Category Archives: Trip Report

More Trails Ready to Ride – Trail Conditions Update 5/31/24

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Bottle Prairie Trail SignTrail Conditions Update
5/31/24

More trails cleared for riding!

The following trails are clear and ready to ride:

Dog River Trail
Surveyor’s Ridge Trail
The Hub Trail
The Super and Super Duper Connector Trails
Eightmile
Knebal
Bottle Prairie
Cooks Meadow from 44 to 650 road)
Lookout (from 44 to 4420)

Fifteenmile and Cedar are snow-free, but you should expect to encounter some downed trees. They are next on the list to get cleared.

See you out there!

Help support our efforts to maintain the 44 Trails

15 Mile and Cooks Meadow Open!

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44 trails single track

Hey, where did the trail go?

The winter blowdown on the Mt Hood National Forest 44 Trails single track system was substantial this year, but we are making solid progress clearing the damage.

You can now add the 15 Mile / Cedar Creek (#456/#457) loop and Cooks Meadow (#639) to the open and ready to ride list!

That brings the 44 zone close to wide open. We still have work to do on upper 450 and High Prairie, but the following trails have been cleared in the past few weeks:

15 Mile / Cedar Creek loop trails #456/#457 – open
Cooks Meadow trail #639 – open
Dog River Trail # 675 – open
Surveyor’s Ridge Trail #688 – open
Knebal Springs Trail #474 – open
Bottle Prairie Trail #455- open
Eightmile Trail #496- open
Oak Ridge Trail #688A – open
Super Connector – open

The lower Cedar / 15 Mile area is still a little brushy, so throw some small loppers or hand snippers in your pack and spend a little time helping us brush out the overgrown spots if you head that way for a ride!

Remember, the 44 Trail System on the Mt Hood National Forest is a multi-use system and trails are open to hiker, horse and biker traffic. Please be respectful of all users! Also keep in mind that trees fall during every season and new trees may come down since we have cleared. There a places where uprooted trees and tree impacts have damaged the trail tread, so ride and hike with care.

Finally, if you enjoy the 44 Trail System on the Mt Hood National Forest, turn out for one of our 2016 trail work days to return some energy to the trails or donate to the 44 Trails so we can help cover costs of logout and trail repair materials!

 

Here’s a few before and after shots of a couple 15 Mile / Cedar sections cleared today.

Spring 2016 Trail Update

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44 trails mt hoodSpring has come early this year and the high country snow around the 44 zone is rapidly melting away! The 44 road is fully open, but some of the spurs – including the 4410 road to High Prairie – are still blocked by snow.

As usual, winter has left us with a mess of blowdown on the trails. We are working on getting things cleared out, albeit slowly.

Here’s what’s currently been cleared:

  • Surveyor’s Ridge north of the two track (Shellrock Mountain)
  • Knebal from 8-Mile trailhead north to Super Connector
  • Dog River (full)

We hope to have Knebal/Super Connector/Dakine Trail trail clear to the Knebal parking area this week (May 15-20) and, hopefully, 15-Mile, remaining Surveyor’s and more by Memorial Day weekend.

Of course, new trees could come down and there’s always a little more brush leaning in on the trails this time of year until they fully spring back from being buried all winter.

FYI, attempting to ride uncleared trails will yield varying success. Depending on the degree of blowdown, you might get an open mile or two only to find yourself faced with an extensive stretch of climbing and bike carrying. So, if you head up to explore, be ready for an adventure. The spring brushout of blowdown is a chainsaw intensive project that requires being certified by the USFS, so we have a select crew of certified sawyers making their way through the network as time allows. If you are up exploring and hear saw work, please approach slowly!

We should have a new trail conditions update by May 20. In the meantime, the lower elevation trails around the Hood River Valley are in fine form. Happy riding.

Mark your calendars for the following events:
July 9 – second annual TRAILGATE event – ride 44 zone, eat, drink and music –
details soon – read about last year’s event

July 23 – Cooks Meadow Extension Trail work – read about Cooks Meadow Extension
Aug 20 – Cooks Meadow Extension Trail work – read about Cooks Meadow Extension
Sept 24 – Surveyor’s/Super Connect connector – more details on this project in June
Oct 8 – Surveyor’s/Super Connect connector – more details on this project in June

 

Trail Conditions Update – Fire Activity 7/15

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Red dot marks the location of 10-15 acre fire near popular 44 trails trailheads

Red dot marks the location of 10-15 acre fire near popular 44 trails trailheads. click for full size

The recent thunder and lightning storms have sparked a few fires around the area including a small one in the 44 trails zone.

The fire is located just east of the junction of 44 and 17 roads, not far from the Knebal and 8-Mile Crossing campgrounds, as well as the Super Connector (see red dot on map for location). The fire is small (10-15 acres) and the USFS is on it with a dozer and heli water drops. They expect full containment without incident, but they would like to ask forest users to avoid the area as much as possible. There are no official trail closures at this time, but there is increased fire vehicle traffic in the area.

If you are headed up to 44 to recreate, please be alert for fire traffic, give fire vehicles and associated personnel plenty of room and report any additional fire starts.

UPDATE: Fire is contained and in mop-up stage as of 5pm 7/15.

Trail Work Results

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Thank you to everyone who supported our June 14 trail work day! The USFS supplied 10+ yards of reject (gravel) and the 44 Trails crew worked to armor weak spots on the new Super Connector trail linking Knebal Springs to Surveyor’s Ridge. New York City Subs provided lunch and Dog River Coffee set us up with our morning fix!

We made made good progress moving the reject material and saw loads of riders using the trail. It’s great to see the word is getting out and people are riding the new connection.  Next work day is July 26!

Here’s a few photos from the day.

 

Trail Conditions Update 5/19

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Latest trail conditions update May 19:trail2

Knebal / Bottle Prairie – 75% clear of trees and tread dry – Hope to clear this week.

8-Mile – Good shape but there’s one big section of blowdown on streamside trail 20+ trees – hope to  clear this week.

High Prairie / 450 – Not ready. Snow on trails and tread too muddy for riding. 4410 road is also still closed due to snow. Please stick to lower trails.

15-Mile – Not ready. Needs clearing work. Hold use until after Memorial Day weekend, thanks.

Surveyor’s Ridge – Clear an ready to ride

Dog River – Clear and ready to ride

 

Mt Hood Fusion Pass

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fusion passThanks to everyone who rallied out to Double Mountain in support of 44 Trails last week. The event was a great success. We sold loads of t-shirts, had a great raffle and raised valuable funds for future trail development with the silent auction. Your support is much appreciated! We were too busy to capture the night with photos, but it was a full house.

We have two more special auction items available: Mt Hood Fusion Passes. These ski passes are good for a full season of riding at Timberline and Ski Bowl. The pass also gets you into the Powder Alliance where you get three free tickets at all partner resorts. You can get the full lowdown on the Fusion Pass and all its perks at www.mthoodfusionpass.com.

You can submit a bid for one of the fusion passes by e-mailing us at 44trails at 44trails.org. The passes are valued at $495 each. The bidding starts at $350 and bidding ends October 31.

44 Trails Area is Open for Riding!

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Updated fire closure map

Updated fire closure map

The 44 Trails zone on the Mount Hood National Forest is open for riding!

Thanks to favorable weather conditions and the efforts of wildland fire crews, the 44 zone is accessible again.

The 17 road remains closed, but 8-Mile, Knebal Springs and the rest of the 44 Trails are open for riding. Ranger Thornton was up in the area on Thursday and said there is moisture in the dirt and the trails are in great shape.

Here is the latest closure info:

44 Trails in Great Shape

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Knebal springs parking lot

Knebal Springs parking lot

With the riding around town in Hood River limited by fire closures, I figured it was a good excuse to take a day away from work and head out for a longer day of riding up in the 44 zone on the Mt Hood National Forest. Sadly, it was only my second day of riding the 44 trails this summer, but that only made the day that much sweeter.

We hit Knebal, Bottle Prairie, Eight-Mile and checked out progress on the new Super Connector trail. Overall condition of the trails is excellent right now. There are a few soft spots, but the vast majority is fast and flowy.

knebal - eight-mile map

knebal – eight-mile map

We also checked in with Ranger Thornton, who spent the day working on trails up in the Boulder Lake area. He said there are still a couple downed trees, but the high country around Boulder Lake will be in primo condition for the fall riding season. He also noted that the ground hornets are starting to get a little ornery, so watch yourself if you take a lunch break or walk out to a vista point.

Riding from town is convenient and good fun, but spending the better part of the day in the high country on the  44 trail system’s classic cross-country trails is the way to make your week.