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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 rode from the Senator Mark Hatfield parking in Mosier west toward Hood River. 1st 1.8 miles gradual uphill. Fun to go thru the tunnels. Stunning views. Fun to be so far above the river. Then downhill towards Hood River. Total one way 4.8 miles.
We started in Parking lot#3. Glad to have the traillink map-it was fun cruising around all the loops - so much better than a straight path. Every section was different. Beautiful scenery - saw a big eagle nest with Mama in it/a huge lilypad pond. We did 10miles but this could easily be at least a 20mile trail. Just go in reverse and mixup the loops. Totally enjoyable and I would use this all the time if I lived close to it.
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.
This trail is in three parts. I have not done the western portion that is on the old Columbia River Hwy. The center portion between Wyeth and Viento State Park where we camped. Be warned, train right next to the campground running throughout the night. This section of the paths has stunning views but does parallel the hwy at many points throughout. Still worth the ride, enjoy the quiet when the trail meanders back into the woods. Trail shows that it starts at Viento but it has been extended 1.2 miles further East. Riding from Viento West you will encounter several waterfalls and stunning views. The furthest East portion between Hood River and Mousier is quiet and peaceful. Signs of recent fire but nothing bad. Enjoy! Loralee
Just road the loop at Diamond lake and trees have been removed. Path is still damaged where one trees roots lifted up the asphalt but still passable. Trail is littered in pine needles but still safe to ride with your kids. A definite 5 star review once the cleanup is finished.
It goes through Sun River, along the river, by breweries and shops, what more could you ask for. Very busy do not do on weekends
We started at the Mosby Trailhead Parking. I was under the impression the covered bridges were part of the trail but they are not. You can see the Mosby Creek Covered Bridge on a small side road next to the trailhead parking. From there down to where you see the Historic Dorena Covered Bridge on the map is about 10 miles - but no bridge-it is off on another road apparently. That being said this is a gorgeous ride. Massive trees on both sides of the trail. You suddenly realize you are partway up a mountain with towering trees on a steep downhill beside you and towering trees rising above you going up the mountain. Lots of shade. And the ride along Dorena Lake is wonderful-you are above it looking down. This is not a "fast" trail as the price to pay for the trees is a fair amount of root buckling in the trail. Some are marked with yellow-really helps. We didn't want to go fast anyway-wanted to sightsee.
We stayed at the Southern Oregon RV Park (nice) and the north end of the trail starts at the front of the RV Park. Good ride-saw ducks playing in a small waterfall/beautiful artwork on the bridge columns and underpasses/ quite a few feral cats-someone had set up a feeding station for them/several beautiful parks/food vendor market at one of the parks/several homeless (no encampments) and loiterers (they did not bother). Saw police presence on the trail-Police truck slowly driving on the trail and several clean up crews working on the trail. We rode two days in a row.
I rode this trail on 6/11/2025 with my family of four (kids 7 and 10) after spending the night at the Diamond Lake Resort Motel. This trail looked like it would be worth the detour on our family road trip, but apparently we got there too early in the season. There were literally HUNDREDS of trees down across the trail, including large sections of trail destroyed as root structures took the asphalt with it when trees came down. Is that normal every season or was 24/25 a particularly stormy Winter?
We started at the Diamond Lake Resort and rode counter clockwise. After 3.7 miles, we counted 35 times we had to stop and lift bikes over logs ranging from enormous to small-ish. We finally hit a cluster of trees across the trail so huge, we finally gave up and rode on the street, which was clear and lightly trafficked. Several times we attempted to rejoin the trail where it crossed the roadway, but along the southwest side of the lake we encountered huge snow drifts that hadn't melted yet. Keep in mind it was shorts and tank top weather, so the snow surprised us. Sadly, the tree situation never improved, except for the sections of the route that passed through the campgrounds.
Also, the mosquito swarms were the most intense I've experienced outside Alaska. We could not stop riding without getting utterly wrecked, and this was in the middle of the day with a comfortable breeze blowing.; they were large and hungry. This trail has wonderful potential and the area is very beautiful, but call the Umpqua National Forest Ranger Station first and get updates before you commit to this one. This trail should not have even been open until crews had completed clearing it. There was no signage informing of the conditions and that would've made all the difference. The Nat'l Forest really dropped the ball by not having the trail cleared this late in the year and by not having any warning signs of the conditions ahead.
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