Find the top rated bike trails in Castle Rock, 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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What a stunning trail! Absolutely gorgeous . We are gravel bikers so the terrain felt amazingly smooth with some bumps here and there— but they are marked. The elevation gain from Banks to midpoint (Stubs state park) is 1000 feet. It’s a slow grade incline and manageable on a good bike. Oregon takes such good care of its state parks and trails. Bravo!
I rode between the west end and St.John’s Rd…a Saturday…my first time on this trail. This part of trail is in excellent shape yet directional signage is poor, non existent or damaged and as a result I ended up on one dead end spur where it appeared I stumbled into some drug dealing or use…did a quick U turn! There are also no mile markers and the trail changed names 3 times on this section: Burnt Bridge, Ellen Davis and Discovery trail. More confusion! That said I’ll attempt the entire route soon and provide an updated review then.
As the description indicates, this trail is only partially paved, a lot of it has large, loose gravel adding significant time and effort to the pedaling. Additionally, the hill climbs are much steeper than any rail-trail; I'd guess only about half was actually a former rail line. We started in Scappoose and went all the way to Vernonia Lake, ending at the same place as the Banks-Vernonia trail but much more tired! However, the trail has the same beautiful scenery as can be expected in this part of the country--just plan for a longer, more arduous ride!
We stayed at Columbia River RV and rode from the RV Park to the first section of Marine Drive Trail - I saw that the I-205 joins directly there so we took it south. I saw that it went over the two bridges of the Columbia river so we gave that a try. Wow. It is a bike path in the middle of the bridge with northbound traffic whizzing by on one side and southbound on the other. The noise!! LOL The path is barricaded by a concrete wall on both sides and then a metal guard rail on top of that. So honestly felt safe enough. We did the first mile over the first bridge and then turned around. It was an experience to say the least. (We are both 79) Then we continued south on the trail for about 6 miles. I like this kind of trail - kind of urban-lots to look at. Some industrial/one section of beautiful older houses. We didn't get to any homeless but in the distance I could see a big tent setup. We have ridden lots of trails with homeless and never been bothered but I know it does bother some people. Sometimes we stop to talk with them and all have a sad story. I would definitely ride this again if in the area-we are from AZ just roaming in our small RV with ebikes on the back staying out of the AZ heat.
Day #1 We started at the Pisgah Trailhead Parking and rode north. I think a lot of this was asphalt at some point but most of it has deteriorated to hard pack dirt and small gravel. There are short sections where the asphalt returns. Its about 5 miles to the Ruley Trailhead-we rode another 3 and then turned around. It was gorgeous. Huge tree canopy the whole way. Lots of ferns/heavy moss on trees and we saw a deer on the bike path.
Day#2 - parked at the same place and rode south. The terrain is much more open and as you go south the pavement returns. It's only about 4.5 miles to the end of the trail so we rode Dike Road for several miles. No traffic and at one point you can ride to the top of the dike and see the moored boats and floating houses.
We are just roaming around in our small RV with the ebikes on the back - staying out of the heat of AZ-so I'm glad we got to do this trail and we love all trails pretty much but I wouldn't go out of my way to do it again.
We stayed at the Columbia River RV Park and rode out of the park along Marine Drive for .8 miles and picked up the trail. If you look at the Traillink map the 3 sections are not joined together. But we rode the road between sections with no problems. There is a designated bike path on the road (not as wide as I would like it) but we are both 79 and average riders and did it with no real problems. The distances are short between the sections. The bike path is sometimes right on the river up on a "dike" and then crosses Marine Drive for periods on the other side. We had no problem following the path and enjoyed it all. Only saw about 6 other bikes. Really very few walkers except for a special 3K event by the police dept but it was no problem.. So we did not quite finish the third section - went a total of 12 miles and turned around. So probably another 3? miles to the end. The river was like glass this day. Any ride with water is a great ride for us.
My wife and I were concerned about the reviews that we read about this trail regarding the pavement being in poor shape.
We rode from Banks to the State Park (cannot remember the name of it). The state park is about 10 miles into the trail from Banks.
Most of the trail was in decent shape. There are roots that have elevated the pavement to make bumps, but they are mostly avoidable.
There is one section where the trail is in really rough shape. It was even bumpy on a mountain bike. But still very rideable.
We did see several people on thin tired road bikes. So it does not scare everyone away.
I personally would not ride it on a road bike.
From mile 5 to 10 it is a steady up hill grade. We were able to average 6 mph on this section without a lot of effort.
Coming back was very fast. I hit 21 mph at one point.
Overall it was an enjoyable ride. I would ride this trail again if I was in this area again.
This well maintained path from nowhere to nowhere seemed like a commuters pathway. It is not scenic and follows the high voltage power lines mostly. A couple of parks along the way and two LARGE homeless camps.
Overall this is a very nice but in need of better maintenance. I echo those that would love a new surface, but fully understand the challenge of finding funding. I rode the Vernonia to Stubb Steward state park section the other day. While some efforts have been made to improve the bridge approaches several still need additional work. And efforts to demarcate other trail hazards (dips, root bumps etc) should be repainted to highlight them for safety’s sake. Due to the shade/sun nature of the trail for much of its length old eyes don’t adjust as quickly as the once did and the faded paint warning are not as affective as they were when first new installed
I’ve trained on this paved trail for years! It’s well maintained, safe, and doesn’t have crazy elevation. The pedestrian 205 bridge is the most challenging uphill, but it’s also good elevation practice without taking up too much of the path. Intersections are hit or miss, but the gaps in between are still good stretches of trail. A great urban trail if you live around here.
Came to do a long run. Couldn’t finish because the hills are so intense. But, it’s a beautiful trail and well maintained!
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