SPORTS PULLOUT & CLASSIFIEDS INSIDE
• B SECTION • FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 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.
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
A mountain biker rides down a singletrack trail during an
outing near Horse Butte (background) on April 10.
Don’t spring too far ahead
NOW
is time for
Horse Butte
Some mountain biking areas don’t
fare too well in the summer heat;
BY MARK MORICAL
The Bulletin
Driving up Century
Drive to go snowboard-
ing at Mt. Bachelor on
Sunday morning, I no-
ticed the parking lot at
the Cascade Lakes Wel-
TRAILS
come Station — where
the Catch and Release, C.O.D. and Ticket
to Ride trails all meet — was nearly full.
But we’ll have all spring and summer to
ride those trails.
This time of year, I like to get a few
more weeks out of the trails east of Bend,
before they become too sandy and dusty
by summertime.
Mark Morical/Bulletin file photo
Broken Top and South Sister are just a few of the Cascade
peaks that can be viewed from the Horse Butte area.
Horse Butte, southeast of Bend, is an
ideal mountain biking option through
late April and well into May. The rela-
tively flat and non technical nature of the
trails near Horse Butte provides a great
way to ease into the season for those rid-
ers who spent most of the winter skiing
and snowboarding rather than mountain
biking.
Last week, I made the short drive to the
Horse Butte Trailhead.
The Coyote Loop Trail and Arnold
Ice Cave Trail (Trail 63) form a loop
of about 10 miles that can be ridden
in either direction. I started out on the
Arnold Ice Cave Trail to ride the loop
clockwise.
See Horse Butte / B9
It’s Earth Month: Consider volunteering in area parks, trails
BY KIM JOHNSON
For The Bulletin
My family has a litter habit. Not the
bad behavior, tossing-trash-out-the
car-window kind. This is more like a
treasure hunt and maybe plays a small
role to help take care of the places that
we wander and explore. It’s our way to
give back to the places that help keep us
sane and healthy.
It’s not something we plan really, but
the high-energy dog is almost always with
us when we hit the parks, trails or forest,
and our walk supplies always include sev-
eral dog poop bags for cleaning up after
her. It’s easy to use an empty bag for pick-
ing up any bits of trash we find along the
way. Thankfully, the bag is not often full
after a visit to most Bend parks and trails.
April is Earth Month and a good an-
nual reminder of the importance of tak-
ing care of our favorite outdoor places.
Getting involved can be as simple as
grabbing a bag and picking up a few
pieces of litter on your next walk, or do-
ing something more organized and sign-
ing up to be a volunteer to help care for
the parks and trails in our community.
Take on a one-day project
Small groups from clubs, schools,
churches, businesses and even families
can help with seasonal landscape main-
tenance projects, such as raking out
planting areas, pulling weeds or spread-
ing bark mulch. These are generally
two or three hours and go a long way
to not only beautify the park, but also
support keeping moisture around trees
and plants and reduce the need for other
weed -management measures.
See Volunteering / B10
Volunteers
gather
at Riley
Ranch.
Park
hosts use
two-hour
weekly
shifts to
monitor
the park
and remind
visitors of
rules.
Submitted
photo