Hagen said:
I actually rode up the fire road to the Larch trailhead at top. Here you take a right and climb 2 more ROCKY miles then bomb down Larch. I was asking if you take a left at this intersection from the fire road, does this take you to the Tarbell Trail.
Yeah it is confusing since the whole area is called the Tarbell Trail System that consists of the Larch Mt. trail section (sounds like the one you rode), the Tarbell trail "proper" (from Grouse Point NW to Tarbell picnic area, about 8 mi of one-way, that has about 1.5mi of it demolished from clear cutting at MP 5.5-7.5 roughly), and Cold Creek trail (3 mi of rough, horse damaged trail from Tbell picnic area to Rock Cr. CG and about 2 more miles from SW side of Rock Cr. CG by horse stables to bottom of Larch Mt. TH off of FR-1200?.
The whole thing is a bit confusing, since recent logging over past couple of years has just thrashed the place and altered TH's a bit that changed previously riding routes.
Sections of trail worth riding:
- Larch Mt. trail o/b to "Flinstones" picnic bench (the massive, slated rock field). If O/B, I usually ride up dk near trail up about 3/4 of the way, then up trail to Flinstones and back, roughly 9miles.
- Tarbell O/B from Grouse Point Vista to Sturgeon Rock and back, all good sk about 8miles total, or
- Tarbell O/B from Tarbell Picnic area to Hidden Falls and back, all good sk, with a little overgrown patches while climbing up the saddle, and watch out for horses when bombing back down to picnic area, total ride about 10 miles with two good descents and two moderate climbs each way.
Section to avoid:
- Larch Mt./Tarbell trail section heading SW from Grouse Vista point, about 2-3miles that is hammered from moto's poaching with tons of chewed up, loose rock sections
- Cold Creek, both sections due to horse damage and creek wading in Rock Cr.
- Tarbell trail MP 5.5-7.5 roughly, due to clearcut, trail obliveration, it is obvious where the trail in not passable.
Options to make ride longer:
- Tarbell/Chinook/Silver Star trail O/B (Tarbell picnic area TH), about 16mi with about 3,500' total climbing and some steep, loose rock sections, but the views are so worth it.
- Bluff Mt. trail, runs 7.5mi along beautiful, above treeline ridge to Silver Star.
It's best to copy off a map of the area off of Gifford Pinchot NF Silver Star Section or Rock Cr. DNR. Hope that helps.
I would also suggest check out Larch Mt. Oregon as well, I have been riding there at least 1x/wk lately to avoid the heat, it is usually 15-20 degrees cooler up there and a great loop with fast, fun sk decents and nice, techy, rooty and rock sections. Kind of like Brown's Camp loop, but a little shorter altogether with longer sk sections and more challenging root/rock sections. I think it is a great, somewhat close by weekday loop, only 30 mile from PDX at elevations 2,600-4,050ft.
Would be happy to show you the loop if you want, since you can get easily turned around up there with all the connector trails to make the loop if you don't know where you are going. Can PM me or post if you would like to hook up. I have been riding there, usually sometime after 5p on Tues or Thu lately. The loop is either 6 or 7 miles (if going to viewpoint and back) and only takes 1.5hr to ride tops and it is about a 45min drive from NE PDX and about 35 min drive back. It's nice since you can ride the loop CW or CCW or even o/b if you want like I did last time to hit the two sweet, 2-mile sk descents and the view of Oregon/WA cascades from the top at Sherard Point is second to none.
A great, skill building, underated ride during the summer, in my opinion that is somewhat close by to town and a great place to avoid the heat and dust. A true, natural trail ride with the best of all terrain.
Today, looks like I will be hitting Post Canyon, due to recent rain padding down that east cascade dust and to get my FR groove on.
JG
