Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in Kelso, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
The I-205 Multi-Use Path spans 18.5 miles through five cities and 15 neighborhoods along Interstate 205 and the TriMet MAX Green Line light rail service. In addition, it joins with the 21.5-mile...
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...
The Springwater Corridor comprises the southeast segment of the 40-Mile Loop regional trail system encircling the greater Portland area. The origins of the Loop come from a 1904 proposal by visionary...
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 scenic Burnt Bridge Creek Trail meanders through Vancouver, Washington, along the creek from Stewart Glen on the shores of Vancouver Lake to Meadowbrook Marsh. Along the way, the trail passes...
The 14-mile Yelm-Tenino Trail travels through the rural towns of Yelm, Rainier, and Tenino on a paved route through agricultural areas, forests, and wetlands. Commuters can access Olympia, Lacey, and...
When complete, the Fanno Creek Greenway will be a 15-mile paved network of fully accessible urban trails, linking two counties and five cities: Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin, Durham, and southwest...
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 Springwater Corridor comprises the southeast segment of the 40-Mile Loop regional trail system encircling the greater Portland area. The origins of the Loop come from a 1904 proposal by visionary...
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...
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 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 scenic Burnt Bridge Creek Trail meanders through Vancouver, Washington, along the creek from Stewart Glen on the shores of Vancouver Lake to Meadowbrook Marsh. Along the way, the trail passes...
When complete, the Fanno Creek Greenway will be a 15-mile paved network of fully accessible urban trails, linking two counties and five cities: Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin, Durham, and southwest...
The 14-mile Yelm-Tenino Trail travels through the rural towns of Yelm, Rainier, and Tenino on a paved route through agricultural areas, forests, and wetlands. Commuters can access Olympia, Lacey, and...
The I-205 Multi-Use Path spans 18.5 miles through five cities and 15 neighborhoods along Interstate 205 and the TriMet MAX Green Line light rail service. In addition, it joins with the 21.5-mile...
The Springwater Corridor comprises the southeast segment of the 40-Mile Loop regional trail system encircling the greater Portland area. The origins of the Loop come from a 1904 proposal by visionary...
The scenic Burnt Bridge Creek Trail meanders through Vancouver, Washington, along the creek from Stewart Glen on the shores of Vancouver Lake to Meadowbrook Marsh. Along the way, the trail passes...
When complete, the Fanno Creek Greenway will be a 15-mile paved network of fully accessible urban trails, linking two counties and five cities: Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin, Durham, and southwest...
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...
The I-205 Multi-Use Path spans 18.5 miles through five cities and 15 neighborhoods along Interstate 205 and the TriMet MAX Green Line light rail service. In addition, it joins with the 21.5-mile...
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 14-mile Yelm-Tenino Trail travels through the rural towns of Yelm, Rainier, and Tenino on a paved route through agricultural areas, forests, and wetlands. Commuters can access Olympia, Lacey, and...
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...
It was a good idea to develop this trail next to the railroad cut that runs between the Columbia and Willamette rivers. Several issues make it lees than ideal for cycling: The surface is not in good shape due to tree roots. Ok for walking, but jarring for a cyclist. Lots of homeless people living along there and wandering around. Possibly safety issues. The north end of the trail simply ends at Columbia Boulevard, which is a very heavily trafficked street. Signage recommends riding on the street east to the Columbia Wastewater Treatment Morning Kant, where you can connect up
I rented my ride at Pedal Bike Tours. Very friendly and helpful staff. I was told there was a large section of the trail closed for construction. Super helpful salesman mapped a route for me to avoid it. After getting a little lost, I got on the right track and enjoyed the urban part of the trail. In the countryside there were homeless camps and lots of trash. Oregonians are friendly and tolerant. Need I say more.
Used to ride this trail very regularly but no more. The past couple years it’s seen a serious decline. Very rough, rutted and bumpy. How do you acquire potholes in a bike/walking trail?!?
It has been a couple of years since I hit this trail with my road bike and I was pretty amazed and a little disappointed at the lack of maintenance. It is a beautiful trail with fairly easy grades and nice shade. I did the entire length of 42 miles from Banks to Vernonia and back, approximately 2 1/2 hours. The issue is the heaving of asphalt which on a road bike is jarring, to the point of being dangerous if you are in the shade and don't see it coming. On a fat tire bike, not so much. Again, it could be a great trail, but the state or whoever is responsible needs to spend a dime, i.e., our tax dollars, and get it in better shape. Thank you!
Did the entire trail in one ride starting in Banks on a hot day, so all the trees were nice. As mentioned the trail starts a steady incline at about 5 miles and continues for the next 7 or so. Pretty rough in a number of places. The bridges mentioned in the trail description are pretty much all a couple inches higher than the trail which means a pretty sizeable bump up/down. The bad spots are marked with orange paint but you need to pay attention. I found the Stubbs State Park to be pretty easy to miss, could be because you need to climb another hill to get up to it and I wasn't that motivated by that point. The downhill section on the return trip to banks was great, but with the rough trail and bridges pay attention. Overall I am not a big fan.
On Saturday 7/14 I rode from Pe Ell to South Bend. Then on Monday 7/16 my wife drove me from South Bend to Pe Ell and I rode from Pe Ell to Chehalis.
I love this trail! There are certain sections I would not recommend to the casual rider at this time.
Around Frances and through to Willapa there are several sections where the trail has mostly succumbed to blackberries. At times I picked my feet up on my crossbar and glided through. But other times I had to get out and walk, picking my way slowly and carefully through the thorns for a long, long time. There is at least 2,000 feet of trail like this (at least!).
In Lebam, at Robertson Road, it is incredibly easy to lose the trail. It picks up again right across the road but it is so overgrown that it is almost invisible. According to reports there is a bridge out and you have to take a detour (but alas the detour is not obvious at all). So, what you do is follow Robertson Road to the right of the trail for about 1/2 mile (guessing at the distance) and then take the first trail-like thing you see on your left into the woods. This should get you back on the trail. There are no signs! I biked around Lebam for about 5 miles before I found it. I also discovered later that if I zoomed wayyyy in on Google maps I could see the trail and the detour as well. I hope this saves other people some time and frustration.
Between Pe Ell and Frances there are several railroad trestles without decking. Don't try to ride across these as some of them have ties that are severely rotted and have mostly disintegrated. This bears repeating from the trail description. If I recall correctly the third or fourth trestle out of Pe Ell toward Frances was in the worst condition. The first couple of trestles out of Pe Ell were actually fine but very, very bumpy! The trestles are breathtaking for the natural beauty around them and for the fact that you are wayyy up above the ground on some of them.
I also rode through nettle patches and lots of long, long grass west of Frances.
In Raymond the trail closes and sent me off on a detour to the right. I went to the right then turned left crossing the street (Hwy 101). Once you cross Hwy 101, head back toward the trail you left off - but don't take the first trail to your right. It looks really nice but will lead you to a scenic dead end in a mile or two. Instead, bike along Hwy 101 and the trail will reappear before you.
With all that said, I can't express how beautiful this trail is. It was a great adventure and absolutely worth the effort. For a casual ride, I would recommend starting at Adna and heading west for about 10 miles. The trail is either paved or fairly smooth dirt & gravel for that part. As you get closer to Pe Ell in either direction the gravel gets deeper and wider tires are a big plus. On two-inch tires I found myself swimming around a bit on certain portions.
Southern half of the trail is covered with homeless camps . They pitch their tents right on the edges and their stuff fills the path such that you have to dodge it. The path also has numerous road crossings and it’s a craps game if a car will stop for a bike in Portland.
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.
This trail can be very loud in the industrial area, especially when a train goes by. Once you pass that area, the views are gorgeous, lots of wildlife to see, and it's very peaceful. However, this trail is longer than 1.3 miles -- it's more like 3.5 miles from Steamboat Landing to the end just past Steigerwald Wildlife Refuge.
The CZ Trail does not go through at tunnel, but the old logging rail road did.
Details at this link,
https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Nehalem_Divide_Railroad_Tunnel:_West_Portal
Or Google Nehalem Divide Tunnel
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