Bike Trails and Maps

Although many transportational cyclists feel that learning to share the general travel lanes with cars is the most dependable and efficient way of getting anywhere you want to go, let's face it - most of us are not above taking a break from car traffic where possible. Beginners in particular often want to know "where are the bike paths?". So whatever your purpose, recreation or getting somewhere on a trail that goes your way, here is some information about Portland's path and trail network.

The official Portland Bike Network

Have you ever seen those green signs with a picture of a bike, and a letter? Well, it's far too much of a secret, because a group has yet to take it upon itself to mass produce and distribute maps, but those are actually routes on the Portland Bike Network, the official city of Portland's designation of "bike-friendly" routes. The letter designates which route it is, such as "B" for Back Bay, "W" for Westbrook, and so on.

Note that "bike-friendly" is an official but relative term which does not mean, for example, that there is a nice wide bike lane on the whole route. (Which might not be appropriate anyway.) In fact, often it only means there are "Share the Road" signs. However, Portland's Department of Public Works is committeed to upgrading the bike network infrastructure as much as possible within their budgetary constraints, and a committee to discuss upgrades meets monthly. If you are interested in helping, contact the Portland Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee.

Publicly-available online copies of the network map exist should soon be available on this site. (4/5/08)

Other Trail Organizations

• Here are maps from Portland Trails, Portland's premier local trail building organization.
  
• The maps page of the Eastern Trail Alliance has information about ordering their $10 hardcopy map, plus a few links to some other online maps.
  

Individual Mapping Efforts

The following individuals have taken it upon themselves to map routes and other items of interests to cyclists:

• Christian McNeil's map of good and bad spots, paths, lanes, and other items of interest. (Christian is also author of The Vigourous North blog).
  
• Valerie Green's map of same.
  
• This Meetup's map of Commuting Routes, that is, how some of our members get to work and back. This is provided so that beginners who are looking for someone to ride to work with might find someone else along a similar route.
  

If you have more suggestions, please contact me through the link on the left.