Another feature for Oregon Rails-to-Trails, submitted by Jason Hardrath:
Row River Trail
This 16-mile, paved, multi-use trail follows the route of the now-abandoned Oregon Pacific & Eastern
Railroad line along the scenic shores of the Row (rhymes with “cow”) River and Dorena Reservoir. There
are many trailheads and places to stop and enjoy lake views and the surrounding farm country. Nearby
is the historic Bohemia Mining Area which features remnants of late 1800s gold mines. The trestle
bridge at Harms Park is one of several locations immortalized on the silver screen. Movies filmed along
the railway include “Stand By Me” with River Phoenix and, in 1926, “The General” with Buster Keaton.
The full length of the trail stretches from Trailhead Park in Cottage Grove, Oregon 16 miles up to Culp Creek Trailhead. There are many trailheads with easy access along the trail to do this in a self-supported style, See the official Row River Trailmap here: https://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/files/brochures/row_river_trail_map_32x18.pdf
The trail is net downhill from Culp Creek Trailhead to Trailhead Park, so this is the best direction for one way attempts.
If you have a secret side goal of seeing all of Oregon's Historic Covered Bridges there are 4 in the Cottage Grove area, 2 of them are visible from the route.
Comments
Hey there, I’m going to take a stab at this FKT tomorrow morning, May 11, around 10am and starting at the Culp Creek trailhead. Nice Mother’s Day gift from my college kid - a shuttle to Cottage Grove and back from Ashland!
An excellent mother's day gift indeed!
Hope you're crushing out there! Excited to hear how it goes :)
Hey Jason, it was a beautiful day out there, and a fun way to make up for all the cancelled races. Maybe I’ll try for another this month. Thanks for setting up so many FKTs in Oregon!
Hello!
I will be going for the one way FKT on the Row River trail tomorrow afternoon. I will be running the direction from Culp Creek down to Cottage Grove. I have never run on this path before, but it looks like a fun one! I will be uploading on Strava.
Zach
Sick, psyched to see a smoking fast time go on this!
Good luck!
Thanks Jason for establishing this route. I think I'm going to give this a shot with the full yoyo on Saturday morning, July 4. It's been about 20 years since I last drove up Row River Rd, and I have never run or hiked anything in the Cottage Grove vicinity.
This will be my first FKT attempt, and a lot sooner than I had planned on making any FKT attempt. Looking at the established FKTs on the map in Oregon, this one happens to be the closest to I-5 and still new enough that an elite runner hasn't whipped it out yet. I have to drive all the way up to Vancouver, WA on Friday to pickup a truck canopy. I think it's too much to drive all the way back home, so Friday night will find a spot to crash (hopefully making it all the way down to Cottage Grove). Ideally, I'd like to wake up at dawn and make the attempt in the cooler part of the day. However, sleep is probably a more critical factor, so there is a possibility I could push the start time to as late as 8:00am.
I know this is probably overkill for such a short route on a bike path, but I'll turn on the InReach Mini for live tracking every 10 minutes anyway. InReach map link is: share.garmin.com/micacardillo I'll post the starting photo from Trailhead Park on my Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/avereacuore/.
For those of you who have run it previously, what is your impression of the risk of filtering water from the lake? Are there any convenient facets, unlocked bathroom sinks, or water fountains at any of the trailheads? I have a Sawyer Mini and will try to pick up one of those 600mL Katadyn soft flasks. I'd prefer to run it in an unsupported style and no worry about stashing water bottles.
Taking on this trail out and back on Sunday unsupported for a fun adventure. Mostly to see the Stand By Me trestle=)
Ashley, was the trestle worth it?
Jason, I expected it to be bigger after watching that movie so much as a kid=)