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Kingsley Reservoir 12/20/14

paddlernate

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Portland, OR
I ended up going up to Kingsley on Saturday, instead of Sunday as planned. A few people in the fam were more than happy to spend the day in a Jeep on the trail, given the weather and alternatives. There's little information out there on this area, and I couldn't find a map online that showed the Jeep trail, so I just wanted to share what little beta I was able to gather.

I've actually been up to this area several times, for mtn biking tho, not wheeling. We begin an epic downhill ride at Binns Hill staging area, and ride some 16 or 18 miles of ridiculous goodness down to another car at the lower Post Canyon staging area. I couldn't decipher from the online info where the Jeep trail was, which trailhead to start at, and I'd even seen conflicting info on what the trail # was. So, I figured I'd just head up to Binns Hill and see if there was a better map or anyone there.
On cue, my power steering went out as I was pulling into the Binns Hill TH. I popped the hood, saw nothing, and decided to ignore the problem and hope it would go away. The map at the TH was the same map you see online, but it had two little icons added to it by some trails to the West of Kingsley Reservoir. The icons were indicating "Gino's 4x4 Play Area" and "Rock Garden 4x4 Play Area". So, sans power steering we headed up Binns Hill Rd further to Kingsley Reservoir, and the snow depth increased as we went. At Kingsley Reservoir staging area, there was 5-6 inches of snow on the ground and it was pouring rain. We followed the unmarked 3000 road that looped clockwise around the reservoir, took a right on 3010, and found our way up to 3014. Just getting to this point was fun in the snow. I stopped for a minute to peak into the Rock Garden, and there wasn't a thought in my mind of going in there. It looked menacing in there with snow on it. The Rock Garden is marked as trail #198, though this doesn't appear on any map I've seen.
The main Jeep trail out there is trail #197, and it starts at the intersection of roads 3010 and 3014. There is a trail marker and plaque dedicated to a key contributor to the trail there, and though it doesn't appear this way on the map, it's clear when you're there. At any rate, if you take a right on 3014 from 3010 and head NE, it quickly turns into good wheelin'. It's marked as black diamond, and was very similar in character to Hogsback out at TSF. It was VERY tight through the trees like that, and similar terrain. With 6 inches of snow on the ground, and no power steering, this was pretty darn challenging and a lot of fun. Eventually, at about the halfway point, I reached a tight, off camber switch back that I could tell would put me into the downhill tree, so I made a 100 point turn and went back the way I came. We got back to the reservoir without issue and I continued to play around on the snowy gravel roads for a while before calling it a day.
I'm left with mixed feelings about the Kingsley trail system. This is a case where there are dozens, if not hundreds, of miles of dirtbike and ATV trails, but very little for Jeeps to do. What little was there was pretty cool, and worth spending a day at, but it's almost a novelty. It's pretty far from the Portland metro area, so I'd hesitate to recommend a trip there given that TSF is a little closer and has more to offer Jeeps. I have a little cabin out in the Gorge, so I'll return to Kingsley, and have high hopes that more Jeep trails will be developed there. There's a lot of potential, and I'd much rather come back down into Hood River after wheeling for food and brews than Banks.
I'll wrap it up by mentioning that if folks here are lookin' for a snow wheeling trip right now, this would be a great place for that. Cuz there's, you know, snow.

Nate
 
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