades before you can claim that!

The paved trail goes under the Sellwood Bridge, and ends at Umatilla Street. From there, we cycled the quiet surface streets through Sellwood, until we connected with the Springwater Corridor via Johnson Creek Boulevard. The highlight of this segment was a short stop at ""Share-it Square"" at the corner of SE Sherrett and 9th Street. Dubbed as ""Portland's first neighborhood public gathering place,"" it sports a reading pavilion on one corner, a 24 hour teapot with clean cups on another, and a clothes/produce/information stand on yet another (with items available to anyone who wants/needs them).


The journey next took us through an industrial area that was nevertheless quite interesting. Just like riding on a train, bicycling on a former rail corridor, gives you views you'd never see if you were in a car. And being on a trail, away from automobile traffic makes the journey especially pleasant--even in the rain!

We rode a few miles with Mt. Scott prominently in front of us, then the trail verged to the northeast as we headed toward I-205. All crosswalks on busy roads were clearly marked. We felt very safe.

East of I-205, the trail goes between a few automobile junkyards. Seeing them from this perspective, rather than from a distance had we been driving, is very enlightening. I explained to Heidi the process of how our society disposes of cars, and why there are junkyards in the first place.

We stopped at a shelter for a very tasty tangerine, a swig of water, and a sandwich. Later, when we crossed SE 136th Avenue, we took a break at the country store. The clerk generously gave us new plastic bags for our feet. The original ones had holes in the bottoms as a result of the minimal walking around we had done.

The final part of the journey from there to Gresham Main City Park, was the most scenic. We skirted immediately to the south of Powell Butte Nature Park and continued to follow Johnson Creek. We passed by sheep grazing, and some horses as well. Birdwatchers would certainly find this part of the trail very rewarding.

Near Highland Drive, the trail is posted with lots of information about the Johnson Creek watershed, early history, and the flora and fauna. We didn't have time to stop and read all of it because we were planning to meet a friend at the Gresham Public Library at two p.m.

We arrived as planned, and explored a bit of historic Gresham. It struck me how I had never seen the charming old downtown. In the past, I had always blown through on the main highway in my carpet cleaning van.

After a satisfying lunch at an Italian restaurant (including the heavenly chocolate lasagna I had for dessert), we boarded the light rail train, and rode it all the way back to the Sunset Transit Center (on our side of town). Then, even though it was still raining (it never really stopped all day), and we could've waited for a bus, Heidi and I chose to ride the final two miles home. I know, gluttons for punishment, right?


Total distance for our ride: 22 miles. Here's the breakdown:

Home to light rail station: 2 miles
Downtown Portland to Sellwood: 4 miles
Sellwood to Gresham: 14 miles (including some 2 miles riding around Gresham)
Light rail station to home: 2 miles

The cycling portion of the trip took around four hours, but we could've done it much quicker had we not stopped so often for photos, and to make a home video.

But whether you're taking photos or not, there is more than enough to stop for along the way. On a dry day, and if you have a bit of curiosity and wanderlust, you could easily spend double that amount of time and still not see it all.

We're looking forward to that dry warm day, hopefully at the end of May, when Mandy and Kory will join us, and we'll do the whole thing all over again.

And then there are all those other great bike trails around Portland yet to be discovered.

Hmmmm! Sounds like we've got our hands full!"

"A great corridor that is bound to get better as Portland looks to make the connection to the Willamette River. The terrain is not very challenging and on a sunny weekend day, it gets fairly busy with good reason."

"I enjoy this trail quite often, and I enjoy seeing all of the families with their children, on bikes. It can get quite crowded, but that is a good thing, too. Many more cyclists to come!"