Beginner’s Bike Camping – Stub Stewart Edition: Is June 22-23

We’ve set a date for the beginner-friendly camping at Stub Stewart State Park, and it’s June 22-23!  Details to follow around June 1st!

Memorial Day camping is FULL

If you are still interested in joining us, you can join the waitlist here in case anyone who is signed up cannot come.

Memorial Day Registration is Up!

http://cyclewild-may2013.eventbrite.com

Silver Falls, May 25-27
$15 / person (+reservation fee of $1.87), 2 nights
More details soon.

May 11-12 overnight trip – Milo McIver!

Milo McIver, photo by Urban Adventure League

Milo McIver, photo by Urban Adventure League

Cycle Wild’s May overnight trip is to Milo McIver State Park, just outside Estacada. Please join us! Milo McIver has miles of hiking paths, swimming in the Clackamas (if it’s warm enough or you’re brave enough), and a couple of awesome disc golf courses.

Register here.

This is considered an “easy” trip, and we are encouraging families to join us. There will probably also be a friendly dog or two on this trip!

The ride will leave the Cleveland Avenue Max station at 10:30 on Saturday, May 11. Please be aware that trailers and cargo bikes aren’t allowed on the MAX, and getting to the start point might require extra riding if you will be using a non-standard bike. The Springwater Corridor Trail brings you to only a few blocks from the starting point.

We’ll ride on the Springwater Corridor until Boring, then down Amisigger Road to Clackamas Hwy/OR-224, which takes us straight into Estacada. This highway has a good amount of traffic, but the section we will be riding it has very wide, smooth shoulders. We’ll have a grocery stop at the Estacada Thriftway before riding the last mile or two into camp. The one-way trip distance is around 21 miles.

Our route is here.

We have reserved the group camp at Milo McIver, so we have lots of space. We ARE requiring preregistration via Eventbrite, but we are not taking money in advance. Cost will depend on number of attendees, and we are estimating it will cost less than $10 per person to camp. Firewood is $5 per bundle, so please plan to pitch in a couple dollars for that, as well. Campers are responsible for their own food. If you plan to cook, please bring a stove. Potable water, restrooms and showers are available at the camp.

If you have questions about the trip, what to bring, how to get to the starting point, please contact erinne.goodell at cyclewild.org.

A Sunset Falls camping report from Car Free Rambles!

Stasia over at Car Free Rambles joined us for her first Cycle Wild trip, our April expedition to Sunset Falls in Gifford Pinchot National Forest. It was soggy, but still fun. Read more about it over here.

The Willamette Week Bike Issue features Bike Camping and Touring, and Cycle Wild too!

Illustration: Iron Canvas Studios

Out today on the streets today is the latest Willamette Week. This issue is their annual “Bike” Issue.  And this year they featured a nice piece about bicycle camping around Portland along with a bit about touring. Rebecca Jacobson, the author of the piece, talked with me last Tuesday about local bike camping destinations, and myself and Cycle Wild are mentioned in the article. Go check it out: Your First Overnighter

THIS JUST IN: Cape Meares Road on Oregon Coast CLOSED due to landslides

Cape Meares Lighthouse

This just in from our friends at Oregon State Parks:

Cape Meares Scenic Loop is closed at MP1 – 2.5 due to slide activity. It is unknown when it will re-open. This is a popular alternate route on the Oregon Coast Bike Route.
Three Capes Scenic Loop – aka Cape Meares- on the Oregon Coast Route just outside of Tillamook is CLOSED because of slides.
Cyclists can stay on US 101 or take OR SR 131 to continue. The Sand Lake Road is also open. The closure is north of Cape Lookout State Park, close to Cape Meares. It is just a small section on the Three Capes loop that is closed. Tripcheck.com might be the best place to look for updates. It is going to be awhile before it is open again.

Sunset Falls camping FULL, but there is a waiting list.

Our Sunset Falls camping trip is FULL! In just about four days we filled up the fifteen available spots. If you are still interested in going, despair not! There is a WAITING LIST on our Eventbrite page. Please sign up on the waiting list if you are interested. If you sign up for the waiting list and a spot becomes available, whether due to a cancellation or us getting another cabin, you will be notified and will have 48 hours to register and pay to secure a spot.

April 13-14 bike camping: Sunset campground, Gifford Pinchot National Forest

Sunset campground.

UPDATE 3/20: This trip is now FULL, but there is a waiting list. Please reserve a spot on the waiting list via Eventbrite.

Hello, Friends! Please join us on Cycle Wild’s next overnight bicycle camping excursion to Sunset Falls campground in Gifford Pinchot National Forest (Clark County, WA) on Saturday April 13 and Sunday April 14!

We’ll be riding out from near the airport the morning of Saturday April 13. The ride itself is approximately 40 miles. The first four miles is all I-205 Bike Path, the next ten suburban roads, either busier roads with bike lanes or low traffic neighborhood streets. The rest will be low traffic rural roads with no special bike provisions (other than a couple mile bike path between Lucia and Moulton Falls.) The last fifteen miles of the ride closely follows the East Fork of the Lewis River, which is very pretty and scenic. We’ll make stops at Lucia Falls and Moulton Falls. We’ll also make a grocery stop en-route.

Because of the distance (40 miles) and the climbing, we’re listing this ride as moderately difficult. Folks should have some experience with distance cycling, and should have bike camped previously.

Here is the route. (If the map doesn’t show up, click here.)

Please note: There is no potable water at the campground, despite what their website says. Please be prepared to either haul some water in from Heisson (there is water at Lucia Falls Park, but frankly, it tastes nasty), filter water from the river at the campround, or boil water. Pit toilets are available.

Campsites are $12 a night. We can probably fit a couple tents per site, which will lower the per-person rate. Firewood also available.

We are capping the ridership to 15 people. Advance registration is required. Please register via our Eventbrite page here. No advance payment required; you’ll pay for your spot at the campground.

Please Note: While we are asking for registration, Sunset Falls Campground is a first-come, first-served campground. It’s pretty unlikely that it will be full. (We went around the same time last year, and no one else was there.)

Please let us know if you have any questions. And hope to see you on the ride!

Sunset Falls. Photo: Andy Schmidt

Looking for new August camping destination UPDATED

Hello friends! Unfortunately we WON’T be camping at the Eagle Creek Group Camp (USFS) in the Columbia Gorge in August, as the group site is already reserved (and reserved for pretty much every weekend this summer.) We are currently looking for an alternate destination for August 10 and 11.

We’d like to camp in the Gorge as this was our only trip out there for the year. However, pretty much every other site in the Gorge that can be reached in a day is first come, first served. This makes it difficult for a bicycle camping trip.

Do any of you fine folk have a suggestion? It should be moderate in length and ability (say 40 miles or so from Portland). And it needs to be a destination we aren’t already going to. Please see our current schedule here.

UPDATE!

Well, that was fast! On the advice of Maria Schur, we’ve picked the Panther Creek campground on Wind River Road in Gifford Pinchot National Forest (Washington) for our August 10-11 destination.
We’ve already made reservations. Details about the ride/event will come in the summer. It’s approximately 50 miles one-way, which puts this ride in the “Challenging” category. Estimated cost per person is $10 plus buy-your-own food.