Epic views, leg burning grinds, hero dirt all year, and a stupid grin on your face that you’ll need a plastic surgeon to remove, and if you live in Vancouver, you can have it all after work any day of
Epic views, leg burning grinds, hero dirt all year, and a stupid grin on your face that you’ll need a plastic surgeon to remove, and if you live in Vancouver, you can have it all after work any day of the week. Less than 45 minutes from Vancouver and 1 hour from the East side of Portland, Cold Creek is the most heavily biked section of the Tarbell trail system, and is distinctive enough from the rest of the system that it deserves its own guide and write up. Locals typically ride this section after work, bringing lights in the winter, and tack it onto other parts of the Tarbell system or combine it with Thrillium, Bells Mountain, or Chinook for more epic weekend rides.
How to Find It
Interstate 205, take the Padden Parkway exit. Head east on Padden Parkway, which sorts of veers left after about 3 miles and becomes Ward road. Then, after another mile, proceed straight through a 4 way stop and continue another ¼ mile to 139th street and take a right up the hill. 139th will sort of merge with Rawson road. Keep following Rawson, go straight through the always open gate to DNR land, and keep going until you reach a four way intersection. There will be a dirt road to your right going down the hill, and a dirt road in front of you going up the hill. To your left is a paved road. This intersection is known to the locals as four corners. Take a left on the paved road, which is known as the L 1000. Keep following L 1000, which will become a nicely graded gravel road as you pass the Larch Corrections Center. Continue another mile on the unpaved road until you reach a bridge that has a rather wide parking area on the other side. You’ll see the stop signs for the trail nearby. Soon there will be a more developed parking area just up the road from here.
Typical Conditions
It's SW Washington, so it's often wet. But this trail is rideable all year!
Advocacy & Stewardship
This trail is maintained by the Cold Creek Mountain Bikers.
Turn by Turn
You have two options. Both make a lollipop. Lollipops are nice.
Murphy's grade option: Easier at first, then hard.
From the parking area, ride south (uphill and away from the bridge) up L1000 until you reach a yellow gate. The new parking area will be in this area soon after this trail guide is published. When you are facing the big yellow gate, to your right there will be a trailhead. That is the start of Murphy's grade. Climb up this section for a little over a mile, until you reach a complicated looking mishmash of trail intersections under the trees. One of the options is simplified for you: it's closed. Don't ride the closed section until the DNR is able to replace the bridge and reopens it. The left you will see a reroute that goes straight up the fall line. That is the trail you want to take. Climb it until you reach an open logging road. This is the intersection the locals call 5 corners. If there is snow at five corners, proceed back down the hill, if not, continue climbing up through the clearcut. You will then climb another mile or so through beautiful Noble fir and hemlock, eventually reaching a clearing where there is a picnic table. Drink in the view and turn around. When you get back to where Murphy's grade met up with the trail detour, now go to your left, where there is a log with "It's all Good 2012" chainsawed into the side of it. Shred that line all the way down to the parking lot.
Logging Road Option: Because you like being exposed to the elements, and getting your pain out of the way in the beginning.
From the parking area, proceed to the Yellow Gate. Go under the Yellow gate and proceed up the road. Take a moment to die a little bit halfway up the first mile, then proceed up to Five Corners, where the road intersects with the trail. If you can climb no farther, or there is snow, take a right down the trail to your right, shred down to the "It's All Good" log, then shred again down to the parking area. If you still have strength left, climb up to the picnic table as per the directions detailed in the Murphy's grade option.
Partial Shuttle:
After parking at the trailhead, drive back up to Four Corners and take the dirt road that climbs the hill. Climb up to the Yellow Gate, which is soon to be a parking area, and then ride you bikes up the road to the radio towers. From the radio towers you'll see an obnoxious looking old road grade strewn with ugly baby heads and the detritus left over from goons in their four wheelers. Ride down this road, ignoring the trail junction to your right, until you reach a clearing full of slippery dinner plates we affectionately call the Flintstones. You'll see the picnic table near the bottom of this clearing. Ride from there back down to the parking area, following the directions detailed in the Murphy's grade option.
