Nestor Peak/Buck Creek Trail System
Nestor is clear of snow, but it’s one hell of a miserable climb. 2500 vert or so on a dirt road. If you need to get in shape, ride this a couple of times a week. The reward for the climb is a long, winding, not-very-technical downhill (minus the first 1/4 mile of loose rock).
From the CAMBA website: http://www.camba.info: (If you ride here and you’re not a member, you should be!)
Suggested ride – From the main Buck Creek information sign near Northwestern Lake, 6 mile road ride up to Nestor Peak (stay on the main road until you see the sign for Nestor Peak). From Nestor Peak take the single track down until you reach a logging road and go right. Follow the road for 1/4 mile and take the trail on the RH side, climb for a short distance cross the main road and continue on the trail. The trail will take you around the a hill top and down a fun decent which will dump you out on the main road in front of the entrance to Trail Head One / campsite. Go through straight through the campsite and reconnect with the trail. Follow the trail into Buck Creek tributary (stay left at all intersections). When you reach the bottom, turn left and ride up the trail along Buck Creek. After several climbs and descents you will reach a metal bridge. Cross the bridge and turn right on the road and proceed a short distance until you see a 4×4 road on the left. Ride up the road ¼ mile and take the trail on the RH side (note – you will pass a trail on the left). Once you are on the trail again, it will cruse along the side of the hill and then turn into a fast descent down into the valley. Once at the bottom, ride across the road & concrete bridge and ride back up to the trail on the other side. Left turn at the trail intersection. Take the left on the first trail and exit back onto the road. Turn right and take the road back to the starting point. Total ride 16+ miles. Intermidate trail rating based on hills and some of the downhill sections.
Trail map: http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/eng_rms_buck_ck_all.pdf
To get there: From Hood River, cross the Port of Hood River bridge ($.75 each way). Turn left at the stoplight onto SR 14. Turn right after about 1.5 miles onto hwy. 141. Follow this to Northwestern Lake Road on the left. Turn here and proceed a quarter mile or so to the picnic area at Northwestern Lake on the left. Park. Ride up the gravel road. Keep riding. Keep climbing. (more directions to come)
The complete Buck Creek Loop is now defunct.
Myself and Phil Jones attempted to ride this in August 2009.
(using the square numbers from the above pdf map as reference).
1. To avoid most of the road climb, start from the parking at 27.
2. Climb the green trail to Nester Peak. (Brutal climb)
3. Take green trail to junction of N1000, N1700 at lower right of 19.
4. Stare at trail sign across road pointing into virgin bush. The section to where it reconnects with B1000 at the top left of 18 either never existed or has completely reverted.
5. Green trail to Buck Creek Trailhead 2 exists but is very heavily overgrown with lots of blow down.
6. Where the trail goes from, the inappropriately named, Trailhead 2 is a mystery – there is no evidence of any outbound trail.
7. We descended B1000 and then climbed back to the trail using B1300 in section 15 (brutal climb).
8. There is a trail coming from top left of 15, but how this connects to Trailhead 2 is unknown.
9. The descent back to the parking used to be a great downhill (as of 2004), but is now badly degraded
with many rocks fallen on the trail.
At best option as of now is to climb Nester Peak and the return down the same route.