Category Archives: News

Eagle Creek Fire News and Trail Related Closures – 9/10/17

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Eagle Creek FireThe Eagle Creek Fire in the Columbia Gorge has created a lot of closure notices in the Gorge and on the Mt. Hood National Forest, but the 44 Trails area east of Highway 35 is NOT affected by the closures. The 44 trails and Barlow District are under industrial level fire precautions – no fire, no saws, no shooting – but the trails are open to bicycles, hikers and horses.

44 trails blue skyThe smoke is primary concern up on the 44 zone and today the area is above the smoke! That’s right, it’s clear and beautiful up on the 44! Of course, smoke impacts change with the wind and weather, so be prepared for it change.

As for closures related to mountain bike trails – Hood River County has closed all county forest land to recreation for the time being. This closure includes Post Canyon on the west side of town. In fact, the west side of Hood River is under a level one evacuation notice – which means “get ready” to evacuate.

Stay up to date with the latest closure and evacuation notices affecting Hood River and Mt Hood area mountain biking:

To read more about Eagle Creek Fire related closures affecting Hood River County – the Hood River Sheriff’s office is the best source of current information: Eagle Creek Fire Closure info for Hood River County

To see the map of Eagle Creek Fire closures related to the Mt Hood National Forest, the USFS is the best source for current information: USFS Mt Hood National Forest Closures as of September 9, 2017

Trail Work Schedule Update – Oct 7 and Oct 28

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Trail Work - 44 Trails AssociationOur September 23 Trail Work day is cancelled.

It’s been a long dry spell up on the Mt. Hood National Forest and the USFS currently has a ban on power equipment on the east side that affects the 44 zone. We were hoping to use some motorized toters for the work day to help distribute reject and compost material, so we’re going to hope for a change by October.

We’ve rescheduled for October 7 and October 28.

We look forward to your help on Oct 7 or Oct 28! More info to follow about two weeks before the scheduled date.

You can also subscribe to our e-news letter to stay in the 44 loop. We do not send spam – only news relative to the 44 Trails – work days, trail conditions, closures, events, etc.

Hospital Hill and Whoopdee Trail Fire Hazard Closure in Effect

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Hospital Hill and Whoopdee Mountain Bike Trails

Fire Hazard Closure in Effect as of Midnight August 4, 2017

SDS & Kreps announced the closure of their land as of August 5, 2017 due to fire danger. This means Hospital Hill/Jewett Creek trails and the Whoopdee on the Old Dalles Road are all closed until we get some significant precipitation. Please respect this closure and spread the word.

Here is the announcement…
Local timberland companies are announcing that due to conditions of high fire danger all lands in Klickitat, Skamania, Yakima, Hood River and Wasco Counties will be closed to public entry starting August 5, 2017 until further notice. This closure includes the areas of Burdoin Mountain (aka Hospital Hill) and Underwood Mountain as well as the Whoopdee on the Old Dalles Road in Hood River and affects all lands owned or managed by the following parties: American Forest Management (DGS Timber, LLC), Broughton Lumber Company, Hancock Forest Management (John Hancock Life Insurance and Manulife), Kreps Ranch, Kreps Family LLC, Stevenson Land Company (SDS), and Western Pacific Timber, LLC.

Surveyor’s Ridge Reroute – trail work day August 12, 2017

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Surveyor's Ridge TrailThe Surveyor’s Ridge Reroute Continues!

A segment of the Surveyor’s Ridge Trail #688 will be impacted by the City of The Dalles Watershed Pipeline replacement project. The vintage pipeline providing water to the City of The Dalles is being replaced with a modern version. A portion of the pipeline is adjacent to or beneath the south end of the Surveyors Ridge Trail. The pipeline project will permanently change the trail corridor in these locations -creating a 25 foot wide corridor with aggregate placed along the right-of-way.

We re working on a re-route of the Surveyor’s Ridge trail where it follows the pipeline to maintain a semi-primitive trail experience. The reroute also improves interconnectivity of trails in the vicinity by connecting with the Super Connector and will provide a short loop for beginner riders who want a shorter trail experience than Surveyors Ridge. READ MORE about the Surveyor’s Ridge Reroute Project and check out project map.

Trail Work Day – Surveyor’s Ridge Reroute Project

We will working on the Surveyor’s reroute doing the initial clearing and rough-in work that will establish the new route.

REQUIRE EQUIPMENT:
Hardhats (bike helmets ok), long pants, work gloves and work boots, water. 

WHEN: 
Saturday, August 12, 2017 @ 9am – 2pm (plenty of time for a post-work-project ride)
Meet 9am @ Little John SnoPark on Highway 35
We’ll have coffee thanks to Dog River Coffee in HR and sign-in at the SnoPark and then move up to the work site as a group. Lunch will be provided by NY City Subs in Hood River.

PROJECT:
Handbuilt singletrack on Surveyor’s ridge re-route. We will be doing rough in and route trimming/clearing.

TOOLS:
Surveyor's RidgeHelmet/hardhat (bike helmets ok), long pants, gloves, and work boots required.
Hand tools only – Pruning Saws, Flat Shovels, McCleods, Loppers, Metal Rakes (NO chainsaws please).

It gets warm up there – please be sure to bring water and sunscreen.

Surveyor's Ridge Trail Reroute

Here is the map showing the approximate route of the Surveyor’s Ridge trail project. The existing trail (yellow) will be disrupted by the new pipeline – the new route (blue) shows the tentative routes to connect with the SuperConnector (brown) near the 17 Road.

 

Trail Work Day – Saturday, July 22 – Surveyor’s Ridge Reroute Project

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singletrack mt hoodTrail Work Day – Surveyor’s Ridge Reroute Project

Our first big trail work day of the summer is one week away – Sat July 22. We will working on the Surveyor’s reroute doing the initial trimming, clearing and rough-in work that will establish the new route. (The upper Surveyors route is being relocated to due to the pending large-scale Dalles Watershed pipeline project – and it’s a nice upgrade of the existing two-track start.)

Hardhats (bike helmets ok), long pants, work gloves and work boots REQUIRED!

WHEN: 
Saturday, July 22, 2017 @ 9am – 2pm (plenty of time for a post-work-project ride)
Meet 9am @ Little John SnoPark on Highway 35
We’ll have coffee thanks to Dog River Coffee in HR and sign-in at the SnoPark and then move up to the work site as a group. Lunch will be provided by NY City Subs in Hood River.

PROJECT:
Handbuilt singletrack on Surveyor’s ridge re-route. We will be doing initial rough in and route trimming.

TOOLS:
Helmet/hardhat (bike helmets ok), long pants, gloves, and work boots required.
Hand tools only – Pruning Saws, Flat Shovels, McCleods, Loppers, Metal Rakes (NO chainsaws please).

It gets warm up there – please be sure to bring water and sunscreen.

Wildflower Season and Great Trail Conditions

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44 Trails mountain bike network - Bottle Prairie TrailIt’s wildflower season up the 44 Trails mountain bike network.

Trails are in prime condition right now! Beat the heat in Hood River and head to the Mt. Hood National Forest for some of the best trail conditions of the season.

The wild flowers are peaking and trails are riding great. We’ve got the bulk of the trail system cleared of downed trees and its just lingering high elevation spots and more remote trail sections (Boulder/Forest Creek/Gunsight Butte) that still have snow and/or blowdown. Lookout, Cooks, Knebal, Eightmile, Fifteenmile, Surveyors, Dog River, Bottle Prairie, etc are all good to go.

44 Trails mountain bike network wildflower season

44 Trails Conditions July 1 – High Elevation Status

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Hey 44 Trail mountain bikers, despite the summer heat the past couple of weeks, high elevation trails remain blocked by snow and blowdown; and we’re not just talking the occasional snow patch. Gunsight Butte trail #685 still has 3-5 foot snow berms and lots of trees down on the trail. Where snow is melted, there is standing/running water. There are even trees still embedded into the snow. It looks like the ridge got hammered with broken tops over the winter.
Our recommendation is to stay on the lower elevation trails until snow has a chance to melt further and we’ve had a chance to clear trees. Most of the roads are clear but the Bennett Pass road is still blocked by snow.
Here’s the latest 44 trails conditions report as of Saturday July 1, 2017:

The Best Singletrack Mountain Biking on the Mt Hood National Forest

Gunsight Ridge Trail #685 – Closed by significant snow and downed trees. 3-5 foot snow berms – Estimate 2-3 weeks before clear.

Boulder Lake / Forest Creek zone – Less snow but not yet maintained or cleared of trees

Cooks Meadow trail #639 –  Ridable with caution – a few downed trees – upper section has a few areas under construction but it’s open to ride – carry a hand saw and help cut out the lingering blowdown. Hope to have the few remaining trees cleared by July 4.
Lookout / #450 – Ridable with caution – 3-4 trees down and a few small snow patches – carry a hand saw and help cut out the lingering blowdown.

Knebal Springs Trail #474 – Cleared and OPEN 
Bottle Prairie Trail #455 – Cleared and OPEN 
Eightmile Trail #496 – Cleared and OPEN 
Oak Ridge Trail #688A – Cleared and OPEN
Super Connector – Cleared and OPEN
Dog River Trail # 675 – Cleared and OPEN
Surveyor’s Ridge Trail #688 – Cleared and OPEN
15 Mile / Cedar Creek loop trails #456/#457 – Clear and OPEN

gunsight mountain bike trailGunsight ridge mountain bike trails

Latest 44 Trails Conditions Update June 26

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Singletrack Mountain Biking Mt Hood National Forest – Our first trail work day is July 22 – more details soon! Sign up for our email list to be notified of work days, trail conditions, and to get a free digital map of the area!

singletrack mt biking mt hood national forest

Here’s the latest 44 trails conditions report as of Monday June 26, 2017:

The Best Singletrack Mountain Biking Mt Hood National Forest

Knebal Springs Trail #474 – Cleared and OPEN 
Bottle Prairie Trail #455 – Cleared and OPEN 
Eightmile Trail #496 – Cleared and OPEN 
Oak Ridge Trail #688A – Cleared and OPEN
Super Connector – Cleared and OPEN
Dog River Trail # 675 – Cleared and OPEN
Surveyor’s Ridge Trail #688 – Cleared and OPEN
15 Mile / Cedar Creek loop trails #456/#457 – Clear and OPEN
Cooks Meadow trail #639 –  Ridable with caution – a few downed trees – upper section has a few areas under construction but it’s open to ride – carry a hand saw and help cut out the lingering blowdown.
Lookout / #450 – Ridable with caution – 3-4 trees down and a few small snow patches – carry a hand saw and help cut out the lingering blowdown.

Extra Beta

– Cooks Meadow has a handfull of small trees and couple sections are still under construction but rideable with caution

– Lookout / 450 has four trees down and a few patches of snow – all rideable with caution.

If you plan to ride and have a handsaw – please cut back five feet either side of trail!

44 and 4410 roads are fully open – High country trails like Gunsight, Boulder, Forest Creek still have significant snow sections and unknown tree blowdown.

44 Trails Conditions Update – June 9

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44 Trails  Conditions Report – Surveyor’s, Fifteenmile, Eightmile, Knebal and more!
Knebal Spring, Surveyors and moreWe’ve got more trails open in the 44 zone!

Here’s the latest report as of Friday June 9, 2017

Knebal Springs Trail #474 – Cleared and OPEN – a few snow patches but ridable
Bottle Prairie Trail #455 – Cleared and OPEN – a few snow patches but ridable
Eightmile Trail #496 – Cleared and OPEN – a few snow patches but ridable
Oak Ridge Trail #688A – Cleared and OPEN
Super Connector – Cleared and OPEN
Dog River Trail # 675 – Cleared and OPEN
Surveyor’s Ridge Trail #688 – Cleared and OPEN
15 Mile / Cedar Creek loop trails #456/#457 – Clear and OPEN

Cooks Meadow trail #639 –  BLOWDOWN likely – snow possible upper end
Lookout / #450 – CLOSED – SNOW / BLOWDOWN

The 44 Road is fully open but the 4410 and other spur roads in the area still have snow, especially above 4,500 feet. High country trails like Gunsight, Boulder, Forest Creek are still under significant snow.

Eightmile, Knebal and Fifteen mile campgrounds are also open!

44 Trails Movie Night Success!

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44 trails singletrack mountain bike trails

Great turnout last night for our movie night fundraiser! Many thanks to Nick at Kickstand Coffee and Kitchen and all of the bike community who turned out in force to support 44 Trails and our mission to maintain, refine and expand the connectivity of the singletrack mountain bike trails accessible from the 44 Road on the Mt Hood National Forest!

We could not have done it without all of the generous donations from local and bike related businesses! These folks all support the local bike scene and deserve your support in return!

Giro, Dakine, Timberline, Dog River Coffee, Sixth Street Bistro, Mountain View Cycles, Hood River Bikes, Smith, Northwest Graphics, Kickstand Coffee, Dirty Fingers, Hale Construction, Fat Tire Farm, Western Edge Tree Service, Full Sail Brewing and of course we need to thank the USFS for our ongoing partnership!

If you missed the action last night and would like to help support the 44 Trails Association with a financial contribution, you can donate anytime via PayPal: 

44 trails mountain bike movie night