Find the top rated bike trails in Astoria, whether you're looking for an easy short bike trail or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a bike trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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The Banks-Vernonia State Trail stretches through the hills (east of the Coast Mountains) between its two namesake towns. The former railroad corridor—once part of the Spokane, Portland & Seattle...
The Kestrel Dune Trail is one of several multi-use pathways in the park that houses historic Fort Stevens, built at the mouth of the Columbia River near the end of the Civil War. The trail begins on...
The Astoria Riverwalk, also known as the Astoria River Trail, stretches along part of the Astoria & Columbia River Railroad, providing a lively, nonmotorized tour of the city's waterfront. Along the...
An adventure awaits those who tackle all, or part, of the 56-mile-long Willapa Hills Trail in southwestern Washington. The former Northern Pacific Railway line rolls through remote farm and forestland...
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Castle Rock's popular Riverfront Trail originates at its main trailhead in Lion's Pride Park, which offers covered picnic areas. Following a dike north along the Cowlitz River from the park, the trail...
The Cowlitz River Trail follows its namesake river along a dike on the east bank. The trail is asphalt and connects Kelso residents with the riverfront. The trail parallels the active BNSF line that...
The Coweeman River Trail follows the dike on the west side of the river for 4 miles, giving access to the riverfront and Tam O'Shanter Park. The setting on the northern section is residential, and the...
As its name implies, the Seaside Promenade is a north-south route along the Pacific Ocean in the Oregon coastal community of Seaside. The Prom, as it's affectionately known, dates back to the 1920s...
The Discovery Trail is one of the most scenic in the Pacific Northwest with outstanding views of the ocean, grassy dunes and forest groves. As it's named for Lewis and Clark’s explorative trek here...
The Warrenton Waterfront Trail runs for nearly 5 miles through the small city of Warrenton, located near where the mighty Columbia River empties into the Pacific Ocean in northwestern Oregon. Portions...
The Coweeman River Trail follows the dike on the west side of the river for 4 miles, giving access to the riverfront and Tam O'Shanter Park. The setting on the northern section is residential, and the...
The Warrenton Waterfront Trail runs for nearly 5 miles through the small city of Warrenton, located near where the mighty Columbia River empties into the Pacific Ocean in northwestern Oregon. Portions...
The Kestrel Dune Trail is one of several multi-use pathways in the park that houses historic Fort Stevens, built at the mouth of the Columbia River near the end of the Civil War. The trail begins on...
The Astoria Riverwalk, also known as the Astoria River Trail, stretches along part of the Astoria & Columbia River Railroad, providing a lively, nonmotorized tour of the city's waterfront. Along the...
Castle Rock's popular Riverfront Trail originates at its main trailhead in Lion's Pride Park, which offers covered picnic areas. Following a dike north along the Cowlitz River from the park, the trail...
The Banks-Vernonia State Trail stretches through the hills (east of the Coast Mountains) between its two namesake towns. The former railroad corridor—once part of the Spokane, Portland & Seattle...
The Discovery Trail is one of the most scenic in the Pacific Northwest with outstanding views of the ocean, grassy dunes and forest groves. As it's named for Lewis and Clark’s explorative trek here...
The Cowlitz River Trail follows its namesake river along a dike on the east bank. The trail is asphalt and connects Kelso residents with the riverfront. The trail parallels the active BNSF line that...
As its name implies, the Seaside Promenade is a north-south route along the Pacific Ocean in the Oregon coastal community of Seaside. The Prom, as it's affectionately known, dates back to the 1920s...
An adventure awaits those who tackle all, or part, of the 56-mile-long Willapa Hills Trail in southwestern Washington. The former Northern Pacific Railway line rolls through remote farm and forestland...
As its name implies, the Seaside Promenade is a north-south route along the Pacific Ocean in the Oregon coastal community of Seaside. The Prom, as it's affectionately known, dates back to the 1920s...
The Banks-Vernonia State Trail stretches through the hills (east of the Coast Mountains) between its two namesake towns. The former railroad corridor—once part of the Spokane, Portland & Seattle...
The Astoria Riverwalk, also known as the Astoria River Trail, stretches along part of the Astoria & Columbia River Railroad, providing a lively, nonmotorized tour of the city's waterfront. Along the...
The Cowlitz River Trail follows its namesake river along a dike on the east bank. The trail is asphalt and connects Kelso residents with the riverfront. The trail parallels the active BNSF line that...
An adventure awaits those who tackle all, or part, of the 56-mile-long Willapa Hills Trail in southwestern Washington. The former Northern Pacific Railway line rolls through remote farm and forestland...
Castle Rock's popular Riverfront Trail originates at its main trailhead in Lion's Pride Park, which offers covered picnic areas. Following a dike north along the Cowlitz River from the park, the trail...
The Kestrel Dune Trail is one of several multi-use pathways in the park that houses historic Fort Stevens, built at the mouth of the Columbia River near the end of the Civil War. The trail begins on...
The Warrenton Waterfront Trail runs for nearly 5 miles through the small city of Warrenton, located near where the mighty Columbia River empties into the Pacific Ocean in northwestern Oregon. Portions...
The Coweeman River Trail follows the dike on the west side of the river for 4 miles, giving access to the riverfront and Tam O'Shanter Park. The setting on the northern section is residential, and the...
The Discovery Trail is one of the most scenic in the Pacific Northwest with outstanding views of the ocean, grassy dunes and forest groves. As it's named for Lewis and Clark’s explorative trek here...
The first part of the trail was in great shape with well maintained bridges and nicely compacted gravel. Our gravel bikes handled the conditions nicely. Things changed dramatically once we passed Pe Ell, starting with the 1st of 3 ancient railroad bridges. There was no signage to warn cyclists that the bridges are not rideable & barely walkable, so I was on the first bridge before realizing its poor condition. I had no choice but to continue. It was terrifying! WALK your bike CAREFULLY across these bridges. Just west of Lebam, the trail suddenly appeared closed, with no signage to indicate a detour. Luckily a resident saw our puzzled faces and directed us to stay right on Robertson Rd and look for an unsigned path leading down to the left about a half a mile from the closure. After that, sections of the trail were so overgrown with grass and blackberries that it was difficult to see obstacles and we had to proceed slowly. Once we got past Frances, the conditions improved and we made it to Raymond, sore and tired.
After a great night's sleep in the Pitchwood Inn, we rode back to Chehalis, opting to bypass the middle section of the trail by taking Mill Creek Rd/Elk Creek Rd before rejoining the trail in Doty. Be forewarned, Mill Creek Rd turns into a gravel logging road with a much steeper grade than the trail.
Better signage, bridge improvements and overall maintenance on the middle section would make for a more enjoyable ride on the Willapa Trail, but all in all, it was a great adventure!
I rode the trail on Saturday, April 21st from east to west, using a Jamis Renegade with 700x40 tires. Some sections were slow going because the surface was not well compacted, but rideable.
Just to the west of Lebam, I detoured to the road, but was able to quickly jump back on the trail via what appeared to be a driveway, though ‘no trespassing’ signs don’t appear until you reach the trail and the private drive begins on the opposite side of the trail.
Around mile 44, I encountered lots of mud that was not rideable. This muddy section continued for a few miles.
A very small section is blocked off by concrete blocks around mile 48.75 because the river is eroding the hillside. I tip toed through on the trail, but you really have no idea if this is solid ground. Be smart and go around it.
All in all, it was a great ride but challenging in some areas. Well marked until you get to 101. Just remember to go left at that point. I missed that turn.
Near the West end the map shows the trail as veering North on the Columbia Forest Road. You can go this way, but the CZ Trail actually crosses the Scappoose-Vernonia Hwy about 16.7 miles from Scappoose. Google Maps shows it continuing on Pebble Creek Mnln (whatever Mnln means). Strava identifies the road as Crown Zellerbach Trail. Signage identifies Pebble Creek Mnln as the CZ Trail. Pebble Creek Mnln turns in to E Knott Street in Vernonia.
The trail is very lovely. Smooth packed gravel for the most part. Wet and a bit muddy in places when I road it on New Years Eve. If riding in winter use wide tires. I had 2.25" and was glad for it.
My wife and I rode this trail for the first time July 20 and 21, 2017 (a Thursday and Friday). Our plan was to ride Banks to Vernonia, stay overnight in Vernonia, and return the next day. On Thursday we drove from the Olympic Peninsula in Washington to Banks, arriving around noon. We were shocked to find that the State allows no overnight parking in the trail head parking lot. Besides that, the parking lot which holds about 30 vehicles (about half for compact cars) was full and there was only one compact space left which we could not use b/c we drive a minivan. We discovered a bicycle shop "Banks Bicycle Shop" 503-596-2433 adjacent to the trail head where we received some suggestions of where we could park from the very helpful staff which solved our problem. We have heard that the shop will actually come out on the trail to provide assistance. We also visited the Sheriffs office where we were told by the office staff that they thought we could park on the street for 48 hours without a problem. Our bikes are hybrids and we ride with a handlebar bag, trunk bag, and for an overnight ride, panniers. We noticed most of the bikes on the trail were road bikes with no gear at all, so their experience may be different than ours. The trail is black top all the way and scenery abounds. Yes, the trail has a number of root bumps, but most are well marked with paint stripes. Also, the beginning and ending of the bridges have significant bumps, but you just have to be aware of this. The first 4 or 5 miles are flat, or perhaps a very slight grade. However, the next 7 miles is a steady, unrelenting 5% grade and by the time we got to about the 12 mile point, we were very disappointed. About that time we met another biker who told us we were nearly at the top and we would soon begin the descent. Just before arriving in Vernonia there was a slight upgrade, but nothing much. We arrived at our B&B, "The Carpenter's House" and spent a very comfortable night. The next day we looked forward to "payback time". We rode the gentle incline to "Hilltop" and then had a magnificent ride back to Banks. Had we known the extent of the upgrade on the first day, it would have been easier because we would have known it would not extend all the way to Vernonia, but most of the reviews speak only of switchbacks and steep incline, which are very short and insignificant for us in comparison to the unrelenting upgrade for 7 miles. The bottom line is, it is a beautiful trail and a beautiful area and the answer to the question of whether we would do it again is "Yes!" because we would now be forearmed with knowledge of the trail layout.
We start at 12th Ave public parking area...walk 2.5 miles to the COVE...back to 12th Ave. Total is close to 5 miles...very stroller friendly on the prom...
Beautiful morning ride. We started at 26th N. The farthest point north. The hotel there provides complimentary parking. Spectacular baby rollercoaster ride for 6.35 miles to Beard's Hollow. Got a little confusing there because the trail was gravel and steep after the bridge. We went back and found the trail to the lighthouse. Very Nice. Got directions from the park volunteer. We went back to the road, turned right up the hill and found the asphalt trail to Ilwaco. It was wet and slippery from fallen leaves. Control your decent carefully! My wife fell hard on the wooden bridge just before the end near Ilwaco. The bridge has "SLIPPERY WHEN WET" sign. IT IS!!! We walked the bridge on the way back. The next day we rode the dunes section again because it's absolutely gorgeous and not crowded on Monday.
I have used this trail extensively the past 5 years in preparation for Ironman 70.3. Great training course and easy transition area for bike to run. Having a place like this with ready access and no vehicle traffic is a wonderful resource for this area.
We ride this trail almost every day. .we love it. We also cross the bridge and ride around the fairgrounds. Peaceful ¿
We love this trail and do it often. The new rail bridges are beautiful.
This is a great forested section of trail that is beautiful and fun! As noted in other posts, it includes some ups and downs, and it is definitely worth checking out. during the summer, consider combining your walk/hike with a visit to the Saturday farmer's market at the Ilwaco waterfront, where the trailhead is located.
When the Trail turns to Ilwaco it is not paved and very steep, up and down and up and down. The rest of free trail was beautiful and fun.
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