Written by Sid Young
March 2024
Thanks to everyone’s patience and understanding as Oregon State Parks has been working on forest health operations within the park. As part of this work, many of the trails have been closed to users since October 2023. Thanks to Oregon State Parks staff, NWTA has continued some selective trail work during this temporary closure.
Felling of trees in the park has now halted until June due to bird nesting season. Thinning on the upper Shoofly trail and portions of Rinse and Repeat will start up sometime in June.
What does that mean to mountain bike access?
The logging company needs to clear out the trees that have already been felled. As soon as the mountain bike connector trail has been cleared of debris and the area is safe to ride in, the park rangers will put up caution signs and let us know that we can enter the mountain bike area through the main entrance (where the kiosk and wooden ramp were). The trails from the main entrance to the free ride area will NOT be restored until after all thinning of the area is complete. So, plan on riding a rough rocky, logging road.
In the meantime, we are working on getting lower Shoofly cleared of debris and the free ride area trails ready to ride. As soon as the trails are cleared and we get the green light from the park, they will open up lower Shoofly for two-way traffic as this will be the only way to enter the free ride area after thinning resumes in June. Once thinning starts up in June, it is imperative to adhere to the trail closures as violations may cause the free ride area to be closed during summer thinning.
There is a new trail in the free ride area! This will ultimately be a downhill trail only, however, please note the directionality during thinning:
- This will be a downhill trail until June 2024 (since Rise and Shine will be closed due to thinning.
- From June 2024 until Rise and Shine is restored, the new trail will be a climb/pushup trail.
- Once thinning is fully complete, the new trail will be a downhill only trail. (At the same time, lower Shoofly will return to a one way only trail.)
Enjoy the trails, and please respect all trail-closed signage in the area!
