McKenzie River: Home of America’s favourite MTB trail! (and hot springs)

Blue Pool: It's cold and deep. You can cliff jump here if you want to freeze

McKenzie River is not far north of the Willamette River but is way more popular.  The drive from Bend was spectacular with open views of the Sisters Mountains, Mt Bachelor, Mt Washington and Mt Hood, all still covered in snow. After Sisters (a town) it was very quickly back to the lush green scenery. You are spoilt for choice for accommodation with cabins and campgrounds all along the river. Paradise Campground had been recommended to us but we couldn’t go past Belknap Springs with its two hot spring fed pools, Rob feeling the need to soak a tired body. Our campsite was opposite a large area of lawn, perfect for soccer and Frisbee, and the McKenzie River Trail (MRT) was 30 seconds ride away.

Clear Lake

The first morning Rob jumped on the shuttle up to the MRT trailhead. The MRT is 26 miles long and is a strenuous ride even though it follows the river downhill, the upper 13 miles is rated (correctly) black and very technical with plenty of rocks and cliff exposure in places. Falls here are likely to be greeted with skin contact on lava rock, nicknamed cheese grater rock! The trail starts just above Clear Lake, a massive natural spring that feeds the river year round.  After Clear

Lava rock descent below Blue Pool

Lake there was great riding and the trail was in perfect condition after recent rain. It passes two spectacular waterfalls (Sahalle and Koosah). After the falls the river disappears underground and re-emerges at Blue Pool (pictures worth many thousands of words here). Below Blue Pool the riding was very technical, challenging and fun. Beyond the Blue Pool trailhead the trails are more open, fast and flowing all the way to the end of the trail. That afternoon was time for some lawn and hot spring activity. Fiona and Symi went for an out and back ride a few miles up the MRT.

The next day we decided to go rafting down the McKenzie River. It has class 2 and 3 rapids, so fun without being risky. We all put on wetsuits, booties and spray jackets as the water is about 5ᵒC! The wet position on the boat is the front and was allocated to the two Dads. The dry position is where the guide sat and he didn’t wear a wetsuit, questionable as there were large capacity water guns on board. The kids soaked him at the end of the 2.5 hour boat ride. It was a great trip down the McKenzie, finishing just after another covered bridge. The guide told us that the snow pack fed the river and took 3 to 9 years to get from glacier to the river (they found this out by dying the snowpack). This went a long was to explaining to us how these rivers keep flowing with so much water. By the end we were all a little wet so it was straight into the hot springs on return.

The ultimate Frisbee lawn

Our last full day in McKenzie we went for an out and back walk to Blue Pool. We observed that most of the mountain bikers were struggling through the rocks, many walking, some having had enough not having the skill to manage a ride like this. Probably the more skilled ones were already long gone and we were seeing the slower riders from the shuttle. Fiona and Symi were pleased that we have Rob to interpret which rides are most suitable for us. On the way back down we filled our water bladders with fresh spring fed river water, the McKenzie is one of the cleanest rivers anywhere. After lunch in the RV we set off to ride the 10 miles down the MRT, there were a couple of parts of the trail with exposure, otherwise it’s great blue rated riding to the end. Rob turned around not far from the Belknap Springs and rode back up to the RV. Fiona and Symi managed to wait patiently in a hot spring having enjoyed another Rob shuttle.

Another bridge crossing MRT

On our last morning Rob (enjoying another patient wait in a parking lot by his wife and child!!) rode the lower half of the O’Leary trail. The shuttle drops you off at the top of Castle Rock Trail, there is an option to go higher here and ride/push up the steep fire road to the top of the O’Leary. This part of

O'Leary Trail

the trail was rugged not being ridden often. Just above CRT it becomes double black and is super steep but rideable, there was plenty of rear wheel drift going on here. CRT requires consistent pedalling before finally letting gravity take over for the last 4 miles down the King Castle Trail, classic Oregon singletrack descending. That afternoon is was off to Blackrock, hindsight says energy and brownie points (nearing the overdraft limit!) should have been saved for this.

O'Leary Trail