B10 The BulleTin • Friday, May 21, 2021
TOP PICKS
WHERE TO EXPLORE
Central Oregon mountains
Visitors
and swim-
mers play
around
the sandy
beach of
Cultus Lake
Resort in
July 2017.
Cultus Lake — While the entirety of the Cascade
Lakes Scenic Byway has yet to reopen, the southern
section from the Crescent Cutoff Road to Lava Lake
has reopened for cars, meaning that the brilliant blue
waters of Cultus Lake are once again accessible. This
weekend is the annual fishing derby hosted by the
Cultus Lake Resort (which reopened Thursday) so it’s
a great time to drop a lure or just to take in the beau-
tiful lake.
Paulina Lake — The seasonally closed road up to
Paulina and East lakes has also reopened for the
season. Recent catches include 11- and 12.5-pound
Ryan
Brennecke/
Bulletin file
Ticket to Ride
A pair of
mountain bik-
ers make their
way along the
Ticket to Ride
trail near the
U.S. Forest
Service’s Cas-
cade Lakes
Welcome Sta-
tion on Satur-
day.
Continued from B1
The welcome station, com-
pleted in 2015, was originally
proposed in late 2008, but the
project faced an appeal by
Central Oregon tourism in-
terests in 2010, according to
Bulletin archives. The appeal
questioned whether the build-
ing would include trail access
or simply be a spot to stop for
information.
Responding to the appeal,
the Forest Service added plans
for a trailhead and, eventu-
ally, more trails, built by the
hard-working and motivated
volunteers at COTA.
I drove to the welcome sta-
tion on a cool Tuesday morn-
ing, planning to ride the Ticket
to Ride loop in both directions
for a total of about 12 miles.
Each way is equally fun.
Riding the loop counterclock-
wise, though, allows mountain
bikers to descend a swooping
section through a small rock
canyon.
While the trail is rated as
green (easy), a fair amount of
climbing — about 500 feet of
elevation gain — awaits in ei-
ther direction.
After riding the east end of
the loop in a counterclock-
wise direction, I arrived at a
sign that led me to the junc-
tion with ELV and to the north
section of Ticket to Ride. This
included a steady climb all the
way to the intersection with
Voodoo Child. There, riders
have several options. They can
ride Voodoo Child to connect
to the more technically chal-
lenging Grand Slam or Voo-
doo trails. Or, they can stay on
Ticket to Ride and complete
the loop, which I did.
From the northwest corner
of the Ticket to Ride loop, the
climbing ended and the de-
scending began. Eventually
I came to the small canyon,
cruising along the swooping
turns that cut through the ter-
rain. A few rocks were exposed
here and there, but for the
most part it was a smooth and
fast ride back to the welcome
station.
The Ticket to Ride loop was
designed to be ridable in either
Ryan Brennecke/
The Bulletin
browns and good-sized kokanee, according to the
Paulina Lake Lodge’s Facebook page. The lower
trails may still have some spots of snow and dead-
fall from the winter, while Paulina Peak and Big
Obsidian Flow trails typically are covered in snow
until June.
Upper Deschutes River — Rounding out the “now
open” areas of Central Oregon’s mountains, the De-
schutes River from Benham Falls upstream to Little Lava
Lake reopens for fishing beginning May 22. Daily limits
are set at two rainbow trout per day with an 8-inch min-
imum, and all wild rainbows must be released.
— Makenzie Whittle, The Bulletin
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direction, so I headed back out
to ride it clockwise.
I climbed back through
the canyon and continued
climbing for about two miles
before beginning another de-
scent. The downhill was fun
and flowy, with a few small
jumps here and there to test
my freeride skills. Some tech-
nical rocky portions are in-
cluded on Ticket To Ride, but
May 29th at 9:00 am
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62065 SE 27th St., Bend, OR
for the most part it is an easy
trail that is ridable for all skill
levels.
One final short climb
brought me back to the wel-
come station. The 12-mile ride
included nearly 1,000 feet of
elevation gain and took about
two hours.
Rain that is forecast for the
next couple of days should
quell the dust that has built up
Multi-State: $80.00
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Oregon Only: $45.00
on the trails and put them in
prime condition for riding.
Ticket to Ride usually re-
mains ridable well into the fall,
offering a quick, easy option
for busy mountain bikers.
e e
IN THE BULLETIN ON
SUNDAY, MAY 23!
Reporter: 541-383-0318,
mmorical@bendbulletin.com
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