Tuesday August 28 – Friday August 31, 2018
We left Memaloose State Park and headed for LL Stub Stewart State Park near Banks, OR. This campground is right on the 22 mile Banks-Vernonia State Trail. It is the first “rails-to-trails” linear state park built in Oregon.
Wednesday we rode the trail north of the park to Vernonia, around Lake Vernonia and returned. From the campground we took a mountain bike trail to reach the rail trail. White knuckle ride for me, I don’t like doing downhill in the dirt. Beautiful ride, mostly forest with lots of welcoming shade. Some areas were being logged.
There was a mostly gentle uphill grade to Vernonia. One exception was the Horseshoe Trestle bypass which switchbacked up 700 feet and descended 300 feet at Tophill (13% grade). There was a sign at the top of one of the switchbacks that said “steep grade walk bike”. A challenge for sure but the ride up the hill to our campsite was even more of a challenge.
Thursday morning we road the trail south to the city of Banks. We traveled through forests of tall pines on a significant downhill grade for 6 miles.
The floor of the forest was covered in huge ferns. The last 4.5 miles was a gentle downhill grade. Just before Banks we saw small farms and large meadows.
The Buxton Trestle was a highlight of the trail – 80 feet high and 700 feet long.
Some parts of the trail was lined with raspberries. They were so sweet, warm and tasty.
Our return trip was a bit slower. The last six miles were slow going. Two moms had 5 young children out for a hike and they waved and cheered us on. I felt like I was in the Tour D’france.
Back at Stub Stewart the long steep climb to our campsite awaited us. I really don’t think I could do that climb a third day.
Friday we were off to Albany, OR. it was a really enjoyable trip through the Willamett Valley. Acres of corn, peppers, vineyards, and more hops. We planned to stay at Blue Ox RV Park where we would have cable to watch Ohio State defeat Oregon State.