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I just finished reading a short blurb in the National Geographic Adventure magazine on Oakridge, OR and the 500+ miles of single track it is boasting to have surrounding it…
I dont find any trail report here on ST in that area- anyone familar with it? I have driven through that area years ago east of Eugene on hyway 58 and loved it, sadly, that was before I was really into mountain biking. -
I guess somebody has heard about it, this is from the Big Blue Adventure series race schedule for this year-
24 HOUR ADVENTURE RACING:
OAKRIDGE 24 Hour Adventure Race
July 21, 2007
The Oakridge 24 is located in and around Oakridge, Oregon. This is a gorgeous location just west of Bend with access to over 500 miles of truly wicked Single Track MTB trails, whitewater rivers, flat water rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and 100s more miles of backcountry trails and fire roads.The Oakridge 24 course is in the Willamette National Forest on the West side of the Cascades.
From Oakridge you¥re just minutes away from a long list of campgrounds and trailheads throughout the Willamette National Forest.
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Oakridge riding is amazing to say the least. Yes, it’s true: 500 miles of amazing singletrack.
I was introduced to it via Mountain Bike Oregon, which is now an annual (2x yr) event with 400 mountain bikers from across the US and Canada. Check out http://www.mtbikeoregon.com for more info on the event. They have a great photo gallery and killer video on their site.
I’ve also ridden it with my mtb club. You’re missing out if you don’t ride it. Hardesty, Lawler, and the Alpine are not to be missed. I have some great shots on my website as well. http://www.myspace.com/mtb_grrrl
Ride Hard – Go Big – Live Your (Biking) Dream!
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Oakridge Oregon. Land of huge Doug Fir trees and now self proclaimed MTB Capital of the Northwest. I was stationed there on a Forest Fire crew for a couple years 25+ years ago. It’s on the top of my list for places to visit and ride. Was lucky enough to get an afternoon bike ride on Salmon Creek in a couple of years ago when I was doing a memory lane tour of the Northwest (I live in VA). I was quite surprised to see that the community has gotten so in to biking and trails. Timber industry crashed, so I guess you have to adapt.
Very friendly staff at LBS there. Beautiful streams and Doug Fir forest below 4000 feet or so. Volcanic plateau with many lakes (and mosquitoes) above 4000 feet (around Waldo Lake). The trails I have heard most about are Alpine, Middle Fork, Moon Point, and around Waldo Lake. Summer and (early) fall are dry. Waldo Lake area trails are supposed to be best (less buggy) in fall. Very long and wet winters there (late October through April-May). There is a local guy there that provides shuttles and guided tours too. Check out Disciples of Dirt website for more photos of area. DOD crew keeps a lot of those trails clear. I hope I can make it back there sometime. Don’t know if they have 500 miles, but they got a lot.
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Went to Oakridge last summer and got a sampling of the trails there. I don’t know about the "500" miles, but there are a lot of trails within a 1 1/2 hour drive of Oakridge. It’s a great "low hype" area. There’s one bike shop in town and maps are available of all the legal trails. In five days of all day riding in August I saw a total of 2 groups of riders, no hikers, no motorcycles, and no horses. And yet the trails are surprisingly well maintained by volunteer groups. The trails seem to be mostly old trails that have been cleaned up, not new trails, so sometimes they are not designed real well for MTB. Many of the rides involve climbing up logging roads and then descending on ST, although often there was a lot of climbing on the way down. Lots of nice wooded, rooty trails, big downhills, steep, tight switchbacks, bike pushes. Not much in the way of rock garden stuff. I highly recommend Youngs Point/Moon Rock trail then down to the end of the Middle Fork trail. Oh, and there are plenty of great campsites!
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