Ride the Oregon Timber Trail 

The Oregon Timber Trail is 700 miles of trail and backcounty roads along Oregon’s mountain spine from California to the Columbia River Gorge. It runs south to north and travels through a variety of mountainous landscapes and small communities.

The Oregon Timber Trail is inspired by the Pacific Crest Trail and other long distance routes. What sets it apart is that it’s designed with mountain biking in mind - about 60 percent of the route is trail open to biking.

Some people ride the entire route in a few weeks and others take a month or more. Some just ride one section at a time and space out the journey over several years. The OTT corridor also includes rides that last only a weekend or a day.

Enjoy your journey and share the adventure with the #oregontimbertrail hashtag on Instagram. 

UPDATES & DETOURS

If you are riding the original Oregon Timber Trail singletrack or the new OTT gravel route - and observe trail conditions that will help other riders, please click below to send us a Field Conditions Report (or DM us via Instagram).

GRAVEL ROUTE RIDER NOTE (7/2/25)

Date of Notice: July 2, 2025

Submitted Field Notes:

Disclaimer: All posted Field Notes are not verified by the Oregon Timber Trail® Alliance. The OTTA strongly recommends riders use common sense, and good judgement, and maintain high personal safety standards when participating in outdoor recreation activities. Always be prepared.

Trail notes from a northbound rider below:

• Left turn indicated at mile 441, but it's not for another mile or so.

• Important water stop marked at mile 474 is actually half mile sooner, at the turn onto Cedar Burn Rd.  

• Barlow Crossing CG - mile 477 - is sort of abandoned but has sites with tables and a creek with good water flow.

• Piped spring on left from road bank at abt mile 480-82? On paved part of climb.

• Good flow and access to water at creek around mile 486.

• We didn't see piped spring at mile 494, but weren't really looking for it. 

• Only the last mile of the climb up to Lookout Mtn is steep and rocky - we hiked it. Rest was pretty much bikeable, even for us! We found the climb before Olallie Lake to be Much Worse! Big loose chunky gravel that we couldn't ride - probably 3 of the 6 miles. Plus Burn area with no shade.

• Hope that's helpful - super fun and adventurous route!

OREGON TIMBER TRAIL RIDER NOTE (6/30/25)

Date of Notice: June 30, 2025

Submitted Field Notes:

Disclaimer: All posted Field Notes are not verified by the Oregon Timber Trail® Alliance. The OTTA strongly recommends riders use common sense, and good judgement, and maintain high personal safety standards when participating in outdoor recreation activities. Always be prepared.

“A group of friends and I attempted the Willamette Tier from Chemult to Waldo from 6/23 - 6/27. There is still quite a bit of snow above 6000 ft near Windy Lakes, which made for some adventurous bike pushing and trail navigation, but not a game-ender. The Middle-Fork Willamette trail ended up being quite the reward for a lot of bike pushing - the trail was nearly completely free of downed trees and was an absolute blast to ride.

The game-ender for us was a series of closed roads due to either logging operations or road construction. After talking to multiple locals in Oakridge who recommended avoiding Bunchgrass, we opted to try and take Salmon Creek Road/NF-2421, which we discovered is closed to traffic (bikes included). We pivoted and decided to try Bunchgrass since we were right there at the bridge leading to NF-2408, and climbed about 2000 ft up the road before we were stopped by logging trucks telling us we couldn't be up there. Defeated, we biked back to Oakridge and ended up shuttling to Gold Lake since our shuttle-car was parked at Waldo. 

We tried to find an alternate route that would have allowed us to either access Bunchgrass or bypass Bunchgrass and access Mt Fuji, but we didn't have much service and it was hard to re-route through a mess of unknown fire/forest roads and/or trails. 

I would definitely suggest publishing an alternate route to NF-2408 that does access Bunchgrass, or a rideable bypass that doesn't require riding on Highway 58 (dubbed the "Blood Highway" by the locals) to get to Waldo Lake.

Overall we had a blast, but were surprised that there was no information about road closures on the internet ahead of the trip. Part of the adventure I suppose. Anyway, thought you should all know in case there are other options.”

OTTA Workaround

We recommend using the Oakridge to MRT via Aufderheide Detour. RIDE WITH GSP LINK CLICK HERE

GRAVEL ROUTE RIDER NOTE (6/27/25)

Date of Notice: June 27, 2025

Submitted Field Notes:

Disclaimer: All posted Field Notes are not verified by the Oregon Timber Trail® Alliance. The OTTA strongly recommends riders use common sense, and good judgement, and maintain high personal safety standards when participating in outdoor recreation activities. Always be prepared.

“We just got to Big Lake going N and I have a couple minor comments on route. 225 milesfrom Hood River route takes left on Black Butte Trail 4026. Sign there says it's for hikers only. You can stay on trail 4093 (fr 1105) to fr 1403 and reconnect with route. We didn't find trail along road there, and just got on road. Also. RWGPS indicates climb up to Big Lake is paved - NOT!! Rocky and sandy and lots of hike a bike for us!!

We are loving ride - scenery and trails and adventure of not knowing what's ahead! Awesome route!! Thanks!!

GRAVEL ROUTE ADJUSTMENT (6/25/25)

Date of Notice: June 25, 2025

An early northbound gravel route rider contacted the OTTA this week with some field condition notes on Gravel Route trail conditions in the Mt. Bachelor area. As a result, we’ve edited the route slightly and updated both the N>S and S>N Ride With GPS files.

• Northbound | S -> N | LINK: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50044411

• Southbound | N -> S | LINK: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50171340

Submitted Field Notes:

Disclaimer: All posted Field Notes are not verified by the Oregon Timber Trail® Alliance. The OTTA strongly recommends riders use common sense, good judgement, and maintain high personal safety standards when participating in outdoor recreation activities. Always be prepared.

“Left Lakeview on 6/18, leaving out first 37 miles due to downed trees. Have made it to Elk Lake. Route is a blast and gorgeous!! Very remote to Chemult. After Chemult, maybe around mile 250(??), ther is a right turn that seems mismarked - we went maybe half mile past indicated turn and found a good gravel road that intersected route again in a couple miles. More importantly, after Crane Prarie, there is a left turn off Cascade Lakes hiway onto a 2 track. Fine for a while but deteriorates into a Marsh before Cow Meadow. Route is wet canal thru Marsh- tons of downed trees and a billion mosquitos!! We hike a biked for over hour to go 2 miles. Recommend staying in hiway! Lastly, made a bunch of calls from Elk Lake and appears that route is still very snow covered between Todd Lake and 3 Creek Lakes (I think). We are going to take hiway to Bend and find route to Sisters. All that said, we are having a blast!”

OTTA Commentary on Field Notes

The OTTA is conducting a Trail Stewardship event prioritizing the South Ford Crooked Creek section this weekend (June 27-28, 2025). This should allow riders to get through the Warner Mountains section. Additionally, there is a consensus that the snow will be mostly gone between Todd Lake and Three Lakes within the next two weeks. The RideWithGPS route files were adjusted to avoid the swamp at Crane Prairie Reservoir, and we are seeking clarification to best identify the intersection west of Chemult that needs adjustment.

New start for the OTT!

Date of Notice: March 1, 2025

The official start is now Deep Creek Campground, a few miles north of the California border. You can still begin at the old start (Cave Lake) and then simply ride the backroads to Deep Creek Campground.

RideWithGPS Link: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49515267

• Avoid the 22 miles of trail along Winter Rim (mile 108.5 to 130.9). The trail is too brushy to bike on. Instead, use the Winter Ridge Trail bypass.

• Avoid the logging roads that tie the northern end of the Old Cascades to Brietenbush Hot Springs. The roads are still being repaired following the Lionshead fire. Instead, use the Detroit bypass.

LONG DISTANCE

Ride the entire route or just a segment at a time.

Here is the information you’ll need to pull off a long-distance adventure on the Oregon Timber Trail.

gravel version of the ott

The gravel version is like the original OTT but sticks mostly to dirt and gravel roads and avoids the really hard trail riding.

It’s a more relaxing adventure that yields all the views, all the dark skies, and all the experience in a gentler way.

The OTT at a Glance

The adventure begins near the California border, an hour drive from the isolated town of Lakeview. Within the first ten miles the route crests at 8,000 feet and then continues north and west through little-traveled basin and range country. The riding is rugged with vistas of Mt Shasta, the Three Sisters Mountains, and the expansive Fort Rock Basin. As the route climbs westward through volcanic debris from the massive Mount Mazama eruption of 8000 years ago, the landscape slowly begins to change. Lakes and streams start appearing, and then as you reach the crest of the Cascade Mountains at Summit Lake the forests shift dramatically from dry, tan open forests to green towering groves. You’ll follow the faint gurgling streams as they come together and merge into the Middle Fork of the Willamette River leading you to the mountain biking hub of Oakridge. Roughly halfway, and one of the two larger towns on the route, Oakridge is a great place to treat yourself to some cask ale at the 3 Legged Crane, a clean bed and shower at one of the lodges, or even a day of unloaded shuttles on some of the legendary trails in the area.

Once well-fed and rested, you begin the ascent of Bunchgrass Ridge through terrain recently scarred by fire. Eventually you descend the slopes of Fuji Mountain, crossing the crest of the Cascades a second time, and enter the Deschutes Tier. These high cascade lakes and peaks are the work of relatively recent and dramatic volcanic activity that created a rocky, and sandy alpine environment. After coursing by Mount Bachelor and the Three Sisters you descend into the town of Sisters and cross over the mountains once again along the historic Santiam Wagon Road.

Say goodbye to open ponderosa forests as you enter the roller coaster of the Old Cascade Crest and Olallie Lakes area exploring lush ridges, pocket lakes and roaring streams all dominated by Mount Jefferson looming to the east. The trails are steep, narrow and demanding. As you continue north, Mount Hood steals your attention as Jefferson recedes behind you. The trails loop around lakes and old forests while slowly leading you up Gunsight Ridge, prepping you for your final descent along Surveyor’s Ridge and towards Hood River via Parkdale and the Post Canyon trail system. Dip your tires in the Columbia River, lay in the grass, and buy yourself a beer and burger—you just rode your mountain bike across the whole state.