This ride will never be in the Rails-to-Trails Hall of Fame, but if you like a bit of an adventure, and can tolerate a wide variety of settings over a short period of time, give it a go!

I rode the length of the trail, starting and ending in Boring, and extended the ride a bit by crossing over the Willamette to Portland using the Iron Bridge.

Boring to Gresham, lush and green, few streets, very pleasant. About 7 miles in toward Portland, the side effects of America's struggle to provide adequate housing for those that desire it begin to show up: abandoned shopping carts, piles of trash, burn piles. The homeless camps from Mile 13 into about Mile 9 are ramshackle, creative, and sometime surprisingly high tech. Look close, and listen, and you'll see solar panels, hear generators running, and see discarded propane tanks. At no point did I encounter any hostility or aggression from the camp dwellers.

A bit farther down the trail (mile 8ish?) there is a discontinuity in the trail, and for possibly a mile you follow a tree-lined city street. If there were signs, I missed them, and was grateful to a bicycle riding couple that got me back on track.

Back on the path, a nice run into Portland, with a very pleasant section that parallels the river, popular with walkers, runners, bikers, twisting along the shoreline, dipping down for a bit onto a very cool pontoon supported metal pathway that is designed to adjust itself for changes in river level. There is one more on the street section here, but it is well marked/signed.

Turn around, head back, mild grade to climb, gaining maybe 600 feet over 15ish miles. Not hard. The street crossings come and go, and do require both caution and patience. With my slight extension to the other side of the river, 47 mies roundtrip.

So..excellent ride to cross off on your Rails-to-Trails list. Best approached with curiosity, patience, and acceptance of life styles that do not resemble your own. Didn't see many kids (some, but not many), and between the fairly heavy human traffic (skate boarders, in-line skaters, runners, walkers, etc.), the frequent street crossings and the sections that are impressively trashed out, I can see why many parents would choose a tamer adventure. Glad I did it (really!), don't feel the need to do it again any time soon.

Good for a quick ride, relatively flat throughout. Watch out if the cottonwood trees are in bloom, and careful of the traction speed bumps on the bridge portion — they can make for an unsteady ride on a road bike for beginners.