Where to ride around Central Oregon

[1Fast68]

A small group of us Washington boys are headed down to do some riding early part of next month. I've only ridden the area once before. Can anyone offer advice on good places to ride?

What sno parks might my fellow snowesters recommend? Will be stationed around Sunriver for the week but willing to do some driving as well to hit the good areas.

I've seen Diamond lake and Hoodoo mentioned here, what sno parks can those be accessed from?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[estaked]

For Hoodoo it is accessed from Benson snow park on top of the pass. I would recommend checking out Dutchman, Wanoga up by Mt. Bachelor, since you will be in Sunriver.

 

[ace59]

And Paulina.

 

[89sandman]

what kind of riding you guys looking to do? i ride the diamond lake area almost every weekend. if you end up in my area on a weekend give me a shout, everything from trees to steep.

 

[1Fast68]

A little bit of everything, not really into high marking, enjoy exploring/ boondocking more than anything. The group is mixed from 26-50, a couple of the old guys got bad knees but can still hold thier own and enjoy playing a bit, carving up the pow and playing on the medium size hills.

Not a family ride down the trails, but tame enough we all come home in one piece

I've read the Sandman log on BCR, I would love to ride with you. Might take a couple of the others out of their comfort zone.

 

[89sandman]

not to worry, i can plan the ride for the group i'm with. lots of different riding up my way. we can head out and you guys can decide how mellow or extreme you want it to be

 

[Twostroke]

Hoodoo would be just over an hour away from sunriver. Your close and best riding would be the Bachelor area and paulina, both about 20 minutes from where your staying. Diamond Lake/Mt.Bailey is also awesome and about 80-100 miles away depending where you park. If it's sunny pualina and bailey are hard to beat, great views.

Snoparks-
Hoodoos - Ray Benson
Bachelor - Dutchman, visita butte, edison, and wanoga. Ranked in that order. get up early for good parking or you'll be stuck at wanoga.
Paulina - 10 mile
Diamond/Bailey - Three Lakes is closest.

Elk lake is always a good stop for out of towners, 11 mile ride from dutchman snopark, full bar and resturant. Paulina has the same at the lake, 3 mile ride. Diamond has a pizza parlor on the SW side of the lake and a full resort at the marine/lodge/hotel on the N side, I think I have my side right.

I'm normally free to ride...drop me a pm

 

[n2otoofast4u]

From Sunriver Edison snowpark is going to be your best best for Bachelor. You can drive up then back down to wanoga but IMO your better off just pulling off at Edsion. Our place is in Sunriver and we ride out of Edison on a regular basis. Hoodoo is roughly 2 hours or so away and quite honestly poses nothing nearly as challenging or vast as Bachelor does. Paulina can be REALLY cool when the snow is good and is worth a day trip if your coming just to see it. Its about 35-40 minute drive from Sunriver. Diamond has its strong points as well. Its a pretty good drive but certainly manageable for a day trip.

 

[whoisthatguy]

You have got to do the cinder cone south of Mt. Bachelor. Access is from Edison. Paulina Lake has the half-pipe and a lot of boon docking, and some hill climbing on the North face of Paulina.

 

[RAMBOB]

Good snow, lots of people, and lots of 'mt trail riders' around bachelor.
More backcountry, less people if you go to Diamond and hook up with the Sandman.....
Its 75 mi from Sunriver to Diamond.

 

[Twostroke]

From Sunriver Edison snowpark is going to be your best best for Bachelor. You can drive up then back down to wanoga but IMO your better off just pulling off at Edsion. Our place is in Sunriver and we ride out of Edison on a regular basis. Hoodoo is roughly 2 hours or so away and quite honestly poses nothing nearly as challenging or vast as Bachelor does. Paulina can be REALLY cool when the snow is good and is worth a day trip if your coming just to see it. Its about 35-40 minute drive from Sunriver. Diamond has its strong points as well. Its a pretty good drive but certainly manageable for a day trip.

Hoodoo is 44 miles from bend, and sun river is about 12 miles from bend, something is going on if it takes two hours. There is challenging riding at hoodoo, go to the top of cache mtn and pick a side to drop into or climb up from the lower road on the mt washington side or from suttle lake, great riding through that burn and not for rookies, snow coverage is good this year. Only problem with edison and wanoga is how low they are and trees are tight out of edison so your stuck riding whooped out trail. It's worth gettin early to park at dutchman or vista. Mid week you can sleep in and park at either

 

[1Fast68]

Mid week you can sleep in and park at either

We will be there Monday - Friday so crowds shouldn't be an issue. I will definitely drop you a PM when we get closer, still about a month away.

Thank you everyone!

 

[1Fast68]

You have got to do the cinder cone south of Mt. Bachelor. Access is from Edison. Paulina Lake has the half-pipe and a lot of boon docking, and some hill climbing on the North face of Paulina.

What is "the cinder cone"?

 

[ace59]

I believe he's referring to kwohl butte.

http://www.oregonsnow.org/map_11.aspx

 

[n2otoofast4u]

Hoodoo is 44 miles from bend, and sun river is about 12 miles from bend, something is going on if it takes two hours. There is challenging riding at hoodoo, go to the top of cache mtn and pick a side to drop into or climb up from the lower road on the mt washington side or from suttle lake, great riding through that burn and not for rookies, snow coverage is good this year. Only problem with edison and wanoga is how low they are and trees are tight out of edison so your stuck riding whooped out trail. It's worth gettin early to park at dutchman or vista. Mid week you can sleep in and park at either

Was there today. Its a joke IMO. There is nothing there thats all that cool. Too each their own, Im not gonna get into some debate about it. If these guys wanna drive over to Hoodoo and give it a shot, by all means go for it.

 

[tomx]

Locals can attest better, but as a WA guy that rides Central Oregon out of Sunriver two-three weeks a season, I really like either hitting Bachelor (out of "the tunnel" or Wanoga Snopark) or Paulina/Newberry. Bachelor area has tons of sick meadows right off trail that work well for the type of riding you are talking about.

Paulina/Newberry is a lot more open, but it's full of Pepper, the reason there's no trees is Lava rock. It's A-arm hungry so you gotta be wary and watch for holes. Else, there's some good climbs, wide open, and the "rollercoaster" is super fun curvy mile or so banked shot to a some good climbs/descents. The view from top of Paulina on a clear day is epic too. Not to mention lunch down at Paulina Lake Lodge. I just love the gimmick of riding to a lodge for a hot lunch.

Both areas are 20 minutes from Sunriver and you can't go wrong. Edison is cool for a trail tour and there is some good trees across the road, but mostly it's just trail to some cabins. I'd pass and ride the more boondocking areas up the road at Bachelor.

If you need more specifics on routes I could probably doctor up a trail map for you and highlight some zones. Check my latest "HOOD DEEP" vid up on vimeo in my signature, lots of footage from when I was down in Oregon just a few weeks back.

 

[1Fast68]

Tom,
I watched your video and was hoping you would respond. The Washingtonian perspective of the area. Had you waited much longer I probably would have just PM'd ya haha. A trail map would definitely be appreciated. I have the generic ones that were already linked to on this site, but any more insight, such as go here, don't go here would be sweet. Any of you LOCALS feel free to do this as well, i will pay you in thanks, green rep, and maybe some beer while i'm down there.

I've already told the guys about Elk Lake Lodge as a possible spot for lunch/dinner, they were happy about that. I'm sure they'll like the idea of lunch at Paulina as well.

We have 3 days, possibly 4 days of riding while we are there so we have a good bit of time to cover some ground and different riding areas.

 

[snowmobiler]

if anybody ever wants extreme,scary,not scared to scratch your sled kind of riding around bach. .pm me.

 

[24drnkz]

^^^your funny^^^ How come I never run into you in my secrect spots