Oregon What Happened to Ladee Flats - Estacada, Oregon

[portlandtwostroke]

I went riding at Ladee Flats OHV (Mt Hood National Forest--east of Estacada, Oregon) for the first time in a year.

 

I had heard on this site that there was an effort to add some trails. Great, I had thought at the time. Well, now a year later I see what's been done. Doesn't look so great. Looks expensive too. 

 

About 3 miles up F.S. road 4610, there used to be a gated (why a gate?) feeder road heading north-ish. This road was not great riding by any means but it did gradually dwindle down to a single track that a novice rider might appreciate. It also branched several half-mile tight wood single tracks.

 

Now, it's a bit changed. The Forest Service has covered mile after mile of this road with piles of pine-cone sized granite rocks. Comically, the piles are laid in an "S" type pattern.  The "S," I think is supposed to be the new trail. 

 

The expense must have been hundreds of thousands of dollars. And the result is: I don't know what. 

 

Also, what happened to the half-mile single tracks that once branched off this road? The only real trails in the area? The ones made for free? The whole point of riding this one-time road?  It looks like the Forest Service saw fit to either bury those trailheads or dig trenches in front of them. (One thing the Forest Service is good at is designing impassable trenches.)

 

The Forest Service basically spent money to effectively destroy the only real OHV trails in that area . . . under the guise of building OHV trails. 

 

All that's left of those nice little half-mile wood trails is a bit of orange tape hanging from a branch. The orange tape that signaled the dump truck operators and back hoe operators to demolish. (The cool little free trails were destroyed on purpose.)

 

 

Summary: What's been done appears to be to the detriment of 1. OHV riders (obviously) ; 2. the casual hiker (the rocks are hard to walk and are ugly); 3. 4-wheelers and trucks (the road is now unpassable for them); 4. and to wildlife (truck noise). 

 

I wonder how much this road has cost over the years: 1. To build it in the first place 2. To maintain 3. To have someone put up "No Motorized Vehicles" along it over the years 4. To have someone take down the "No Motorized Vehicles" signs  and 5. And now to have someone add S-shaped rocks. 

 

And what is the final result of all of this spending? A road that is not usable for anyone. 

 

The Forest Service often complains it's underfunded. If the Forest Service is underfunded, it's not underfunded enough. 

Edited March 2, 2014 by portlandtwostroke

[portlandtwostroke]

Another quick observation about Ladee Flats:

 

About 2-3 miles up F.S. Road 4610, there's a few single tracks with "No Motorized Use" signs posted at the trailhead. 

 

When I saw these signs last year, I just assumed that maybe there were nesting birds in there or sensitive wildlife and was happy to avoid these impromptu trails. 

 

When I came back this year, I see that these sensitive wildlife areas behind the "No Motorized Use" signs are now part of a timber sale? 

 

Why would you close a trail and hand out citations for riding an area that is about to be clear cut?

Edited March 2, 2014 by portlandtwostroke

[Slackkinhard]

...

 

Why would you close a trail and hand out citations for riding an area that is about to be clear cut?

 

because most people truly have nothing important to do, but must act like they do to justify a paycheck

[portlandtwostroke]

because most people truly have nothing important to do, but must act like they do to justify a paycheck

Probably right. 

[Slackkinhard]

Probably right. 

finding new areas to ride is part of the adventure of this sport.  I can't remember a time it wasn't like this.  I used to ride out the driveway of my parents and the only thing stopping me was my gas tank.  They built McMansions on the hill above the house and now all that's gone.  I moved to Everett, right next to Paine field in the 90's...awesome riding right out my driveway....now that is part park, part Future of Flight hangars.  It's getting to be that time for me....time to move.

[OCsquid]

I drove up there yesterday to check it out and I couldn't barely tell where the area was. I think I found what I suppose is the staging area about 4 miles up the road like the FS website says but there is no markings or signage whatsoever. The online trail map shows a few roads. I found 1 trail off of one of the roads. Was kinda disappointed, looked like a poor excuse for an ohv area. I live close by and was hoping to find a good riding area there. It says on rider planet that the lobos mc club has adopted ladee flats. Maybe there's some lobos on TT that could shed some light. I'd be all over volunteering there. I'd map it and build trail markers or a staging area sign. At least then it would look official and not like a place I'm scared to leave my truck.

[portlandtwostroke]

I drove up there yesterday to check it out and I couldn't barely tell where the area was. 

Well, since no one is chiming in . . .

 

I've been up there a few times and had the same impression as you: where is everything?

I found a few good, but short trails, but few connections between them.

 

However, today a fellow is going to show me where the trails are. He says there's a pit area too. If I find anything of worth, I'll try to let you know where it's at. 

[OCsquid]

Well, since no one is chiming in . . .

I've been up there a few times and had the same impression as you: where is everything?

I found a few good, but short trails, but few connections between them.

However, today a fellow is going to show me where the trails are. He says there's a pit area too. If I find anything of worth, I'll try to let you know where it's at. [/quot

Thanks. That would be cool !

[portlandtwostroke]

Well, since no one is chiming in . . .

I've been up there a few times and had the same impression as you: where is everything?

 

 

OCSquid,

Okay, so I've got the skinny. The problem is I was actually lost much of the time, so telling you where things are is going to be a bit challenging. What I can tell you is this: there's a quarry pit about 10.5 miles up Forest Service Road 4610. This is the center of things, the de facto "staging area." 

 

The only signs are orange hand-painted mile numbers. The mistake I had been making, and I suspect the one you made, is not going far enough. I was parking around mile 2 or 3. There are a few trails there but not as many as a miles 10.5

 

Also, it's not easy to stay on 4610. There's several forks in the road and no signs. I had actually been following the wrong road on previous visits. You need gps or a good map. 

 

At mile 10.5 on 4610 there is a small pit, really just a few pills of rock in a clearing. Park your car here. You're 200 feet from the bigger quarry pit. 

 

Now ride your bike up a feeder road about 200 more feet (I would love to tell you where this feeder road is, but I cannot. You're just going to have to ride around on each road till you find which one I mean (sorry)). My friend actually drove his car to the bigger pit. It's possible but pretty hard on your car. 

 

This bigger quarry is about the size of a Bi-Mart parking lot. There's a few good climbs, a lot of it geared toward 4x4s, but there is one challenging climb. You've got about a half hour of fun riding around here.

 

When your done with the pits, it's time to find the trails. 

 

Now, the problem with the rest of what I'm going to tell you is . . . I don't know where I was. What I can say is that there are several trails the spoke out from this quarry. Some of the trails you have to get back on the Forest Service Roads to reach. 

 

The trails are not spectacular; it's not like Tillamook SF, but here and there is some actual good riding. 

 

My friend and I found a mile loop up a mountain that equalled anything in Tillamook--just shorter. I wish I had some GPS coordinates for you because it was an inspiring loop. It looked just on the verge of becoming overgrown and lost to the forest, but hopefully we opened it back up a bit. 

 

Basically, if you can find this quarry pit, you are a within a mile or two of several trails. Just keep poking around until you find things. 

[portlandtwostroke]

I drove up there yesterday to check it out and I couldn't barely tell where the area was. I think I found what I suppose is the staging area about 4 miles up the road like the FS website says but there is no markings or signage whatsoever. The online trail map shows a few roads. I found 1 trail off of one of the roads. Was kinda disappointed, looked like a poor excuse for an ohv area. I live close by and was hoping to find a good riding area there. It says on rider planet that the lobos mc club has adopted ladee flats. Maybe there's some lobos on TT that could shed some light. I'd be all over volunteering there. I'd map it and build trail markers or a staging area sign. At least then it would look official and not like a place I'm scared to leave my truck.

 

 

Yeah I just re-read your post. You stopped at mile 4. There is a trail there, well 2 actually.. That's the area that I wrote about in the 1st thread. 

 

But, yes, I think you did what I did: Stopped short. Keep going another 6.5 miles. 

[Burnrider]

The gravel pit is where I saw most OHV camping and riding last fall. We talked to local riders who said law enforcement is more sticky on illegal shooting (whatever that its) than OHV area use. 1st 15 miles of 4610 had a number of logging contracts in the last several years. At least there's some OHV riding for local riders.

Edited March 9, 2014 by Burnrider

[portlandtwostroke]

The gravel pit is where I saw most OHV camping and riding last fall. We talked to local riders who said law enforcement is more sticky on illegal shooting (whatever that its) than OHV area use. 1st 15 miles of 4610 had a number of logging contracts in the last several years. At least there's some OHV riding for local riders.

 

This is--believe it or not--an officially sanctioned riding area. It's legal to ride here, so there shouldn't be any law enforcement issues. 

 

And, yeah, there's a lot of logging contracts around. That's what pissed me off. There's a number of good trails with "No Motorized Vehicles" signs . . . that they end up logging. 

 

If you're going to mow it down, why not let us ride it before you do?

[sp700twin]

I've been riding LaDee as I am trying get my two boys hooked on dirt bikes (trying to show them an alternative to team sports and hopefully be able to spend more time in the woods with new riding partners). We rode the gravel pit area today. It was a good diversion from the road running for my 10 and 12 year olds. In my search for more info on the area I came across this video from LaDee Flats. Anybody able/willing to give pointers on where this trail is located? At 5:25 the trail comes out on a road.

Edited April 9, 2014 by sp700twin

[portlandtwostroke]

I've been riding LaDee as I am trying get my two boys hooked on dirt bikes (trying to show them an alternative to team sports and hopefully be able to spend more time in the woods with new riding partners). We rode the gravel pit area today. It was a good diversion from the road running for my 10 and 12 year olds. In my search for more info on the area I came across this video from LaDee Flats. Anybody able/willing to give pointers on where this trail is located? At 5:25 the trail comes out on a road.

I don't recognize the place in the video, but I am no longer surprised.

 

When I first started going out here, I thought there weren't many trails. The more I go, the more trails I find. 

 

There's actually quite a bit of riding out here. There's just no map.

 

Without a map you can't find anything. 

 

Tip: I found some good trails--similar to the video at approx mi 6 on NF 4611, about a half mile past where NF 4610 and NF 4611 make a fork in the road. There's an unmarked road on the right. A few trails branch off from this road. 

Edited April 9, 2014 by portlandtwostroke

[rustyrodknocker]

This place actually looks good for md based on the map. It looks to have over 20miles of mixed use forest roads open to non licensed vehicles. Would I be nuts to take a kid riding out there? Lots of miles where he can get used to his machine and utilize his gearbox is what I looking for.

This is his first clutch bike. The area we have been riding has been pretty much 1st 2nd gear. We need some room on a decent surface.

[sp700twin]

This place actually looks good for md based on the map. It looks to have over 20miles of mixed use forest roads open to non licensed vehicles. Would I be nuts to take a kid riding out there? Lots of miles where he can get used to his machine and utilize his gearbox is what I looking for.

This is his first clutch bike. The area we have been riding has been pretty much 1st 2nd gear. We need some room on a decent surface.

This is exactly what I have been doing this spring at La Dee, teaching my two boys to ride their new bikes with a clutch.  We shoot up there weekdays after school.  It is a rarity to see another vehicle there during the week.  We have found several dead-end gravel roads that we ride up and down so we don't have to worry about traffic on the main road.  Hoping to build the confidence to start searching out trails later this summer.

[rustyrodknocker]

Nice! Now I am excited. I almost rode out there to check it out. While the nephew was out of town for the weekend. I didnt want to drive out there with him and not have a place to ride. We will be going there for next weeks ride!

[thepauly]

This is--believe it or not--an officially sanctioned riding area. It's legal to ride here, so there shouldn't be any law enforcement issues. 

 

And, yeah, there's a lot of logging contracts around. That's what pissed me off. There's a number of good trails with "No Motorized Vehicles" signs . . . that they end up logging. 

 

If you're going to mow it down, why not let us ride it before you do?

Mind you, I'm no expert on forest use, but I would think that once the timber sale/land lease has happened, it's controlled by the logging company. They may not be cutting yet, but the land is under their control and responsibility until after it's cut and turned back over to the state or forest service. As such, they would determine when the area is closed to riding.

 

Not a very satisfactory answer, but I would bet that's why it's closed before the logging actually happens.

[sportsmom0506]

I saw the post from Portlandtwostroke before we went riding at Ladee Flats, and I get it now.  We took our two boys, that are decent dirt bike riders, to Ladee Flats yesterday.  The trails were fun once we got past the large rock piles at each multi-use trail head.  I don't think the rock piles improved the trails, it made it difficult to start and end each ride.  Also, the road to access the OHV trails is busy and shared with logging trucks and forest service trucks.  

Edited August 22, 2015 by sportsmom0506

[OCsquid]

Anyone ridden this area lately ? Anyone interested in meeting up to ride this area on a weekday afternoon ?