Category Archives: Trails

Tenney Creek Park

Tenney Creek Park is a nice neighborhood park to take a walk past lawns and through a forest creek side area.  The meandering paths total about 1/2 mile.

 

Access to the park is on NE 91st St, NE 94th Way, and NE 88th St (there is no parking on NE 88th St).

You could extend your walk through the park into a loop by going east on 94th Way to the Ridgegate Greenspace path, and take it through to NE 32nd Ave then back to the park.

Meadowbrook North

North of Burton Road is a 35 acre area designated Meadowbrook North.  It is being actively restored with native plantings, and a new bark dust path is being built along the meadow east of Burnt Bridge Creek.  There is an existing path through the grassy meadow east of the creek, and an old dirt road parallel to the creek on the west side.  The east side is best accessed from NE 93rd Ave, and the road on the west side can be accessed from Burton Rd, but there is no place to park, so you will need to park somewhere else nearby and walk there.

If you start at the end of 93rd Ave, you can walk across the meadow, and follow the trail parallel to Burnt Bridge Creek.  Walking almost to Burton Rd and then looping back around the field will take you about 3/4 of a mile.  The access to Burton Rd is blocked, so you cannot just easily cross over the creek to the west side.  Hopefully this access will be opened up, and a crossing could be installed to allow easy connection to the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail and Meadowbrook Marsh Park, as well as access to the west side of this area.

The dirt road on the west side goes in about 2,000ft, ending up in a wooded area near Burnt Bridge Creek.  I am hopeful that when the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail extension is completed, it will include a nice loop walk through this area.

Kelley Meadows Neighborhood Park

This is an undeveloped park that features a nice meadow area.  I was able to follow a path in the grass, and looped through the trees on the north east side of the meadow, for a walk of about 1.300ft.  Access to the site is from the end of NE 69th St.  Adding a walk up to the golf course adds about 300 to 400ft to the loop.  It would be possible to explore the golf course from here, but golf courses generally do not allow public access to people who are not golfing.

Osprey Pointe Gee Creek Trail

At the back of the Osprey Pointe neighborhood is a stretch of trail along the Gee Creek valley.  A short trail goes down the hill to the bottom, but ends before reaching the creek.  An upper trail runs along the bluff, ending at a conservation area, with a side trail connecting to 24th Ct.  The trails are short, about 1,500ft total, but do provide for a very nice walk along the forested hillside.

Ideally, this trail could eventually be connected to Abrams Park downstream, and to the High School upstream.

Just up the hill from the trails, is a commons area owned by the Home Owners Association on 21st Pl.  The trail around this commons makes about a 1,400ft loop, and has a connection to 15th Circle.  What would really make for a great walk, would be if a trail were built through the wooded area on the east side of 21st Pl and Osprey Dr, to the Gee Creek Trail.

Jones Creek ORV Trail

The Jones Creek trail is specifically maintained for off road vehicle use, motorcycles and ATVs.  If you use the trail for hiking or mountain biking, you need to remain alert for the approach of off road vehicles and allow them passage.  The main trail is closed to off road vehicles from December 1st to May 1st, so that would be a time it could be hiked without concern, except that the trail would likely also be muddy in places or have snow during the winter months.

I hiked the trail early in May.  I came across a couple muddy spots, but nothing that prevented me from getting through.  I started my hike very early on a weekday morning and was able to hike for a couple hours before any motorcycles showed up.  I remained alert, and just had three times on the 11 mile hike that I had to step aside to let dirt bikes pass.  Overall it was an enjoyable hike.  If you have a bike or ATV that you want to take out for a great ride, this would definitely be the place to go.

The Jones Creek Trail makes about an 11 mile loop.  It connects to other trails and roads in the area that can add many more miles.  The Jones Creek Trail Riders Association maintains it, and has a website with useful details and updates.

Tukes Mountain

Update reported in The Columbian 8/29/2024

This is a site owned by the City of Battleground currently being restored with native vegetation and reforested.  It mostly consists of a large open field surrounded by forest, with sections replanted with new trees.  There are paths criss-crossing the site through the grass, but they might be difficult to follow, especially when the grass is tall.  Exploring the site, you could easily walk 3/4 mile to a mile making a loop.

The start point is at the south west corner of the property where there’s a gate and a sign about the conservation work.  There’s only room for one or two cars to park at the gate.  This is not a good spot to park on the shoulder of the road.

Taverner Ridge

The recently built Taverner Ridge neighborhood includes several paths that meander through fields, along side forest and past wetlands for about 1 mile of trails to explore.  There are several points to start into the trails, where the paths cross the roads, or access paths connect into neighborhood streets.

I started on Lake River Terrace, but other good locations to start are on Great Blue Road, 14th Circle, 15th Way, 14th Ct, 15th Ct, 17th Circle, and 18th Circle.  I expect that before long there will likely be a trail connecting to Pintail Ct, and to Nighthawk Rd.

A portion of the trail through this neighborhood follows the pipeline corridor.  I would love it if the developers, Ridgefield and Clark County could coordinate completing a path that follows the pipeline all the way from here to the county owned land at Flume Creek, about a mile south.

Sevier Road

A short neighborhood trail running along the forested canyon edge, with a small picnic area at the west end.  This trail has a couple steep sections through a nice forested landscape.  I would love to some day see this trail connected through the canyon to provide longer walks connecting to the neighborhood to the north, and perhaps even down the hill to the wildlife refuge.

Sevier Road trail

Gateway Green

Gateway Green is an area in the middle of the junction of I-84 and I-205 that has been established as a park area.  It includes a network of trails for mountain bike or BMX bike riding, complete with jumps and stunt routes.  Access is from either the south end through the Gateway Transit Center or at the north end through Maywood Park.