The West Coast (CA,NV,WA,OR), Trip Reports » Oregon Cascades – Oakridge to Crater Lake, Umpqua River Trail, Back to Oakridge
by mark.johnson
OregonCascades – Crater Lake Rim at Merriam Point – elevation 7300 ft
I completed a week-long, 215 mile, solo mountain bikepacking trek in the Oregon Cascades in July 2015. At the end of the trek, I added another 40 miles of mountain biking on local trails, making my week’s mileage 255 miles.
Basic route: Oakridge Oregon to Crater Lake, down the North Umpqua River, up Steamboat Creek, over the Calapooya Mountains, and back to Oakridge.
It was an epic adventure for me – sleeping in a hammock, biking through the Oregon wilderness, drawing drinking water from streams and rivers, climbing in mountainous elevations, dealing with an unseasonal heat wave, skirting a forest fire, and meeting many kind people.
The trek report includes daily entries regarding my bikepacking route, along with maps, photos, and experiences. Read the trek report by clicking here…
ScottM on 
Dylan on 
AmosIv on 
Preston on 
Jesse on 
Martin on 
Rod on
Great trip. Way to persevere with all the heat.
This is well timed — we just rode over to Lemolo Lake from the middle fork today. It was warm enough at 80 degrees!
We are thinking about heading towards Diamond and Crater Lakes. How was the traffic out and back on those?
Great Report! Thanks a lot for sharing.
I will travel to Oregon with my wife the next Friday for bike riding and visit great places. But no bikepacking this time. It seems to be a great region and I can’t wait to see it.
Thanks again and have a good recovery.
Regards from Switzerland
Mat
I was intrigued and impressed with your ride and story until this point…”Be wary of any bike shuttle business that removes trail signage to increase profits. If a business acts in this way, what are the prevalent ethics of its agents? What else are they doing that might effect you unfavorably? Do you want to be associated with such a business?” As a past director for the Disciples of Dirt and a current guide for the shuttle company in Oakridge (Oregon Adventures) I can assure you that no one from the mountain biking community is tampering with any signage. In fact, we will give you directions to any of the trails if you ask at the shuttle shop even if you are not shuttling with us. The DOD and GOATS do a substantial amount of work on the trails, but we do so under the guidance of the USFS. Both organizations want better signs and have funded some, but we are at the mercy of the land manager to place them. In this case, it is the USFS. Bend is well signed, COTA is responsible for most of that. They have a different land manager and lets them do different things. I would caution publicly castrating an area or business when you don’t have the facts to back it. I know Oregon Adventures (and recently as of this year Cog Wild) are the only legal shuttle companies permitted to use the land and neither tamper with any signs. Both are required a certain amount of trail maintenance a year and both have guides that either live in the area or are members of the local clubs.