BPA Road

The Ride

Start up top, at the Upper BPA Road Trailhead off Skyline. From there the road rolls north along the ridge, open and undulating, crossing the Wildwood Trail early and then passing two of the far-north fire lanes in quick succession. First comes the Fire Lane 12 junction, marked by three rock monuments standing quietly at the corner — they commemorate the “Hole in the Park,” one of the better decisions Portland ever made about this forest, and the full story lives with Fire Lane 12, which peels off right here. A little farther down the road forks at Fire Lane 13, the dead-end spur that drops to the best picnic-table view in the park; if the sky is clear and you want the three-volcano panorama, that spur is where to get it. BPA itself gives you the corridor-wide version — the open sweep down the divide — while Fire Lane 13 delivers the framed, sit-down payoff.

Then the road and Fire Lane 13 part ways, and BPA earns its reputation. The grade tips forward and the surface goes loose, and for roughly a mile you’re managing a steep, gravelly plunge toward the Newton Road junction and the orange gate on Highway 30 far below. It’s genuinely fun and genuinely unforgiving in equal measure, and it does not care which one you were hoping for.

Cyclist note This is one of the far-north’s legal rides, and the top is a gift — open, rolling, fast double-track with a horizon. But respect the drop. The lower mile is loose gravel on a strenuous pitch, which means a hard, skittering descent where you’ll want your weight back and your speed honest, or a granny-gear grind if you’re climbing up from Hwy 30. Ride it as a loop off Newton Road so you’re not committing to that gate-and-shoulder mess at the bottom, and remember the Wildwood crossing up top is foot-only — a crossing, not a turn.

Local Lens A powerline cut feels like an intrusion, and it is one — but stand in the open corridor and you can read the park’s north half the way a map can’t show it. You’re on the spine between two watersheds, Miller Creek falling away to the north and Newton Creek to the south, with the Cascade volcanoes lined up beyond. Forest Park is usually a place you feel rather than see. Out here, for a stretch, you get to see it.

Runner’s note For anyone doing hill repeats in the far north, the BPA descent is a serious quad-and-brake session down and a genuine lung-buster up — nearly a thousand feet in a mile, on footing loose enough to keep you paying attention the whole way. Best run as part of the BPA–Newton loop; done as an out-and-back from Hwy 30, that bottom mile is the entire workout and then some.

Before you go

Two things decide whether this trip is worth it. First, the weather: the views are the reason to come up here, so save it for a clear day, and know that the loose lower grade goes from tricky to treacherous when it’s wet — drier months are far kinder to knees and tires alike. Second, the direction: start from Skyline up top. The Highway 30 gate at the bottom is hard to spot, offers only a scrap of shoulder parking, and turns the visit into a 900-foot powerline climb before you’ve earned any of the view. Better to roll the ridge first and drop last, or fold the whole thing into the Newton Road loop so you’re not stranded at the gate.

This is the remote end of the park — little shade under the wires, no water, no restroom, and a long way from help. Come self-sufficient and turn for home with daylight to spare.

Stand a minute at the Fire Lane 13 fork before the road tips over. That’s the hinge of the whole outing: behind you, the easy open ridge; ahead, the plunge. Take the view while the ground is still level. You’re about to be busy.