Banks–Vernonia State Trail

Banks–Vernonia State Trail

Along the trail near Manning
Type Public, state
Location Columbia and Washington counties, Oregon
Nearest city Between Banks and Vernonia
Coordinates [1]
Operated by Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
Open Year round
Status Day use, fee-free

The Banks–Vernonia State Trail is a rail trail and state park in northwest Oregon in the United States. It runs for 21 miles (34 km), primarily north-south, between the towns of Vernonia and Banks on an abandoned railroad bed.[2] Banks is about 25 miles (40 km) west of Portland. The entire 8-foot (2.4 m) wide trail is paved.

The trail is open to all non-motorized uses such as hiking, biking, and horseback riding.[3] A 4-foot (1.2 m) wide horse trail parallels the hiking and biking trail.[4] It cross twelve bridges and a railroad trestle, the Buxton Trestle, which is 600 feet (180 m) long and 80 feet (24 m) high.[2] A second railroad trestle, the Tophill (or Horseshoe) Trestle, was damaged by fire in 1986 and is bypassed with a series of switchbacks at the Tophill Trailhead. Amenities available at some locations in the park include picnicking, fishing, wildlife watching, forests, bird-watching, historic sites, public restrooms, parking, picnic shelter, horse hitching posts, a loading platform, and a whistle stop shelter. [3]

Contents

History

This trail was the first example of a "rails-to-trails" project in Oregon, where an abandoned railroad right-of-way was redeveloped into a recreational-use trail. The railway line was built in the 1920s to move logs and lumber from the Oregon-American Lumber Company mill in Vernonia as well as freight and passengers from Keasey to Portland. The railroad stopped using the line in 1957 after the mill closed, and from 1960 through 1965 the Vernonia South Park and Sunset Railroad leased the line and ran a steam excursion train on it.[4]

The line was abandoned in 1973. The Oregon Department of Transportation bought the right-of-way in 1974, and transferred to Oregon Parks and Recreation Department in 1990.[2] In 2007 L.L. "Stub" Stewart Memorial State Park opened adjacent to the trail.[5]

Locations

The park traverses these locations:

coordinate location
Buxton
Vernonia
Meacham Corner

The trail also passes through Manning.

References

  1. ^ "Banks–Vernonia State Trail". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1851901. Retrieved 2011-01-01. 
  2. ^ a b c Bannan, Jan (2002). Oregon State Parks: A Complete Recreation Guide (2nd ed.). Seattle: Mountaineers Books. pp. 120–22. ISBN 0-89886-794-0. 
  3. ^ a b "Banks–Vernonia State Trail". Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_145.php. Retrieved 2011-01-01. 
  4. ^ a b "Welcome to Banks–Vernonia State Trail". Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. August 2008. http://www.oregonstateparks.org/images/pdf/bv.pdf. Retrieved 2011-01-01. 
  5. ^ Gorman, Kathleen (August 10, 2006). "Park laying groundwork for outdoors enthusiasts". The Oregonian. 

External links