Powerline #4B / Tillamook State Forest

The Powerline #4B trail immediately plunges into a dense second growth forest thick with maples and fir trees dripping with moss and ferns. Depending on how recently the last rains passed through the Tillamook State Forest, visitors may be quite literally greeted with dripping moss and branches hanging low over the trail. A tight switchback points the trail southward toward the high tension power lines. After emerging from the dark and wet forest, the trail turns into a gravel access road that follows under the power lines on their march westward to bring electricity to the communities of the northern Oregon Coast. At the top of the ridge, 4x4ers are greeted with big views to the west across the patchwork of second and third growth timber, and clear cuts. Nine days out of ten, the distant ridges and mountains are veiled in clouds, rain, and mist, but on rare sunny blue sky days, the entire Devil's Lake Branch of the Wilson River Basin is on full display.