Hells Canyon questions

Trip recommendations, current conditions, and other trail related Q&A
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AlexC
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Hells Canyon questions

Post by AlexC » August 24th, 2022, 9:59 am

I've got a question about bikepacking the western rim of Hells Canyon. I know this is a hiking forum, but this is the only place I've been able to find decent information on the trails there.

I know the USFS says the Western Rim is closed to bicycles from PO Saddle to Hat Point because it goes in and out of the wilderness area. When I look at the maps, it appears that only about a mile or so of trail enters the wilderness (near a spot marked as Benjamin Spring), while the rest skirts the boundary.* It looks like I could bushwhack around that area, if necessary, or do a long detour going down Morgan Ridge and then back up to Freezeout Saddle.

I guess my question is - how accurate are the maps? Is that really the only section in the wilderness area, or are there others? I have no intention of entering the wilderness area on my bike.

Cheers!

*There's another section of the Western Rim that enters the wildnerness, but the maps and Google show a trail around that part.

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adamschneider
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Re: Hells Canyon questions

Post by adamschneider » August 24th, 2022, 10:35 am

In my experience, the most accurate maps for this sort of thing (land ownership, wilderness etc.) are the Oregon/Washington BLM maps: https://www.gpsvisualizer.com/draw/?bg= ... -116.72561

It does look like avoiding the wilderness would mean bushwhacking around the Benjamin Spring area for about a mile. God only knows what those shrubby areas are like; if they're closely-spaced manzanitas, that could be an ugly mile.

But I'd call the USFS and ask. It's entirely possible that the entire segment really is closed to bikes in that area, regardless of where the boundaries are.

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Born2BBrad
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Re: Hells Canyon questions

Post by Born2BBrad » August 26th, 2022, 12:05 pm

Why not ride the Western Rim from Memaloose to Lord Flat? Or from Warnock Corral to Lord Flat? It's a road that gets very little traffic. The views are the best in Hells Canyon.
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- Jean Luc Picard

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drm
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Re: Hells Canyon questions

Post by drm » August 26th, 2022, 12:57 pm

You can't assume that the trail is open to bicycles outside of the wilderness. Many hiking trails are still closed for an entire section for reasons like that - so that you don't find yourself part way along and are blocked. And as Adam said, even if that were the case, a mile of bushwhacking could be impassable in many ways.

AlexC
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Re: Hells Canyon questions

Post by AlexC » August 30th, 2022, 1:11 pm

Thanks guys. I sent an email to the forest service office to get a concrete answer. I do plan on riding the section to Lord Flat and back, but am hoping to ride even more of the rim if it's possible.

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Charley
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Re: Hells Canyon questions

Post by Charley » August 30th, 2022, 9:21 pm

You've gotten some good replies and I think your plan of calling Smokey is probably the right call.

I've ridden from around Hat Point to around Grassy Knoll as a leg stretcher one morning on the way somewhere else. I don't know about the southern section, but I experienced incredible views and some amount of baby heads!
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I don't know about you, but I have found discontinuities such as this maddening. Here, for example, the Wilderness Boundary cuts off a trailhead access road from the trailheads, all for the purpose of. . . keeping the wilderness boundary on the ridgeline a bit, above the road.
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Maybe the FS abandoned that road decades before the Wilderness, but it's still a hindrance on what would otherwise be a logical bike ride. From satellite imagery, it appears the road is still clearly a doubletrack, and not degraded or decommissioned.

Personally, if I were determined to include this trail as part of a longer trip, I'd think about riding the doubletrack all the way to its end. I'd be shocked if people don't drive it regularly (probably even FS rangers and grazing permittees).

From there, I'd ride trail 1763 around the shoulder of the hill to its junction with the WRT. In that area, a bicycle on a trail would be the least concern, from an environmental perspective. It's really uncrowded, so you likely wouldn't be ruining someone's day, and there are cattle grazing leases all around, and logging, too.
Believe it or not, I barely ever ride a mountain bike.

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