Faire du Velo! Columbia to Springwater

Start: Gateway Park and Ride
Distance: 28 miles, Loop
Difficulty Level: Easy

Time: 2.5 hours
Pit Stops: Blue Lake Park and Gresham City Park
 

I recommend getting a book and a map of the Portland area. It seems archaic but it is less time consuming than navigating forums on the internet.

Impressions: There were definitely parts of this ride that a gorgeous. The highlights would be the Columbia River, Downtown Troutdale, Gresham City Park, and the Springwater Corridor. The suckiest part was riding through all the traffic in Troutdale. The directions provided in Road Biking Oregon were far too detailed (3 pages of bullet points!) so I stopped very frequently to check my barrings. I definitely want to repeat this loop, now that I’ve learned the route.

Here is my pared-down version of the directions:

-Start at Gateway Park and Ride, park in the garage

-Cross the train tracks and head North on the 205 bike path

-Follow Signs for Airport way

-You will see a Home Depot, head East on Marina Drive

-Stop at Blue Lake Park if you have to pee

-Go under the I84, turn left on Frontage

-Turn right on 257th Drive, start climbing

-Follow signs for downtown Troutdale if you are a dirty tourist

-Turn right on 23rd St (this is the most confusing part, you will pass a 22nd and 24th and several other streets before you reach 23rd street

-Left on 242/holgate

-Right on Roberts

-Enter Gresham City Park, Find the Springwater trail and head West (right)

-Right on Foster

-North on the I205 until you reach Gateway Park and Ride

Gresham City Park

Gresham City Park