MTB Oregon or bust

[woody]

Thinking to do a MTB vacation in Oregon this summer, lookin for advice:
1) Must-ride trails?
2) Good shops to rent from?
3) Best timeframe to go? (best weather & trail conditions)
4) Lodging recommendations? (could do camping or hotel...or maybe a house depending who I rope into coming along)

 

[Norm]

Talk to Fogerson. He moved there. I also know 1 other guy who moved there. Let me hit him up and see what he's says.

 

[woody]

Definitely banking on Tim chiming in here.
...and offering to guide a ride or two.

 

[teabagger11]

oakridge is f'n awesome, if you fly into portland find your way north to washington and ride ape canyon on mt st helens it will blow you away, and it's not too far out of your way

 

[rocknrollgirl]

Woody,
Skip everything else and go to Bend. Chris and I spent three weeks there in the summer of 2012. We rented a condo in Mt Bachelor Village and could ride to the trailhead of Phil's trails where we connected to almost 100 miles, yes that is what I said 100 miles of singletrack. We did a 45 mile ride and never repeated trails. It was THE best riding we have ever done.

We rented from Web Cycles in Bend. Top of the line equipment, great guys.

If you are taking your family there is a ton of stuff for them to do also. Great outdoor activities, hiking, rafting, tubing etc. Shopping if you have a shopper. 12 microbreweries in town.

OMG awesome. I would go back in a second.

We went the end of June and the first two weeks of July. It is high desert so no humidity, great weather.

Depending on the size of your group I can give you the info of the condo we rented. Just lmk.

Ruth

If you have any questions, just pm me.

 

[THATmanMANNY]

why rent bikes? if you are riding 3 plus days BYOB

 

[Delish]

We rented a condo in Mt Bachelor Village and could ride to the trailhead of Phil's trails where we connected to almost 100 miles, yes that is what I said 100 miles of singletrack. We did a 45 mile ride and never repeated trails. It was THE best riding we have ever done.

Funny. My fam used to have a condo in Mt. Bachelor Village decades ago. Brings back memories. I'd move to Bend in a heartbeat.

Central Oregon boast some 300 days of sun a year (at least that's what they print on the brochures). It's dusty and hot in the summer and dusty and cold in the winter. The riding around bend is really different that anything west of the cascades. When it's pissing rain west of the pass you can almost always head to Bend and find dry trails.

Phil network of trails is really fun and you could spend weeks exploring that area but that'll only give you one taste of Oregon MTBing. I feel like you also need to experience riding dank, mossy, fern infested, Douglas fir old growth forests to really get the full Oregon experience. Oakridge will certainly give you that. So will the Mt St. Helens area.

It's Oregon so suffice to say you'll find a good microbrewery just about anywhere you go.

 

[woody]

Thanks for the advice yall!
Ruth, I'll give you a shout for specifics as I narrow down the options.

Was thinking late summer, if that's a deciding factor on trail/weather conditions.

Manny, I'd consider BYOB if I get word that trails are SS-friendly, but if the climbs are anything like SF bay area, I'd rather use a rental with gears.

 

[woody]

Bend
Phil network
Oakridge
Mt St. Helens area

Nice list so far!

Any thoughts on McKenzie River Trail in Eugene? I've heard good things.

 

[Robin]

When we were considering our big mtb trip Bend was 2nd on our list. BC beat it out because, well, it was BC. But I definitely want to get back out there.

I was out there 10 years ago before I rode. My friend's parents own a vacation home right on the Deschutes. Absolutely beautiful. I did a lot of hiking and geology dork stuff. I was there in June and weather was PERFECT. Good brewpubs in the area too.

 

[pixychick]

Keep this thread and list going. I have tickets to Bend for a wedding at the end of May. I am looking forward to checking things out. I will be there for a week and hope to ride most days.

 

[teabagger11]

oh yeah Mackenzie river trail is incredible also

 

[Fogerson]

Thinking to do a MTB vacation in Oregon this summer, lookin for advice:
1) Must-ride trails?
2) Good shops to rent from?
3) Best timeframe to go? (best weather & trail conditions)
4) Lodging recommendations? (could do camping or hotel...or maybe a house depending who I rope into coming along)

Howdy Kids!!!

1) Here looks to be a pretty good list. As many have mentioned, I'd center my trip around Bend (my home town) or Oakridge. If you're into doing things other than riding, then Bend is the place with its micro-brews and a variety of things always going on. Bend will me more arid (high desert, Pines, manzanita/sage), Oakridge will be more heavy forest. If you drive to Bend from the airport in Portland, you can hit Sandy Ridge in route. You can also get a shuttle out of Bend that will take you to the top of MRT. http://www.singletracks.com/mountain-bike/best_trails.php?state=36

2) Late June/Early July. Trails s/b good at higher elevations by that time. The weather will be great throughout the summer, however, the "danger" of the latter half of the summer, particularly around Bend, are fires. 'Can get pretty dang smoky and forest fires really mess up riding the single track. As somebody mentioned, Central Oregon gets a LOT of sun so it is very unlikely you'll get smacked by bad weather in the summer. Unlike the spring--I just spent 4 days in Sunriver and didn't turn a crank--rain, sleet, snow every damn day. Not-to-mention falling down the stairs of the rental house and banging myself up. Don't do that.

3) When I was a younger lad and would come home to visit, I always brought my own bike. If you want to rent, Fat tire farm in Portland is good. If you want to rent in Bend, check out Webcyclery or Hutch's--not sure if they have rentals, but they're good shops and will get you to the right place if they don't.

4) Hotels in Bend shouldn't be too bad in the summer as they're provisioned for ski-season levels of occupancy. I don't know that for sure though. Certainly take a look at a vacation houses if you have several folks coming with you. I don't know how many you'll find around Bend or Oakridge. Plenty at Sunriver (south of Bend about 14 miles).

Edit: Just noticed Ruth's post and see mine is amazingly redundant. So, yeah, what Ruth said

 

[rocknrollgirl]

The condo we rented in Bend was perfect and really reasonable. It was tiny, but a perfect location. They had a pool and we had trail access from our front door and we were 5 mins from town by bike, It was through VRBO. I still have all the details if you need.

 

[Norm]

This is from Julian, who used to work at Halters:

Trails:
Near Portland, Sandy Ridge for sure, headed out into the gorge/mt hood area, there is Surveyor's Ridge, Syncline/Hospital Hill. If I'm available for guiding I'd love to show off Growler's Gulch in WA, about 45 minutes from PDX. It is super confusing and semi-private, so there is no signage/maps/etc, they are real fun though.

Down towards Eugene the McKenzie River Trails are a must.

Bend is full of great trails

Oakridge

Ashland/North Umpqua Trails are great.

2) In Portland, fat tire farm has some nice bikes to rent.

3) Late June-early September is the most dry and will be best for mountain biking. July/August for sure. Some of these trails may end up unrideable due to fires, happened to Surveyor's Ridge a couple years ago. Southern Oregon may be in for a bad fire year.

Not too sure on housing, camping is fun though!

 

[woody]

Hi Tim, thanks for all the info! Curse those condo stairs.

Norm, thanks for scoring that intel.

Fires. Yeah, that's what I was afraid of with the August timeframe. Will try to finagle earlier in the summer...
(Or, as a backup plan, is there a better destination than Oregon for Aug/Sept?)

 

[jdog]

This always looked fun to me.

http://mtbikeoregon.com/

 

[xc62701]

I'm going to keep an eye on this thread as well as I'll be in Bend July 19th for the High Cascades 100. Can't wait to check everything out including all the brewpubs...

 

[Fogerson]

If any of ya come through Portland let me know. I might know of a place or two with awesome food around here...

 

[2Julianas]

Now I want to go to Bend!