Forest Road 600 (Patterson Rd.)

Dogs Off-leash

Features Fall Colors · Wildlife

This road connects the Lewisburg Saddle and Oak Creek trail heads. Many subsidiary trails and roads branch off of Patterson. The footing is generally good, although there can be some sections of loose gravel. If they have been doing any forest work recently the roads can be a bit rough from the tracked machines.

From the Lewisburg Saddle parking area, Patterson/600 Rd leaves from the west side of the road. There are two gravel roads that branch almost immediately, Patterson on the right and the 610 Rd. on the left. Also shortly after the Y in the road is the start of the Ridgeline Trail off to the right.

The road gradually climbs through the forest for the next 2/3rds of a mile until it meets the Ridgeline trail and the 620 Rd spur on the right. Soon after, the 640 Rd also leaves to the right. The 640 and 620 road spurs both offer access to the unofficial trail network known as the Maze to runners and the Beehive to bikers. The road now flattens out and after a gentle curve to the right you should see a sign for the Upper Horse Trail on the right and the trail cutting away sharply on the left (~1.3 miles).

The mellow climbing continues until about mile 2 where you reach the pass between Lewisburg Saddle and Oak Creek. Here Patterson Rd continues slightly to the right and downhill, the 650 Rd that leads to the top of Dimple Hill is off to the left and the 660 Rd Spur is off to the right along with a faint singletrack known as the Hydra/ Beautiful Trail. From this high point, the trail is all downhill or flat to Oak Creek Trail. Over the next mile or so the road curves from NW to north and is a constant grade down hill. At about three miles, there is a sharp turn to the left followed by another slightly less sharp turn. On the outside of this second turn is an often overgrown spur trail that connects into the trail network know as the Maze.

At about 3.5 miles, you pass the 680 Rd which leads uphill to the top of Extendo and connects to roads from the Soap Creek Trailhead. Continuing downhill, at about 4.75 miles the 6020 Rd branches off to the West leading to the end of the Extendo Trail and the Uproute Trail. Now flat Patterson Rd continues to the Oak Creek trailhead passing a closed road to the East that can be connected into trails to the top of Dimple Hill. Cruise to the gate and the end of Patterson/600 Rd.

Douglas Firs, Western Red Cedar, Ferns, Poison Oak and Cougars (you won't likely see them, but they are out there).