Review Date
July 25, 2005

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: truck ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
This is East Portland's quickie. I ride it about 3 times a week just to stay conditioned.
Get a map at www.friendsofpowellbutte.org or the main parking lot up 162nd Ave off of Powell Blvd.
My fave is to park at the end of Ellis and make a couple of loops up to the top and back down on various trails.
Even though the trails are fairly short, you can get a good work out as you try to increase climbing speed and work on your endurance by making multiple passes. Best of all, if you break something you're never too far from your rig.

Recommended Route:
Although the map is pretty good, the usage distinctions are vague at best. Sometimes the map will show a trial for Horse/Hiker but the trail marker will have a Hiker/Biker sign and vise versa. And sometimes there won't be a distinction on the trail marker at all. From the end of Ellis right at Blacktailed Deer, left up Pioneer Orchard Trail, 1 1/4 times around Orchard Trail Loop, and left down Elderberry Trail. Mt. Hood and Wild Hawthorne trails also provide a good workout but I'm not sure what the trail distinctions are.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Bunches on Hood and in Hood River.

Review Date
June 28, 2005

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Visitors rate this review
4.50 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by: tloady ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
it pretty much sucks now, the lib nazzi's will spank you and take away your birthday if you ride it the way it used to be. i grewwup on this hill in the third highest house. i used to ride it back before it was a park, and you had to hide frome the drunk dirt bikers. when i was a kid we would take old banana seat shwins and bend the forks apart to fit dirt bike tires befor huching was cool. back in 96 i left a joined the military. this last winter i drove with my family from sc to portland. when i started ofloading the bikes in the parking lot i was told the park was closed to mtbkers for the winter months. i drove around to the back side and parked in the old nieghborhood. after finding that the same hole was in the fence that was there when i was a kid i whent for it. i was descusted. the trails were ruined!!! this used to be a good short ride. now its a sloppy mud bog. all the people that say they ride once a week need to get off there buts and do a little work once and a while. even as kids we knew that some logs for erosion helped. thanks all you lazy people who ruinede my chilhood playground

Recommended Route:
it used to be up reymond past the water tower to the t then right to the creek"the big ceder tre thats hollowed out was done by my brothers and if you look you will se what looks like a log cabin ruins in the ferns, me and my friends did that, we only made it up about 4 logs befor getting yeld at for cutting down trees"then cut back to your right aver the creek. this is some nic moderate singletrack. after a while you will come through some black berries into the medow ride across the top of the hill to the hidden fresh water spring, you will have to look but its there and the water is the best tasting in the world. then come down to the old gravel road. just thin it used to be as wide as a two lane road.it will take you up hill back to single track. rifht befor the trail begins look to your left. that ysed to be strait down with no trees. it was true camacazi. thake this back to the t, turn right and head back to reymond. just hink as you go down the hill past the watertower, were used to do this on shwins with no brakes but our fot on the tire, and where it levels out was gravel. if you try this be careful of the trees at the corner of 140th and reymond, there were manya

Review Date
August 24, 2004

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: wyldfyr ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
There are several ways that you can go on Poeell Butte. The backside toward Springwater is the best. It's all single track through trees. There's a great veiw at the top and a lot of open meadows. This is in my back yard and a good local urban ride. Stay off the trails when it's muddy. It tears them up.

Recommended Route:
Start at Springwater and go to the top around the west side of the Butte. Once at the top dink around through the meadows and orchards.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
There are some really short but nice diversions off the Springwater Trail.

Review Date
June 18, 2004

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: dakar ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
This is a great in-town ride. Just got back from an after-work ride. in the meadow up top in the area of the old orchard, we got views of Mt Hood, Mt. St. Helens, Adams, and even Jefferson peaking over. Awesome. The trail is not very technical at all, but you can work some mean uphill that doesn't stop. There's a mix of singletrack (not too much) and tractor road and triple track. as for the blocked off singletrack, well...i know, but you gotta let the land heal sometimes. plenty of great in-town excercise, mix of wooded singletrack and open-meadow wagon track. this park/trail is also accesible from the Springwater Corridor bike trail. look for a low post with green sign.

Recommended Route:
just poke around and have fun. it's a butte in the metro area; you can't really get lost.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
forest park--Leif Ericson Trail. Nice n' easy, but crowded. Try the north end of the trail for more breathing room.

Review Date
May 12, 2004

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: Winterheat ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
The tape line has changed to (503) 823-1616.