FOUR-PAGE SPORTS PULLOUT INSIDE
• B SECTION • FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 2021
THE REGION’S HUB FOR
OUTDOOR ADVENTURES
Each week in this section, you will find the area’s
most complete guide of what’s open and closed;
outdoor activities and events; top picks of places to
explore; conditions of hiking and biking trails,
fishing holes, water flows, camping spots, parks
and more — as well as features from outdoor
writers and field experts.
Freeride fun
in Madras
Bend’s Mark Johnson rides the Bridge to Nowhere at the Madras East Hills trail network on Sunday.
The Madras East Hills trail system is Central Oregon’s new playground for mountain bikers
STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARK MORICAL • The Bulletin
MADRAS —
T
o the west, Mount Jefferson and the Three Sisters glowed a bright white against a clear blue sky. Just below us, winding down an otherwise
unimpressive hill in the middle of the high desert, were five different trails, all filled with jumps, berms, concrete pavers and wood features. A
mountain biker could spend most of a day here, climbing and then riding down a different trail packed with freeride flavor.
Combine the efforts of vision-
because of the unique nature of
ary mountain bikers and for-
the trails, having fortified berms,
ward-thinking land managers and
large jumping features, and wood
the result is the Madras East Hills
features.”
trails, the latest playground for
Because the trails are located on
mountain bikers in Central Ore-
land owned by the City of Madras
TRAILS
gon.
and other private entities, wood
Located just east of Madras near Ju-
and concrete features are allowed to be
niper Hill Park, the trail system includes
built in the system. That is not the case on
14 miles of mountain biking trails and 6
most other trails in Central Oregon, which
miles of horseback-riding trails.
are mostly located on federal land, includ-
Led by the Madras Chapter of the Cen-
ing the Deschutes and Ochoco national
tral Oregon Trail Alliance (COTA), trail
forests and the Bureau of Land Manage-
work on Madras East Hills began in 2019
ment.
and has transformed the area into a true
“A lot of our trails in COTA are on For-
destination for cyclists coming from Bend, est Service and BLM land, which really
Redmond and even Portland.
limits the scope of what can be built,” Mor-
“We’ve had a lot of folks come out,” said row said. “But as we move to land that cit-
Brennan Morrow, the Madras Chapter
ies or private entities own, we end up with
representative for COTA. “They’ve got-
the freedom to build a better system. The
ten rave reviews. They’re such awesome,
Forest Service just has different parame-
unique trails, and they’re so fun because
ters on what can be built. We’ve had total
they’re designed in a way that you can just support from the city (of Madras). They’ve
ride out there all day, sessioning and do-
been hugely helpful in developing this.”
See Freeride / B10
ing different stuff. It’s been super popular
Bend’s Andrew Williams rides a wood structure at the Madras East Hills trail system.
If Oregon is cougar country, then Steins Pillar is their neighborhood
Emily Doerfler
and Philip Aulie
adopted their
dog, Wichita, a
year ago from the
Madras Humane
Society. “She’s
a mixture of a
bunch of stuff,”
Doerfler said.
“One of these
days, we’re going
to do a DNA test
to figure it out.”
Submitted
BY DAVID JASPER
The Bulletin
On a sunny Friday two weeks
ago, my oldest daughter, Caro-
line, and I drove east from Bend to
Prineville to hike the Steins Pillar
Trail.
It was a mostly sunny day, cool
but not cold, perfect for a 4-mile
round trip trek through a pictur-
esque section of forest.
But if spring can be counted on
for one thing, it’s “springing” sur-
prises on you.
rom sunny one minute to a brief
but impressive snow storm, from
the Cascades. How much
dusty-dry trail conditions
could there be?”
to blobby sections of snow
Guess which one of us
lingering on shaded or
was right?
north-facing trails, spring
As we drove in, Caro-
will smile in your face while
line talked about what to
it picks the hope from your
TRAILS
do in the event we saw a
pocket.
cougar.
No, I’m not much of a winter
This was triggered, in part, by
person. That works to my disad-
my mention of a 2006 piece by
vantage several months of the year
longtime Bulletin outdoors writer
— for instance, the day before our
Jim Witty, who died in 2008. For
hike, when my colleague Maken-
some reason, the paranoia-induc-
zie Whittle warned that we might
ing piece induces Ochocos para-
encounter still-snowy trails, but
noia in me to this day.
I thought, “Meh, spring usually
comes earlier to the Ochocos than
See Steins / B9