Surveyor's Ridge is a huge ridge that runs north-south from Mount Hood to the Columbia River on the east side of Mount Hood. There are often fantastic balcony views of Mount Hood and the Hood River valley from the western ridge line in clear-cuts or rock outcrops. (Yes, clear-cuts are good for something.) The Surveyor's Ridge Trail is the best in this regard. There are also good views in many directions from the Five Mile Butte lookout. The Eight Mile trail goes up to this lookout.

Where it is not clear-cut the ridge has very nice mixed-conifer forests with cedar, ponderosa and fir to name a few. It is not uncommon to see large elk and deer on the trails. Consequently, in the fall there are a lot of hunters so make sure you don't look anything like a deer then.

The trail conditions are generally excellent with pumice soils but not as soft as some other pumice soil trails in the state. Also, generally most of the trails are fast and not too rocky. There can be some horse traffic on most of the trails but it is a long way to haul horses for most people so, thankfully, the trails do not get too pulverized. It may depend a lot on your timing and whether or not any and how many horseback riders have been on the trail recently. If there has been a lot of horse traffic the climbing will be harder as the tires do not roll as easily. The Surveyor's Ridge Trail tends to have very little horse traffic and is the best ride IMHO so it is a good first choice if you have limited time.

There are a number of good campgrounds on the ridge and generally they are not too full. If they are full, there are tons of good places to camp on logging roads. Water is not in real abundant supply on the ridge so bring plenty if you are camping. There are no stores up here either so if you need it bring it.

The Eight Mile Trail and Fifteen Mile Trail names refer to the nearby campgrounds and not the mileage of the trail. The mileage in the name is from Dufur by car(?)

Trails on Surveyors Ridge

Maps of Surveyors Ridge

Surveyor's Ridge Trail is a classic mountain trail ride. If you are in the area and have the time to drive up to the ridge, this should be high on your list of things to do. Surveyor's Ridge Trail runs along a good chunk of the ridge and there are frequently excellent views of Mount Hood and the valley. Most of the clearings are natural and not clear-cut although this is not a virgin forest and you do cross a couple of clear-cuts. The trail can be ridden a number of ways. Some folks will run a shuttle and end up at either the bottom of the Oak Ridge Trail or the end of the Surveyor's Ridge Trail at the big power lines. Another option is to start at the bottom and do an out and back (up and down). It is not too steep to ride up but you will have to be in good shape to do the whole thing. A better option is to start at the top, ride down to the end of the trail at the power lines and return on road 17 which is also called Surveyor's Ridge Road. Seventeen is paved much of the way but there is little traffic and the forest is mature enough to provide some shade. This makes for a good final spin and allows time to BS with biking partners. As you can see from the graph this is rolling terrain so even though it is downhill overall there are definitely enough climbs to have it qualify as a workout. The graph is top to bottom one way and does not include the Oak Ridge Trail.

Getting to the start of the Surveyor's Ridge Trail on the south end:____ In Google Maps copy and paste "Dufur Mill Rd/NF-44 @45.408330, -121.550050" as a destination in the get directions tab. Enter wherever you are as a starting point obviously.

Getting to the start of the Surveyor's Ridge on the north end:____ In Google Maps copy and paste "Unknown road @45.527220, -121.525870" as a destination. The only problem with this is that in Google Maps it has you driving on some roads under the power lines directly up from Highway 35 which is not open. In order to see where the turn off is to get to the Surveyor's Ridge Road go to the link below.

Getting to the start of the Surveyor's Ridge on the north end turn off to Surveyor's Ridge Road (17):____ In Google Maps copy and paste "NF-17/Pinemont Dr @45.579680, -121.552100" as a destination in the get directions tab. Enter wherever you are as a starting point. This is one case where just typing out directions might be better than forcing people to use Google Maps but consistency is important right? Basically Pinemont Dr. turns into Surveyor's Ridge Road and it is all paved until the last mile near the power lines where you turn west to drive to the top of the ridge.

If you look at the graph you can see why this ride is typically done as a shuttle. It drops almost 2000 feet in the last three miles. The logistics of a shuttle are not too bad either. The drive is pretty direct but does climb enough to dent the gas gauge. It can be ridden uphill but the steep, tight, and loose switchbacks can be difficult to ride.

The only thing wrong with this ride is that it is too short. There is a lot of nice terrain and it opens up on top near a lookout. In the early summer the meadow around the Five Mile Butte Lookout is loaded with wildflowers. About half the ride is up a little creek on trail 459. The graph is shown starting near the Bottle Prairie parking area but it can also be done starting at the Eight Mile Crossing Campground. The only reason it is typically shown starting from Bottle Prairie is that is the closest place to drive to if you are coming from Hood River or Portland. If you start at the campground, you will do all the climbing first and end with a descent. If you start at Bottle Prairie, you finish with the climb up the creek but it is not too bad. The hordes of mountain bikers from Dufur start at the campground because that is the closest for them.

Getting to the start of the Eight Mile Trail at Bottle Prairie:____ In Google Maps copy and paste "Dufur Mill Rd/NF-44 @45.394410, -121.502060" as a destination.

Getting to the start of the Eight Mile Trail at the campground:____ In Google Maps copy and paste "NF-44 @45.403850, -121.451990" as a destination.

As you can see from the graph this ride is going to be very strenuous after you spend the first half descending. This graph starts at the Fifteen Mile Campground but the trail is commonly done by starting at Bottle Prairie. If you start from there you will finish with a descent. The bottom of the ride at 2,500 feet on the east side of the ridge it is going to be hot and dry in the summer for that climb out. The decent on the 457 trail to the 456 trail that climbs back up Fifteen Mile Creek is steep and technical. It is possible to do an out and back along the creek at the bottom of the loop to add more mileage.

Getting to the start of the Fifteen Mile Trail from Bottle Prairie:____ In Google Maps copy and paste "Dufur Mill Rd/NF-44 @45.394410, -121.502060" as a destination.

Getting to the Fifteen Mile Trail Campground:____ In Google Maps copy and paste "Cold Springs Rd @45.349650, -121.474430" as a destination.

This one starts near Bennett Pass east of the Mount Hood Meadows Ski Area. There are good views of Mount Hood and the valley and wildflowers in July. It is most commonly done as a shuttle but as you can see from the graph there is still a fifteen hundred foot climb so it is not all downhill even though it is a shuttled ride. Be sure not to miss turning left at the Gumjuac Trail 480. This trail gets a lot of use so be prepared to stop for other users on the descent. As long as you are doing a shuttle this ride could easily be combined with either the Dog River or Surveyor's Ridge Trails all easily accessed Highway 35 (easy for Surveyor's Ridge assuming you descend on the Oak Ridge Trail). This would involve several miles of riding on road 4410.

Getting to the start of the Gunsight Ridge Trail near Bennett Pass:____ In Google Maps copy and paste "Bennett Pass Rd/NF-3550 @45.310180, -121.641970" as a destination.

This ride is about an equal mix of dirt roads, pavement, and singletrack trail. It starts on singletrack until it joins the 4410 road. After 2.5 miles on 4410 you start the descent on road 4420 near the hiker only trailhead to Lookout Mountain. After about a mile on 4420 you get back on singletrack with the 450 trail and start a long excellent singletrack descent. After about 3.5 miles, you will come out on the paved road 44 that goes to Dufur. Be sure and turn left (west if you have a sense of direction or a compass) to return to the start on pavement or you will be going to Dufur. This ride can be combined with Eight Mile Creek or Knebal Springs.

Getting to the start of the High Pairie Trail:____ In Google Maps copy and paste "Dufur Mill Rd/NF-44 @45.411570, -121.527920" as a destination.

Knebal Springs is great singletrack riding but less so if there have been many horseback riders on it. After heading southwest on road 1720 for about a mile, head up trail 474 and return on 455 then back on 474. This trail can be combined with other rides nearby like Eight Mile or High Prairie. This trail and some of the nearby trails can get dusty late in the year from horses.