Interstate 205 Trail

Interstate 205 Bike Path

The Interstate 205 Bike Path parallels Interstate 205 from the Washington side of the Columbia River, across the Glenn Jackson Bridge, and on south to Clackamas (yellow on map). There is one portion that does continue on farther south, but there is a major gap near the Highway 212 / 224 exit off of I-205 in Clackamas (lower part of map). This bike path is a major north / south bike route on the east side of Portland. This path also connects with two of the major east / west routes: The Marine Drive Bike Route (purple) and The Springwater Trail Corridor (green).

Much of the southern half of this path was out of commission for the last couple years because of construction on the new MAX Lightrail line alongside of Interstate 205. The entire length of the path was finally re-opened in November of 2009.

The pictures below are in order from north to south on a southbound ride (you can tell by the clouds that they were not all taken the same day).


next to Highway 14 near I-205	under I-205 bridge	looking up at the bike path entrance


up the ramp to bridge	amazingly beautiful view!	starting downhill


on major northern span	crossing southern span	down the ramp by Airport Way


Airport Way & I-205	left to Marine Drive - right to I-205 south	south over Airport Way


heading uphill from Sandy Blvd	Maywood Park	uphill toward Gateway by MAX tracks


approaching Glisan	between Burnside & Stark	south of Market


Division MAX station	between Division & Powell	Powell MAX station


crossing at Holgate	south of Holgate	up ramp to Foster MAX station


MAX station & bike overpass	down hill from Foster overpass	south of Springwater Trail


interchange at Johnson Creek Blvd.	passing MAX train	along I-205


approaching Clackamas Towncenter	Towncenter MAX station	crossing Sunnyside


crossing Sunnybrook	between Sunnybrook & 82nd Dr.	down hill toward 82nd

We used to spend lots of time on this route. Two days a week we worked in the same building in Clackamas and weather permitting we rode to work. Unfortunately that ride got more and more challenging as sections of the path that we needed were closed for construction on the MAX Lightrail line. Years later when the entire path we finally re-opened, our work schedules had changed.

In general, the new sections are great. The best and most notable improvement is an overpass that takes riders up and over the busy streets of Foster and Woodstock alongside the MAX tracks. These were always challenging intersections. This really was a fantastic idea, making things much safer for riders. There is still one very poor section (red on the map at the top of the page). The designers really blew it here. They had the chance to fix this bad spot during the MAX construction, but didn't. This section is south of Springwater Trail and north of where I-205 crosses over 92nd. The route winds the riders seemingly in circles and down sidewalks. It's probably fine if you are walking your dog, or taking your little kid for a ride, but for the serious cyclist... skip this section. Here is our "detour." If you are heading south on the I-205 path, turn right (west) on the Springwater Trail. Then turn left (south) on 92nd and ride in the bike lane on the street. As you get to where I-205 crosses over 92nd, turn right (west) on Crystal Springs, then left onto the bike path to continue south.

Aside from the new construction, here are some of our comments on the I-205 route...
The I-205 bridge is really fun. I must admit, it had us psyched out before we rode it the first time. It looks so imposing, this massive concrete structure with a mile long hill. Actually, we didn't even need to get into our lowest gears. Yes it is long, but not as steep as many other hills we ride on a weekly basis. We had ridden the section from Marine Drive south to Gateway several times prior to attempting the bridge. As it turned out, that section is much harder than riding the bridge. I had always thought that you could really get flying coming down the bridge hill southbound. Actually that is not the case. There are joints in the concrete sections of the path that make the ride increasingly rougher the faster you go. I start riding the brakes at about 25mph. The bridge really is a thrill, but it's pretty noisy with 4 lanes of freeway on each side of you. As far as the rest of the bike path is concerned, it is generally pretty good. There are a fair number of intersections that require close attention. For first time riders it can be challenging to figure out where you are suppose to go. The path is not always well marked when it crosses streets and jumps on sections of sidewalk here and there. The quality of the pavement generally good, actually the worst sections were torn up and replaced during the Lightrail construction. The prettiest portion is where the path takes you through the neighborhood of Maywood Park. The picture above on this page doesn't do it justice.