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Henry Hagg Lake

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Intermediate Intermediate
 3.8 (60)
  1. Areas
  2. OR
  3. …Portland Metro and Mt. Hood
  4. …Gaston
  5. Scoggins Valley Park
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“The trail around Hagg Lake is a close-to-Portland ride, with over 13 miles of singletrack. ”

Tyler Bump
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Map Key

13.6

Miles

21.9

KM

95%

Singletrack

379' 116 m

High

308' 94 m

Low

889' 271 m

Up

891' 271 m

Down

2%

Avg Grade (1°)

12%

Max Grade (7°)

Dogs Leashed

E-Bikes Not Allowed

The park is open year round, from sunrise to sunset.

Overview

There is only one trail which circumnavigates Hagg Lake. There is no real preferred direction, but this article describes riding it CCW.

Many folks like to go just across the dam (left right after entering the park), but I prefer to go to the next (smaller) parking lot past the big dirt one. Then I ride back across the dam.

There are quite a few places where hiking/fishing trails cross the loop trail, but if you take a wrong turn you can't go very far.

NOTE: There is an access fee. See need to know section below for details. This trail offers a lot of amazingly fun riding as well as a little taste of each of the worst things western Oregon has to offer for mountain bikers.

Need to Know

1. The open, sun drenched and low lying meadows are hot and often overgrown in the summer. It isn't humanly possible to keep up with the overgrowth in these areas. If there is a sign that says "Ecologically Sensitive" find the nearest spur and ride up to the road and bypass it.

2. Watch out for spurs that descend to the lake or road, and spurs for the frisbee golf course. It's easy to make a wrong turn, but it's also easy to backtrack and get back onto the main trail.

3. Watch out for hikers on the trail! There are fishermen, swimmers and regular hikers on the trail - the swimmers and fishermen often don't pay attention to others on the trail, and fishermen will sometimes setup their gear right on the trail.

4. In wet months, the trail has lots of muddy pot holes, and stretches of muddy trail. Try riding the logging roads or the trails near Gale's Creek Campground instead.

Description

The Clockwise Loop:

Park in the large parking lot on your right, just across the dam.

From there, ride down the road to a small paved pull-out parking area, and head down the trail.

Soon you'll cross a bridge that NWTA helped construct, then you'll come to a picnic area and the large Boat Ramp C area, where there are bathrooms and a food vendor (and water).

Continue on the south side of the lake, going clockwise, until you come to the west end of the lake, where the trail dumps you out on the road.

Continue around the west end of the lake, going about 1/4 mile until you see the trail jump into the woods again. This enters the Butterfly area. Be careful to stay on the trail here.

Continue until Boat Ramp A. You are dumped on the road a couple of times, but carefully ride along the right side of the road and jump back on the trail when you see it.

After Boat Ramp A it's only a mile or two to the damn, going behind the Ranger Station (fenced with chain link). Ride back across the dam and you are at your car with a smile!

History & Background

This trail was originally created with help from PUMP (our bike club before being rebranded) about 10 years ago.

Contacts

Local Club: Northwest Trail Alliance

Jan 22, 2025: Advanced Trail School in Action: Solving Hagg Lake’s Water Woes

Jan 16, 2025: Portland’s Next Generation of Trail Workers Take on Holman Lane

Jan 15, 2025: Volunteers Rally to Restore Hagg Lake’s Washed-Out Trail

Land Manager: Washington County Parks

Shared By:

Tyler Bump with improvements by Cody Jeffers
Full Details

Trail Ratings

  3.8 from 60 votes

#1

in Scoggins Valley Park

#360

Overall
  3.8 from 60 votes
5 Star
28%
4 Star
37%
3 Star
27%
2 Star
7%
1 Star
2%
Recommended Route Rankings

#1

in Scoggins Valley Park

#10

in Oregon

#360

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Photos

View from the trail. The lake is a little low.
Aug 12, 2018 near Forest…, OR
Awesome looking trails in the late fall!
Nov 20, 2018 near Forest…, OR
Descend counterclockwise from the road down to the lake, jump over roots, turn, and jump the next set. Check for foot traffic first so you don't kill some fisherman walking back to his car.
Dec 18, 2016 near Forest…, OR
Coming down the trail, little bit of flow here.
Aug 6, 2015 near Forest…, OR
The lake is low
Aug 12, 2018 near Forest…, OR
Blackberries are in season. Great time to ride and snack!
Aug 12, 2018 near Forest…, OR

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Weather

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Check-Ins

May 1, 2022
Joshua Bostic
May 1, 2021
Chip Carter
After the driest April on record and some rain the night before, the trails were in remarkably good shape- nothing unrideable. 14mi — 3h 00m
Oct 28, 2020
Brett Robichaud
Went counter clockwise and it kicked my butt 13.6mi — 16h 30m
Oct 16, 2020
Austin Burns
Oct 4, 2020
Ryan Hassan
Did roughly the second half of the loop going clockwise as part of my road ride through Forest Grove and around Hagg Lake.
Sep 29, 2020
Steve Sample
Jul 24, 2020
Private User
Jul 11, 2020
Dan Palmer
13.6mi

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