West Green Mountain Trail

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jvangeld
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West Green Mountain Trail

Post by jvangeld » May 19th, 2022, 9:03 am

Yesterday I hiked a trail that is under construction. Green Mountain is the little Boring Lava Volcano just north of Camas. The city of Camas recently acquired land on the West side of the mountain, bordering Clark County's land to the East. When the former Green Mountain golf course just SW of the mountain was changed into a housing development, the developers built a little nature trail which ended at the border of the land that the city acquired. So the mountain's neighbors have formed the Green Mountain Trails Coalition, and are building a new trail that accesses the existing trails and old roads on the mountain.

How to get there: From Highway 14, exit North onto SE 192nd Avenue. Continue up to NE 13th Street, where you will take a right turn. NE 13th Street becomes NE Goodwin Road. Take a left onto NE Ingle Road. Then enter the new housing development at NE 92nd Avenue. Take a left onto NE Boxwood Street followed by a left onto NE 93rd Lane. The pool is on your right. Turn right onto an alley. At the end of the alley is a parking lot with 12 spaces.

A paved path extends from the end of the parking lot. Follow it to where it joins a trail that runs along the BPA lines. Take a left onto that trail. It will turn to the NE, paralleling another alley. From there a gravel trail drops down to the NW. Follow this trail until the point where it ends at a big boulder. The new trail begins immediately to the right, marked by some fresh gravel.

From that point you are following little white flags. The trail has been brushed out but not logged out. The tread is often confused because there are a number of paths made by surveyors that criss-cross it. This trail heads NW for a while, rising and falling. Then it turns NE and takes the first shoulder of the mountain head on. I think switchbacks are planned, but the main tread follows the fall line for most of this portion. It gains a road just before it comes out on the BPA line. Take a left to continue up the trail, or take a right for a dramatic clifftop view across to Prune Hill. This easement area is the only clear view on the hike. Continuing on the trail, it follows a road to a CPU well site. Skirt the fence, and then start climbing again. This section was the most confused, but eventually I found enough white flags to muddle through. It gains another old road, which will lead you to the summit.

Out and back, 1 1/2 hours. 570 feet elevation gain.

Tony Velasco is heading up the trail construction. I can introduce him to anyone who is interested in giving a hand. The group discusses things on NextDoor. https://nextdoor.com/g/uxb42i1fz/?is=post_audience_link
Jeremy VanGelder - Friends of Road 4109

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bobcat
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Re: West Green Mountain Trail

Post by bobcat » May 20th, 2022, 9:01 am

Thanks for the heads up on this new trail. Do they have a timeline on completion of the trail?

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Don Nelsen
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Re: West Green Mountain Trail

Post by Don Nelsen » May 21st, 2022, 4:06 pm

Thanks for the info. I was looking for a short hike for Sunday and I think I'll check this out.

dn
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly

"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller

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wildcat
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Joined: September 14th, 2021, 4:48 pm
Location: CN85RP

Re: West Green Mountain Trail

Post by wildcat » May 21st, 2022, 10:58 pm

How to get there: From Highway 14, exit North onto SE 192nd Avenue. Continue up to NE 13th Street, where you will take a right turn.
--- OR ---

If coming up from 205, take Exit 29 and ride America's Longest-Ass Offramp north to NE 18th Street then turn right. Go straight through the intersection at NE 112th Avenue then take 18th allllllll the way to the end where it curves right onto NE 192nd (by the football pitch). Turn left onto NE 13th and follow the rest of the directions as stated above. If you have an MURS-capable transceiver you can try to get on channel 2 (151.880) and give me a shoutout since you'll be driving past one of the neighborhoods I'm very often in (but don't be terribly alarmed if you don't get a response, or my buddy Mr Bale responds on my behalf because I'm out).

You can also come up off highway 14 at SE 164th Avenue, which eventually turns into NE 162nd. (As of this edit there's a major, long-overdue road construction project in progress at the intersection of 164th/SE 1st Street/162nd so expect a few bumps.) Turn right at NE 18th. Maybe stop at Wendy's first for a quick caloric boost.

From the satellite picture (which is apparently old) the alley and car park are behind a gate. Is this still the case?

gate.jpg
Last edited by wildcat on December 15th, 2022, 12:20 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Don Nelsen
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Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: West Green Mountain Trail

Post by Don Nelsen » May 22nd, 2022, 11:23 am

I hiked this today. No gate on the alley leading to the car park. Also, another 10 spots to park if you keep going up Boxwood St. and take a left after the first corner. I'll post a TR later.
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly

"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller

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Don Nelsen
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Re: West Green Mountain Trail

Post by Don Nelsen » May 22nd, 2022, 5:10 pm

This is not a hike for novices, at least until the route is better established. However, if you pay very close attention, you probably won't get too lost. There have been just enough boots on the ground that one can figure out which way to go as you follow the barely cleared trails and old logging roads to the summit.

The only difficulty is near the beginning where the route is not so easy to notice as one trail goes straight ahead and another takes a hard right. Take the hard right and you will be fine. The route climbs up a cliff band and then it's easy going past that.

Edit, Jun 23rd: The route is much better flagged now and is completely cleared of logs. The usual spring growth of ferns, weeds and grass will get tramped down the more people hike this trail.

Thanks jvangeld for letting us know about this hike!

Here are a few photos:

The start of the gravel section:
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The summit:
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My GPS was glitchy today but I think this is about 2 1/2 miles. Even with getting off-trail three times, it only took a couple hours out and back. A nice urban hike and a surprisingly nice forest.

PS: there are a few sprigs of poison oak here and there. Most is avoidable with some care and attention, though.
Last edited by Don Nelsen on June 23rd, 2022, 8:09 am, edited 4 times in total.
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly

"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller

jvangeld
Posts: 156
Joined: May 29th, 2018, 6:36 pm
Location: Proebstel, WA

Re: West Green Mountain Trail

Post by jvangeld » May 23rd, 2022, 2:20 pm

Thanks for the pictures, Don. I'm glad it was an enjoyable trip for you.

There is an access to the east side off of NE 28th Street through land that belongs to Camas Public Schools. I updated Open Street Map to show some of the trails over there. Goodwin Road turns into NE 28th Street. Continue East on 28th Street, past NE 232nd Avenue. On your left there will be a small gravel road. There is room for 6 cars to park next to the gate.

I don't know if there is a planned completion date for the West Green Mountain Trail. Tony is currently recovering from a surgery, but some of the others are keeping at it.
Jeremy VanGelder - Friends of Road 4109

agokturk
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Joined: September 3rd, 2013, 3:19 pm

Re: West Green Mountain Trail

Post by agokturk » June 20th, 2022, 5:15 pm

I'm one of the locals helping build/rebuild both the west and east trails. I hiked the east section on Saturday and other than spring growth the trails on the east side are well established and easy to follow.

There's no date when the west trails will be finished. Tony's teams are small and we're doing the best we can with the wet spring. Better weather will undoubtedly speed things up.

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wildcat
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Re: West Green Mountain Trail

Post by wildcat » June 21st, 2022, 8:58 am

Is there anywhere suitable at the trailhead or close by to lock up a bike?
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Don Nelsen
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Re: West Green Mountain Trail

Post by Don Nelsen » June 23rd, 2022, 8:05 am

wildcat wrote:
June 21st, 2022, 8:58 am
Is there anywhere suitable at the trailhead or close by to lock up a bike?
At the 28th St TH, there's a gate that a bike could be secured to. At the TH's off of Boxwood, there's this:

Perhaps a bike could be attached to the sign?
IMG_6230.JPG
At the other parking area, a couple hundred feet from the one above, I suppose you could lock a bike to the fence around the public (for residents) swimming pool?
IMG_6227.JPG
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly

"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller

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