Trail Conditions

After a lot of thought, time and effort, our idea of revising the Eastside map and trail signs is close to becoming reality. Our current (old) map defies logic and is too confusing. Our volunteer traffic engineer (he lives in Portland, OR) is close to finalizing the details on the new Eastside map.

Once the map is ready to go, we'll send it to the printers where the maps will be laminated. The ALL NEW TRAIL SIGNS (165 directional signs!) were printed in August using a heavy gauge aluminum material with a reflective yellow coating - they're waiting to be put in place. Soon we'll need a few volunteers to remove the old maps and signs, and put up the new. Watch for an email message seeking volunteers for that task.

‍This past weekend, we couldn't help jump starting the process of erecting the new signs. With rain in the forecast, we decided to go ahead and put up the new maps and signs on the trails furthest from the warming house that tend to become soft and muddy during damp weather. New signage was placed yesterday on most of the intersections on the trails named "Far East" and "Otter Slide".

Each intersection requires one map, one sign with the 'number' of that intersection, and each diverging trail receives one sign that identifies where that trail is headed. There are 45 intersections on the Eastside. That equals lots of maps and directional signs. Follow this link to view the new maps. Take a few minutes to appreciate the many features of the map. Here are just a few...

• You'll notice the core loop is a bold black line that's numbered sequentially using blue highlighted circles.
• If you look carefully, you'll find kilometer markers at each km along the 11 km length of the core loop. (While we were zooming around the trails this weekend, we also put up the necessary posts with their km markers along the core loop.)
• When you venture off the core loop, you'll see that all the side trails have names; and their intersections are grouped into A1-A5, B1-B5, and C1-C7 based on proximity.
• We've already marked and signed the intersections that will be developed when the 'FAR EAST' trail is completed.
• Instead of a red dot to show 'You Are Here' we've switched to red arrows.
• We've even designed the map to be functional for individuals that are red/green color blind.

Overall the trails are in great shape. Bug activity is low, fall colors are exploding, this is a great time to enjoy the trails!