Mountain Biking in Bend, Oregon
Whether you have been mountain biking for years, or if you are just getting ready to buy your first mountain bike, Bend has something for you. There are several hundred miles of singletrack trails starting right from town, and several hundred more within an hour’s drive of Bend. Most of the trails around Bend are generally suited for beginning to intermediate mountain bikers. They are relatively smooth twisty trails through the trees with a few technical spots thrown in to keep you on your toes. The trails close to Bend are usually rideable from May to October. The closer the trails are to Mount Bachelor the longer they usually take to dry out, so you may need to wait until July to access the higher trails.
There are three main trailheads in Bend, the most popular being the Phil’s Trailhead. Phil’s Trailhead is located off of Skyliner Road in the Summit West Neighborhood. There are three trails that start from Phil’s Trailhead and they are easily ridden by all levels of riders. Generally these trail start off easy and gradually get a little more advanced as you head up into the mountains. This area accesses a whole network of trails that allow you to put together all sorts of different rides of various lengths. You could do a little 5 mile loop, or do a 100 mile loop all the way around Mount Bachelor. This network can also be accessed at a trailhead off of Century Drive in the Century West neighborhood.
Shevlin Park in the Summit West neighborhood is another popular Trailhead. The park itself has a small easy loop around the park, and also provides access to the Mrazek Trail. This trail starts at Shevlin Park and takes you up toward Broken Top Mountain and the Sisters Mountains. You can even connect with some other trails and continue down into the City of Sisters.
Outside of Prineville are the Ochocco Mountains. There are several mountain bike trails located here that are a little more advanced then the trails in Bend. These trails climb much more rapidly and have more technical features that would appeal to the more advanced riders. Lookout Mountain is the most popular trail and features fantastic views once you make it to the top.
Up just north of Redmond is Smith Rock State Park. Smith Rock has a network of trails that is popular in the early and late season of riding. Smith Rock Park is located in the High Desert, so it lacks the pine trees that the trails in Bend have. This means that is usually gets pretty hot up there in the middle of summer, but is usually perfect in spring or fall. Smith Rock is also popular with horseback riders, rock climbers and hikers.
Another good off season riding spot near Bend is Horse Ridge. Horse Ridge is located about 10 miles east of town, and is relatively hard to find. The trails around Horse Ridge are fairly short, but they are more technical and rocky then the trails in Bend. There is also very little shade out there so the trails get very hot and sandy during the summer, but when the trails in Bend are still snowy Horse Ridge may be your best shot to getting out on your bike.
There are two companies that make really good maps of the trails around Bend and Central Oregon; Treadmaps and Adventure Maps. These maps can be purchased at any of the bike shops around town, or online through either of the company’s websites.
For our business listings of the bike shops in Bend click here.
For our mountain bike photo gallery click here.
