Forest Park: Escape the Sprawl

Forest Park is the ride to do if you only have one day in Portland. The loop starts in the Alphabet District at the foot of the West Hills and climbs almost immediately into Forest Park, one of the largest urban forests in the United States, where car-free gravel roads and fire-lane singletrack sit just minutes from downtown. It is nearly 80 percent unpaved, and the quick jump from city hum to near silence is the whole point.

This loop is one of three rides Abe Alkhamees mapped out for his Portland gravel guide, a decade of local knowledge distilled into a doorstep tour. Read the full guide here.

The entry fee comes early. A spicy, loose, sometimes rutted gravel climb up Holman Lane drops you onto Firelane 1 and then the famous Leif Erikson Drive, the main artery that connects most of the park. Head north and the route settles into a natural ebb and flow of forest singletrack, some of it steep and chunky. The standout is the BPA Road descent, a well-known drop at grades around 20 percent. Look up partway down or you will miss the view of the Willamette River with Mount St. Helens behind it. The climb back out through fire lanes 12 and 15 hurts, but the solitude up there is hard to beat.

Come on the right tool. Wide tires and easy gearing make the loose climbs and chunky singletrack far more fun, and the route is a true loop, so you finish back where you started at Fat Tire bike shop. By the end you will be hungry, and the Alphabet District has the cure: Escape from NY and Scottie's Pizza Parlor are both local favourites. Portland gravel is a year-round affair, but the summer months give you the driest trails and the best chance of that volcano view.