When visiting some of the more obscure places on my list, especially when they're urbanized and ahistorical, I often find myself asking:
This is a self-imposed quest, after all and I curated the map. There's really nothing stopping me from erasing a distasteful neighborhood and none of you be the wiser. Instead, I'm on my way to another biking dead zone, the West Haven-Sylvan Census-Designated Place.
But first, I get to visit a forgotten park housing a little-known monument with huge ramifications on our lives to this day.
My wife had business in the area and was able to drop me off at the intersection of Skyline and Cornell. There are two gravel lots here that, when not used for construction staging, make for a good biking launch for Skyline and Forest Park.
I'm heading south but I find this section of Skyline busy and cratered with potholes so I take Greenleaf Road. It's a very pleasant, although steep, climb. Almost makes up for the fact that it's in Multnomah County (boo! hiss!).
At the end of Greenleaf, I coast downhill on Skyline to my first destination.
The entire Oregon Territory (including WA state) is parcelled up into 6x6 mile township squares. This little spot in the woods is the origin from which all other squares are derived. It was chosen because it's A) close to Portland B) entirely south of the Columbia River and C) entirely west of Vancouver Lake.
If you don't think that's important, take a look at the map of our county:
If you've ever wondered why it's all jagged right angles, rather than following waterways or mountain ridges, that's because our borders are entirely set by township sections.
Baseline Road demarks the north-south boundary across the state. I use the township maps quite a bit to locate old towns and post offices, too. Roads and addresses shift over the decades but old documents pinpoint key locations using township quadrants. Townships are the critically important underpinnings to many geographic challenges we face today. These are eternal.
It's a weekend and the park is completely deserted. There's a small gravel pull-off where a few cars can park and the path to the stone is paved and a couple hundred feet long (although steep downhill).
There's some information on the stone history (it's been replaced a few times) but nothing else. Still, if you're in the area and want to see some early history, it makes for a quick stop.
From here, it's down Skyline and west on Barnes (thankfully downhill, there's not much bike shoulder and a lot of traffic) until I get back to Washington County and into West Haven-Sylvan.
This is another census-designated place, an unincorporated "no-man's land" despite 9000 residents. In my opinion, the lack of a municipal government leads to poor traffic flow and design.
Sylvan used to be a town with a post office in the 1890s. That post office was over the county line in Multnomah so I didn't visit it today. It's at the interchange where Skyline crosses US26. Once, I undertook a 1-day quest to ride the whole of Skyline from Dixie Mountain to Scholls' Ferry Rd. Here's the picture I took at the conclusion which (unbeknownst to me at the time) was near the historic Sylvan post office site.
Today, the CDP is a mess of homes. I have never called this place "West Haven", I tend to think of it as "those houses on the cliffs we can see from WinCo". Up close, a lot are apartments (see photo above).
The area has some good things going for it. It's got a shopping center that likely provides essentials so that residents don't have to careen down to the valley floor for every little grocery item.
But it also demonstrates a car-centric planning of the whole region. Check out those apartments at the top of this section. They are literally across the street from the QFC, liquor store, and Biscuits diner. But here's their driveway:
That's a great water feature (unwinterized in January) but no sidewalk. I literally watched two different people trudge through the mud on their way to the grocery store because aesthetics are more important than footpaths.
Here's a view of Leahy Road, one of the larger interconnectors:
No shoulder, no crosswalks, sidewalk on only one side of the street. No wonder there's little activity among pedestrians. There's also this:
Hillsides in Oregon erode. Roads and bridges are forced to close and there seems to be little interest in maintaining infrastructure. As far as I can tell, this bridge has been closed for years.
I'm taking a negative view of the roads and throughfares, but West Haven has its charms. The views are amazing. Amaterra Winery is probably the closest vineyard to downtown Portland.
There are a few noteworthy businesses that I didn't want to bike past (because they're on very busy roads). Caitlin Gabel is a prestigious high school. Depending on your insurance provider, you're likely to visit the Providence St. Vincent Hospital.
But I head north and away, first through Bethany, then Rock Creek on safer roads and green spaces. I probably won't be back on a bicycle without a major overhaul to street design or a damned good reason.
