Banks-Vernonia State Trail
Classic Oregon scenery 30 miles west of Portland
Public Affairs Specialist Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
T
to-trails” project. Just 30 miles west of Portland, the multi-use trail follows an abandoned railroad bed that stretches 21 miles between the towns of Banks
and Vernonia in the northwest corner of the state. The route consists of an eight-foot wide paved trail paral- leled by a four-foot horse trail. The gentle grade in all but one area allows walkers, joggers, bicyclists, equestrians, and peo- forests of rural Washington and Columbia counties. The route’s railroad history began in the 1920s when trains moved logs and lumber from local mills to Portland. When Vernonia’s Oregon-American Lumber Co. mill closed in 1957, the railroad stopped using the line. It then operated pulled by a steam engine. The railroad was aban- doned in 1972, and the state began purchasing the right-of-way in 1974. Trail planning began in earnest in 1991 when the Legislature appropriated money for the project. The Oregon Parks and
Vernonia
Banks-Vernonia State Trail
Recreation Department (OPRD) acquired land and began building section by section over the next 20 years, culminating in 2010 stretch and south trailhead in Banks. A grand-opening ceremony celebrated with a ribbon cutting, remarks from community leaders, and group walks and rides on the trail.
Multiple agencies and
interest groups collaborat- ed with OPRD to make the project possible, including Washington County, the cities of Banks and Vernonia,
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WASHINGTON COUNTY COLUMBIA COUNTY
47 L.L. “Stub” Stewart State Park Map detail
US 26
OREGON Portland
2 MILES 6 NEW YEARS 2015
AmericanTrails.org Banks
21-mile route
the Oregon Department of Transportation, and the Friends of Linear Trail, a group of supporters headed by Banks resident Alice Pihl. Her husband Hollie Pihl, then a circuit court judge, worked with legislators, local jurisdictions, and timber companies to move the project forward. Columbia County Commissioner Tony Hyde was a strong advocate for the project, as was OPRD’s director at the time, Tim Wood. Funding came from grants and state funds, including a Federal Transportation Enhancement
Grant, money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Washington County, and OPRD via state lottery dollars and the Federal Recreational Trails Program. Trail highlights include 13 bridges and views from the 733-foot long Buxton Trestle. The south end of the trail begins
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