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Descent from the Tehaleh's Plateau

A seldom used service road in Tehaleh's north end connects ponds at the top and bottom of the plateau. The paved descent turns to gravel access to Falling Water Canyon. However, the way is blocked in this video by a fallen tree across the road.

After the fallen tree had been removed, I switched to the offroad trike for navigating the onto gravel section and dirt loop around the lower pond.

On the way down, the following drone lost contact and parked itself about 15 feet off the ground behind a tree. When walked uphill to reconnect with Skydio, the trike started rolling across the hairpin turn toward the cliff. As soon as it began moving, the drone picked it up and began following it on its own. The trike reached the berm of the lower turn and reversed direction and then came to a stop. I was unaware of all this autonomous drama until I later saw the video.

Resuming the descent, I passed the fallen tree, which had since been moved, and crossed from the gravel road to a dirt path looping the lower pond. Like other Tehaleh stormwater retention ponds, this one was divided into sections for permanent and overflow water.

North Ridge Ride

This offroad ride along the north ridge of Tehaleh begins on the service road and ends at the Overlook Trail. It is entirely different from the manicured gravel paths shown on the brochure and might predate the development. I discovered it on CalTopo, possibly the most comprehensive mapping site for trails.

The ridge trail reminds me of those in the Black Diamond Open Space and Green River Natural Area-plenty of rocks and roots and tight squeezes between tree trunks with the occasional high speed descent (and challenging climb).

East Tehaleh Ride

The southeast area of Tehaleh was being developed in early 2023.. Cascadia Boulevard was extended to the location of the next roundabout. Streetlights were in and landscaping was coming soon. Paved bike path/walkways on both sides of the arterial link current and future neighborhoods and a new gravel trail already traversed the greenbelt along a ridge overlooking the Cascades and Mt Rainier.

A network of unmaintained trails and pre-Tehaleh logging roads lies between Trilogy and the southern end of 198th Street. My first ride through roughly parallels the section of Cascadia Boulevard from the first roundabout to the Post. The most notable natural feature in the vicinity is Orting Lake, which I will explore at a later date. Eventually, 198th will connect with Tehaleh Boulevard below this area.

Until the 21st century, Tehaleh was a vast Weyerhauser forest. When it is finished, half of it will remain in trees and trails. At present, the only way to reach the community is via a narrow country road, even though the development has its own four-lane arterials. Tehaleh Boulevard is one such street, complete with landscaping, sidewalks, and stoplights, but is pretty much empty of traffic since it doesn't go anywhere. In the future it will connect to a bridge across the Carbon River and another route out.

I rode down a gravel road beside the right of way past two massive stormwater retention ponds. Suddenly, the narrow access was paved as it turned into the woods and down over the ridge. Pavement ended at the bottom of the descent, although it continued for a short bit over to another set of retention ponds under construction. I turned off the gravel road at a gate and explored the flatlands on old trails. This is the valley carved out by Fennel Creek, which also drops off the plateau, albeit suddenly in a 70 foot waterfall.

The change from civilization to wild is quick as you head from a west side Tehaleh neighborhood toward the Carbon River. You go from residential street to paved trail to a future arterial to a new access road to an old logging road to a wilderness trail. Future rides will penetrate further toward the river.

My favorite place to find obscure trails is CalTopo map site. It includes digressions I've never seen anywhere else. My latest find is a single track out on the west ridge of Tehalah. To reach it, I rode on a paved street, a paved trail, a boulevard under construction, a new gravel access road, an old dirt logging road, a hidden trail to the ridge, and an offshoot of that. The ride begins and ends on the hidden trail (at the turnaround point of the previous video.) It includes the steepest offroad stretches I have encountered yet in Tehaleh.