Ochoco Ridge

We spent a four-day early June weekend in the Ochoco Divide campground. At 1430 m elevation, the air was pleasantly cool while much of Oregon suffered in heat. June turns out to be an ideal time to visit. Nights were sweater cool while the days were short-sleeve. Trails and roads were lined with wildflowers. The sheer variety of greens mesmerized us beneath the spaced out Lodgepole Pines forest floor. The dry climate here leaves a very open understory, possible to walk in almost any direction. I love the shades of green, from the pines to the grasses, especially after 5 o'clock in the afternoon when the sun angles through the trunks.

Type of rides: Multiple day rides, car camping base out of Ochoco Divide Campground

Distance logged: 100 km on 6 rides over 4 days

Elevation Gain: 2500 meters

Bicycles

Bicycles: Open Wi.De with Rudy XPLR

Camp was secluded as the sites were well spaced apart. Bird song was in abundance, especially in the morning and evening.

Ochoco Divide campground was green, in excellent shape and very under utilized.

COTA had recently cleared all of the named trails in early June and they were superb, really only one tree across the trails in 4 days of riding. There was a set of close in-trails, with the outer loop close to 15 km and multiple inner loops. Several trails, such as Woodpecker had been re-routed for a very nice downhill flow.

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A bit further on, following gravel roads, there were some other, very steep trails, Scotty Creek and Cougar Creek trails. Given their steep gradient, we preferred the gravel forest roads which amounted to double track much of the time and a rather pleasant gradient.

We were able to carry all our water on our relatively short rides, but there were some small streams. I'm not sure how late in the year they run.

It's great to go at the time of year when fire season hasn't started, admittedly earlier, and earlier each year here in Oregon. We cooked both on a stove and over the campfire, and then sat around the coals until late in the evening when the stars came out.

Day 2

We rode further west along the Ochoco divide, discovering Scotty Creek trail which was a bit steep for our gravel bikes, but there were quite a few forest service roads to exit off laterally. We quite enjoyed the gentle slope of the forest service road we chose.