10
community
july10
2012
Crown Zellerbach Trail is a Gem
a paved, 21 mile, abandoned railroad
grade which heads south through Stub
Stewart State Park ending at the new
trailhead in Banks.

The rougher style of trail is
geared towards mountain bikes and
bikes with wider profiled tires as well
as equestrian trail riders and provides
a great alternative to the paved Banks-
Vernonia Trail says Crinklaw. “I look at
this as a positive for Vernonia in terms
of this being a hub for bikers and for the
equestrian groups.”
“We’re having some great brainstorming
discussions about existing facilities and
how to connect to the CZ Trail—about
how to enhance Columbia Counties at-
tractiveness to out-of- county horse rid-
ers. For them the CZ Trail has a lot of
appeal as a destination.”
continued from front page
of early settlers and residents of the re-
gion.

A long term project, Columbia
County began negotiations with Han-
cock Timber around 1995 to purchase
sections of old logging road and use it
as a county trail. The county was able to
The view from the trail at the summit.
A bike rider using the new bridge at the Alder Creek crossing.

Commissioner Hyde noted that the
county has expressed interest in acquir-
ing more property at the Camp 8 area to
develop a horse camp.

The historical nature of the re-
gion may also be a draw for users. “One
of the more valuable pieces of this trail
as far as a recreational asset to the coun-
ty is just the history associated with the
trail,” says Crinklaw. Crinklaw says that
in time the full build out of the trail will
likely include historical information ki-
osks and interpretive signage that will
tell about rail lines that originally used
The trail crosses under Scappoose-
the area, abandoned logging camps that
Vernonia Hwy at the summit.
dot the landscape, the ethnic groups that

“The equestrian riders have a worked in the area, the natural features,
huge market potential,” says Crinklaw. and historical landmarks and remnants
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purchase about 17 miles of trail in De-
cember of 2004 using state grant funds.
Restoration work has been ongoing since
then.

Commissioner Hyde noted that
the county dealt with four different it-
erations of timber companies during the
process of acquiring the right of way
for the trail and through a series of land
swaps, easements, purchases and dona-
tions the trail was pieced together.

“It was a fairly complicated pro-
cess to figure out all the boundaries,”
said Hyde. “There were lots of players
involved. And we had a lot of issues
and concerns raised by adjacent private
landowners to the trail, just like we did
with the Banks-Vernonia Trail.”

“One of the things I am most
proud of about this project is the way
we were able to mitigate the concerns of
the local property owners,” say Hyde.
“I was always very concerned about the
impact the trail would have, and we were
able to meet individually with every one
of them and find a solution to their con-
cerns. And I believe they are pleased
and have, in fact, realized that the trail
provides benefits for them like recreation
opportunities in their own back yard and
increased property values.”

The County recently complet-
ed the installation of three new stream
crossings including the most recent Al-
der Creek bridge crossing just south of
Cater Road. The County was able to
use federal funds to make the Alder
Creek improvement which included the
salvage of old rail car decking that had
been converted into bridges and used af-
ter the 1996 flood near Fishhawk Lake.
continued on page 11
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