Review Date
May 28, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

Reviewed by: Cog Wild ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
The McKenzie River Trail or MRT is 1.5 hours away from Bend. Our company, Cog Wild, does shuttles to the MRT often throughout the summer.

Shuttling the trail is the best way to do it and can be confusing or frustrating, please check out our website and shuttle info: http://www.cogwild.com/Shuttles/McKenzie-River-Trail-Shuttles/default.aspx

I apologize if this is taken as spam, lots of people contact us for details on conditions on the trail, places to stay, etc. so wanted others to know you can contact us too!!

Cheers, Melanie

Recommended Route:
Depending on skill level:
Intermediate/Advanced - likes technical trail - starting at the top, and taking the right way around the lake. Riding the whole trail top to bottom.

Intermediate - ok with technical trail - starting at the top, and taking the left way around the lake to bypass the serious technical section. Riding the whole trail top to bottom.

Advanced Beginner - not so much into technical, just wants to have fun - start at Trailbridge and go up the trail towards Blue Pool. Turn around at any point when you hit the technical section near Blue Pool and then ride the rest of the trail to the bottom. Below Trailbridge, the bottom 12 miles are swoopy, fun and completely rideable.

Beginner - Start either at Trailbridge and go down the trail or start at the rangers station and go up the trail as far as you want. The bottom section has many more bridges to cross, but the trail is buff, beautiful and perfect for families and beginners.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Castle Rock Trail - ask at the Forest Service Station for directions. DO not ride the fire road up, you can ride singletrack the entire way, so ask for the start of the hiking trail, not the fireroad!
If they know you are on a bike, they will send you the way of the fireroad - who wants to ride fireroad when you can ride singletrack!!!

Castle Rock is 6 miles up and then 6 miles back down - you start in a super wet climate and slowly make your way up to a dry and rocky climate. Lots of fun and very beautiful!!!

Review Date
July 3, 2008

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: bobbywalnuts1 ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
We started just past the town of McKenzie Bridge and rode along the river until we got just shy of Clear Lake. The trail we rode was 26 miles long, and it was a hard 26 miles. Parts were flat, parts were rolly, others were down right brutal.

Here is my play by play.

At the trail head: My friend Jeff, and I spent a little time getting suited up and trying to find the trail. It wasn’t as easily marked as it could have been. We rode maybe 5 miles of good flat / hilly (up and down) terrain. The bushes were in your face, the ground was solid, and the scenery was great. Not only could you smell the river, the shrubs and trees had a pretty good smell too.

The next 10 were a little more intense. There was climbing, switch backs, and rewarding views. There were times during this stretch of the trail were we lost the trail. You will come out of the trail and end up on a road, or next to the freeway. With a little exploring and time we found the trail and continued. As we closed in on this section of trailing we crossed a lot of bridges. At times it seemed like you would ride, get off the bike, ride for a little more and get off the bike again. I don’t know how anyone could ride these bridges, maybe they were more skilled than I. Oh, I don’t know what poison oak looks like. . but one day later I have no iches, so that is a good sign right?

As we closed in on blue pool the trail got difficult. I would say that the trail up to blue pool was pretty rideable. After this point, either I suck at riding or mabye it was because I was going up hill, but the ride got difficult. I think I found myself walking my bike and lifting it over boulders more than I found myself riding. Some sections were so gnarly I can’t even begin to explain. My bike is a 29'er and my friend had a cyclecross rig. Both of us had difficulties. I should have had the upper hand, and it times it seemed like it. However, steep . . . .rocky . . . . slow moving bikes don’t cover terrain easily. This type of ride continued until we got past the water falls.

At this point my friend and I were out of water, demoralized with the lack of riding, and getting really tired. We didn’t make it to clear lake, however, we figured this type of riding experience was going to continue. We bailed out and rode back to our car down highway 126. I don’t think we would have made it back to car had we taken the trail. Either it would have been dark, or we would have done something stupid which would cause us to fall off a cliff. Yes, I did say cliff. There are some nice drops if you rode off the trail accidentally.

We started at 9:30am and made it to the falls 7 hours later. The ride down, on the highway took maybe 45 minutes. Crazy, right?

With all of this in mind, the trail really did rock. I think it is one of the best rides ever. All types of terrain and great views. Some would say that the trail isn’t difficult just rather long. Maybe. Had we started at the top, and worked are way down this might have been the case. We would have been fresh, and the day would have been young. Going up the mountain, I would have to disagree. I think it is a tough ride. Be prepared. Bring lots of water, as there aren’t any refill stations along the way. (Unless you want to drink the river water.)

Recommended Route:
Do one of two things:

1. Ride the trail from the top down.

2. Park at the trail head and ride to blue pool and head back down to your car.

Review Date
June 6, 2008

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: Lucien ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
This is a really great trail. Not particularly technical, mostly fast single track with beautiful scenery. I love this trail because you can ride up a back from the Ranger Station and park without a Northwest Forest Pass. Or you can do a shuttle from Clear Lake in late Summer after the snow has melted. Mostly a great workout trail for XCers. Lots of little hips and jumps if you have some suspension and want to ride fast with no worries. No major jumps to speak of and very few technical ability needed.

Recommended Route:
I'm mostly writing this review to inform riders planning on riding it that much of the trail is covered in snow because of our late winter in Oregon. We started at Carmen Reservoir and found ourselves in snow and in impassable sections around Beaver Marsh. Wasted almost 2 hours trying to push through it. I would recommend starting at Trail Bridge Campground until at least late July this year. We had a great 15-18 mile ride from there to the bottom and it took about 3-4 hours depending on your lunch break time.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Other trails are farther up towards Sisters and Bend

Review Date
January 23, 2008

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 2 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: Evan Mac ,  Racer

Summary:
I only rode this trail once, on a day trip down from Portland. It was worth it. There are no real climbs on this trail, but there are lots of little tiny steps up the lava rock that can be quite tricky until you realize that lava grips like velcro. You can climb the stuff like you would never think possible. We started at McKenzie Bridge, rode up and around the lake, stopped at the restaurant at the campground for cokes and the biggest cinnamon roll you ever saw, and then bombed back down. You DO NOT want to fall on the lava rock on teh way down. If you are not the greatest descender, or are new to mountain biking, you might want to consider some leg/knee guards. Anybody can ride this trail, but experienced riders can do it a lot faster, and revel in the lava sections. And then at the bottom you can swim in the little reservoir. Nice. Don't forget to stop at the Blue Hole.

Recommended Route:
McKenzie Bridge, up and around the lake, back down. Shuttles are for pussies, and the ride up is half the fun.

Review Date
May 23, 2007

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: gonegator ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Love the MRT. Took the city bus from Eugene (supposedly the longest municipal bus route in the USA) on May 22. Rode about six hours with about 1/2 hour of breaks. As the ConMan said "trail was about as tacky as your grandmother slipping you the tongue". He was on the money. Trail was totally clear, lava fields were totally painful, waterfalls were totally amazing. Come for the ride, stay for the scenery. Saw about six or eight people in six hours on a Tuesday.

Warning: City busses have a limited amount of bike space. Some bus drivers will allow extra bikes on the bus. The bus driver in the morning did, but the 4:00 bus driver back to Eugene turned away at least five passengers with bikes. Yes, they got stopped at the door, turned around and left with their jaws dropped watching us drive off into the sunset. As the eighty-five year old lady sitting across the aisle from me said, "most drivers would let them on, but this guy is a douchebag". I think that was the quote of the day.

Recommended Route:
I like going from Deer Creek around Clear Lake and back. We would have needed about seven hours to do the whole trail from the bottom around Clear Lake and back.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Ollalie, Castle Rock, O'Leary.