Does anyone know the story on the path on Swan Island, marked as a lovely purple path, like the Springwater Corridor or Eastbank Esplanade, on the 2016 PBOT Bike Map?
After you survive the potentially deadly crossing onto Swan Island from Going St, it’s unsigned and difficult to find. It looks like a scam on the part of Daimler, to get public dollars for that path, or perhaps a a reduction in some planning requirement from the City, in exchange for a path the appears to be grabbed for the nearly exclusive use of Daimler by making it so difficult to find.
Your post made me curious and I was riding in the area this morning so I thought I’d stop by to maybe take a water front picture. After one look at Going St from Greely and I changed my mind. I could probably get down there OK but when I saw the Fed Ex trucks hauling ass up that hill with no shoulder, I thought it would be too risky. Is there an alternate way to leave this area?
Yep. I sometimes roll down Going onto Swan Island for some exploring on weekends. My chosen method of escaping that zone is to find the somewhat-hidden access to the Waud Bluff trail near the Coast Guard base at the NW extremity of Basin Ave, which involves dragging my bike up some stairs (though there is a channel for bike wheels), and … not gonna “bluff” ya, after that there is a very steep path which I actually have to walk up, but at the end you wind up on the cozily bike-laned Willamette Blvd. But in terms of “adventure” it kinda works for me. Not fun for everybody… or not for most folks, I reckon.
I agree with OP… the existence of that weird recreation path by Daimler seems suspect. But I like finding it deserted on Sundays.
Yeah this path is a bit of a strange thing. I agree getting to it is not easy… But on weekends Swan Island is pretty empty and if you are relatively careful it’s not that big of a deal to cross the big and wide Going Street. I was just down there with my 9 yr old and I know other families (hi @Beckyjopdx!) like to go down there as well.
Someday the path will connect south to the Esplanade and north to the bluffs/Cathedral Park and beyond. But for now it’s just an island of path on an island. I still think it’s worth exploring.
Yes! I took 3 kids down on a Monday because I saw @Jonathan_Maus’s photos. I’ve gone down the Waud trail before but had just turned around & went back up because it ends in a very industrial-not-bike-friendly area.
Now, I’m a staunch no-riding-on-sidewalks person because I believe those less able bodied than I need that space…and I’m an aggressive go-getter by nature, so I’ll take a lane … but yeah. There’s no way I’m taking a lane down there, let alone with kids. I had to stop at the boat ramp and ask a camper where the correct trail was, and we totally road through Daimler property to get to it.
The beach is similar to Cathedral Park or Pier Park beach… fishy, a little trashy, industrial views of Port of Portland to Gunderson Marine, but we caught a skink & saw a dragonfly emerge from juvenile to adult, and there’s some real rabbits complete w fake coyote on the Daimler lawn.
It wasn’t obvious to me looking down on it from Greeley but on satellite view it appears that the N Going Bikeway could be ridden down and back up. If this is the case, then there’s no need to get on Going Street at all heading in or out of the place. Is this correct? Because that would make it very accessible even with kids.
How did they catch the skink? (assuming it was the kids…) They are q-u-i-c-k!! I’ve heard of snaring them with a lasso made of a stalk of grass but I’ve never made it work.
There seemed to be another optional path out that pops out by adidas but I can’t say for certain it’s bike accessible… I’d like to go back & explore it but as it was I wore the 8 year old out and we went back up Waud as we live on that side.
I bribed the teens $20 to the first one that caught it so the youngest could touch it & see it up close. They worked together to corral it & catch it; split the $20. Parenting win? I’ll take it.
Exactly. The sidewalk on Going is really nice and wide and you use it both down and up. The only sketchy part is crossing over Going, but there are signals and crosswalks. Just be super careful because it’s wide and fast and full of truck drivers who think they own the roads.
