Wow, what a season! This was the first year since 2019 that we haven’t had to deal with a global pandemic or major disruption due to wildfire and subsequent smoke. Business “as usual” for a mountain bike guide and outfitter can be really fun!

To thank our amazing staff for a great season, we did celebratory staff rides out on Scotty and Cougar Creek Trails in the Ochoco National Forest, rode a big loop near Smith Rock State Park and partied with the staff at the Commons Cafe. We’re so grateful for our many super committed, long time staff who make the magic happen. Additionally, this year’s crop of new staff were the most qualified and motivated that we’ve seen in years. They came in with Wilderness First Aid/ First Responder and mountain bike coaching certifications!

We’re here because of you. Thank you for riding with us this year! We have such a good time visiting with you all and showing you our amazing trails.

Join us for some end of season fun: This Saturday 11/8, we’ll host a trail work party on Alpine. No experience required; we’ll do some brushing and drainage work. Transportation, tools, PPE, snacks and beverages will be provided. Meet at Cog Wild in Uptown Oakridge at 9 AM. RSVP to info@cogwild.com

Highlights from the 2025 Mountain Bike Season

Bend

• Cog Wild’s client meeting spot is now at the front of the LOGE Bend property where we have a better presence and get more ride up traffic.
• The bike skills area is back! Lev and Bill used a machine to build jumps, berms and a progressive drops. Lev then fine tuned the features by hand. It’s been fun to see the neighborhood kids hitting the features.
• Deschutes Brewery has been a sponsor of Cog Wild for the past 15 years, providing beverages for our apres scene. At long last we we brought back the in town shuttle pick up, which meets at Deschutes Brewery’s Admin Building in the heart of Bend.

Cascadia Junior Cycling

Before our spring and fall after school sessions we did two free meet and greet rides with the families so the parents could understand what we do and to give the riders a soft welcome. It’s been awesome to get to know the families along with the riders.

We celebrated the end of the season with an all CJC Enduro closer on the new trails out of Wanoga.

Oakridge

The staff at the Middle Fork Ranger District did a number of things to make it easier to operate. First, they extended the season and provided better guidance on which trails are appropriate to use (or not) during wet weather. Second, by approving a more generous definition of a user day, we were able to offer discounted shuttle packages, which got people on multiple shuttles on the same day.  Finally, before getting furloughed this fall they made sure that our permits were set for next year.

There’s an exciting sense of shared responsibility for increasing tourism to Oakridge.  Jude Anderson from Rain Catalyst and Jamie Danek, the former owner of Humm Kombucha, have brought the recreation businesses together to advocate for ourselves to our elected officials and to work together to increase tourism to Oakridge. The City of Oakridge even funded a tourism promoter.  

Winter Recreation in Bend and Oakridge

With the onset of cold wet weather in the Cascades, our main season has come to a close.

Winter Rides in Bend and Oakridge

Guided mountain bike, gravel and fat bike rides will continue through the winter as conditions allow.

Nordic Shuttles in Bend:

From December – April we run shuttles for our friends at Three Sisters Nordic Traverse. Stay tuned for our launch of a weekend, round trip shuttle for nordic skiers from Bend to Meissner Nordic…

The Oakridge Trails Alliance has been awarded a Travel Oregon Grant to enhance and expand the trail system east of Oakridge. The focus is to create a connected trails network that serves diverse users and promotes the recreation economy.

Whether you live in Oakridge or you are part of the extended riding community who connects with Oakridge, your feedback is crucial to help design a trail network that meets the community’s needs, improves accessibility, and integrates forest and community trails.

Two ways to give input on the Eastern Oakridge Trails Project

1. Community Planning Event 8/8/25 from noon to 4:30 PM at the Middle Fork Ranger District

Oakridge Trails Alliance is hosting a community event to kick off this process. Come learn more, share your thoughts, and help shape a trail network that reflects our shared values. The more folks engage with this process, the better OTA can design a trail system that works for everyone.
📍 Friday August 8th – Community Planning Event @ The Middle Fork Ranger District
RSVP by hitting the button below or scan the QR code on the flyer!

2. Respond to the Eastern Oakridge Trails to Town Survey by 8/28/25

Please fill out THIS survey by August 28th to have your input included. Please share the survey with your friends, neighbors, and networks!

It’s a beautiful summer in Oakridge, Oregon! Come get in on the fun! Explore mountain bike trails, river fun and local culture in Oakridge.

We’re excited to welcome two complimentary businesses to our home base in Uptown Oakridge. Holt Adventures rents river tubes, paddle boards and rafts and the Herbin’ Crust Alley makes wood fired pizza 5 days a week.  It’s a sweet little scene, come check it out and find yourself doing something besides mountain biking.

Read on for info about visiting Oakridge to ride bikes and inspiration for more outdoor and cultural events in the area.

Mountain bike in Oakridge

Every day we talk to people about how to navigate the mountain bike scene in Oakridge. The video above, by OSU Cascades Social Media Intern, Keeler Frangooles, gives an overview of what’s its like to spend a day riding in Oakridge.

Cog Wild’s shuttle schedule is built for riders to link up multiple trails each day. With the discounted combos, riders can ride many different trails on different days.

• Eastside Blue Combo: For riders who don’t want to be scared, ride both Dead Mountain and Aubrey from Cog Wild’s Home Base.
• The Classic: Ride the two most popular trails in the area: Alpine in the morning followed by Dead Mountain in the afternoon.  
• Hardesty & Lawler Double: Head west to the Hardesty Portal to ride Hardesty and Lawler Trails back to back.
• Eastside Black Combo:  For advanced riders who are comfortable with fear consider our most challenging combo that accesses Heckletooth, Dead Mountain and Larison.

Private Shuttles & Guided Rides

If you are coming to town with a large group of riders, consider hiring a van to transport your crew to the trails you want to ride on your own time frame.

Add a guide to get your crew on trails that aren’t on the regular schedule: Eula, Sawtooth, Middle Fork down from Timpanogas Lake, Moon Point, Goodman and many more.

There’s more to Oakridge than mountain biking

A person can only do so much mountain biking! Linger longer to get to know the place even better. Here’s a few ideas on what to do in the region:

River Play

Multiple tributaries flow into the Middle Fork of the Willamette near town. Find a swimming hole off the Aufderhiede Road west of Alpine Trail. Join a Friday Float at 4PM with Holt Adventures. Take a paddle board to Hills Creek or Lookout Reservoirs.

Have you seen Salt Creek Falls? It’s worth a stop, along with many other hiking trails into the Diamond Peak or Waldo Lake Wilderness areas.

Oakridge has culture too

Catch live music at the Three Legged Crane Pub, browse the shops on First Friday Art Walks, enjoy fresh produce and baked goods at the Community Farmers Market on Sundays or go back in time with a visit to the Willamette Fish Hatchery. Stumble into The Corner Bar late night and you just might be surprised to find a live DJ dance party.

Plan a trip

Get inspired at Travel Lane County’s Oakridge Page (linked below).  Cog Wild’s Oakridge Homepage below has all kinds of information on where to stay, including Cog’s no frills vacation rental, and what to do in the region.  

Explore Oakridge

Click on the links below to learn more about the businesses, things to do, and where to stay on the flyer below.

A question that our office frequently hears from visiting riders is, “Where can I camp?”

Travelers are strongly encouraged to camp in an official campground or a Sno Park (parking lots that access winter recreation). Check out our Bend and Oakridge home pages for links to a variety of camping and lodging options.

What about dispersed camping?

Due to increased fire danger and issues with trash, there has been a concerted effort to discourage non recreational camping around Bend and Oakridge. Many dispersed sites have been decommissioned and blocked with large boulders. Near Bend, many of the forest roads close to town are gated and locked, the open roads are farther from town.

If dispersed camping is your scene, please consider these tips:

• Select a camp site in an area designated for overnight use, this does not include trailheads or sites adjacent to a trail. Day users have priority in these spots and overnight camping limits another person’s ability to access the forest.
• Practice Leave No Trace principals: Camp on durable surfaces, pack out all your trash and manage human waste by digging a latrine or using a portable toilet in your rig.
• Keep Oregon Green: Be aware of the Industrial Fire Precaution Levels and follow all fire rules for the forest you are visiting. Keep hot vehicles off dry vegetation and skip the camp fire.
• Limit your stay to 14 days or less.

The trails and roads are emerging as the snow melts and we’re excited to be on our bikes! Mountain biking in Central Oregon during the spring means going north or east to dry trails. These areas are in the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains and get way less precipitation than the trails west of Bend. The trail systems listed below ride best now while the sandy soil holds moisture and packs to a firm riding surface. In the summer these areas bake in the high desert sun and the trails get blown out.

Go explore on your own or contact Cog Wild for a guided mountain bike ride or gravel tour.

Cross Country Rides:

Horse Ridge

Try Horse Ridge for solid climbs, tech descents and big views of the Cascades. There are multiple ways to pedal up to the top. The easiest and most social is to climb Old Highway 20 or climb single track via Parkway or Giddyup. From the top of the Ridge, choose from a number of fast downhills.

Farther afield, the trails out of Smith Rock State Park and Madras East Hills are worth a day trip.

Smith Rock

To ride Smith Rock, park at the Skull Hollow Trailhead and skip the busy main entrance to the park. Try riding around Gray Butte or doing the whole Cole Loop. Please yield to horses on these trails.

Madras East Hills

The Madras East Hills Trails are a fun way to get some warm weather riding even when temperatures around Bend feel wintery. The Hills are on the western edge of the Blue Mountains and the higher clay content makes for a really nice trail surface. These trails are the skeleton for the Bone Crusher XC race in mid April.

Downhill:

Downhillers can find good dh mountain biking at Cline Butte during the winter or early spring. This is an earn your turns situation, ride or push to the top and take your pick of rocky dh lines. There’s also XC options at Cascade View and Maston Trailheads.  

Gravel:

The gravel roads near Bend are melting out, there’s plenty of miles to link up a ride from town. Check out Dirty Freehub for ride recommendations.

Guided Rides:

While you can do these rides on your own, Cog Wild  can outfit you and take you for a gravel tour or a guided mountain bike ride to these fun outlying trails through the spring before our classic Bend trails open around mid May.

Trails to avoid:

Please resist the urge to ride west of Bend for another month. The trails out of Phil’s Trailhead and Cog Wild’s Bend location are still muddy and have spots of snow or standing water.

By: Kirin Stryker, Cog Wild Owner & Operator on March 5, 2025

This holiday season we’re participating in Small Business Saturday, a promotion that encourages people to support small business and shop local when buying gifts for their loved ones.

Read on for gift ideas ranging from Cog Wild merchandise to gift cards for experiences, discounted shuttle passes and 2023 demo bike sales. All these gifts are available online, via in person sales during office hours (T, W, Th from 10 AM to 3 PM) or by appointment.

Cog Wild Merchandise

Who wouldn’t be stoked to receive new bike socks, a baseball cap with a cute little sasquatch, a bandana or a Cog Wild logo’d water bottle? Merchandise is available via Cog Wild’s online store or in person at our Bend location. All orders received before December 20 can be shipped at an additional cost.

The sasquatch and the graphics on the bandana are by The Workhouse Bend , a fun place to shop local.

Holiday pricing for 2025 mountain bike shuttle passes

Give the gift that keeps on giving: a season’s worth of shuttles for gravity assisted mountain biking. Renew or purchase a 2025 season pass now through December 31 for the best price of the year. Current pass holders, please email the office to confirm a renewal for 2025 so you can keep last year’s booking code.

• Bend shuttle season pass $200 save $50 off main season price $250
• Oakridge shuttle season pass $340 save $59 off main season price $399

2025 PNW Shuttle Pass

PNW shuttle passes are a great gift for your best riding buddy; commit to a mountain bike road trip in 2025 and support small businesses while you’re at it.

The pass is good for 2 shuttles at three different small businesses: Cog Wild, Shasta Gravity Adventures and Ashland Mountain Adventures. Purchase a 2025 PNW Shuttle Pass for $129 for a limited time.

2023 Demo Fleet Sales

Need a new(ish) bike? We’re selling our remaining full suspension demo fleet bikes including some Santa Cruz Hightowers, Tallboys and 5010s.

Happy Holidays from Cog Wild

Whether you’re shopping for holiday gifts or treating yourself, remember that every purchase at a small business, like Cog Wild, makes a difference to maintaining the character and vibrancy of the places we live and love to visit.

We’re grateful to each and every one of you for riding with us during the 2024 season. Have a joyful holiday season full of outdoor adventure.

Cog Wild is fully open and will operate daily through the end of October. Despite some late season fires, there’s plenty of mountain biking and other fun to be had in Bend and Oakridge this month.

Bend Mountain Biking Update

A thunderstorm last weekend peppered the region with lightening and started a number of new fires across the Cascades. The Bachelor Complex Fires have closed the trails out of Wanoga Trailhead, but the trails from Dutchman and Swampy Trailheads are open. Cool weather and rain this week will improve the situation and make for good riding conditions in the coming weeks.

Due to poor AQI this week we pushed the start of Cascadia Junior Cycling’s after school programs to the week of 9/16. There’s still room in most of the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday sessions for all age and ability groups.

Multi-week skills sessions adults are happening this fall. There’s still space in next week’s Jumping for Oldies and on the Level 2 Progression Session that runs on Monday evenings from September 30 through October 14.

Daily shuttles, guided rides and skills sessions will continue through the end of October.

Oakridge Mountain Biking Update

The lightening fires that started near Oakridge in early July are mostly extinguished and the AQI has been surprisingly good. There’s a solid two days of shuttling: one day on Hardesty and Lawler and a second day on Dead Mountain, Larison and Heckletooth. If you like pedaling, there’s plenty of mountain biking to be had on the high country trails near Willamette Pass. It’s raining now, trails are going to be great for the next few weeks.

Daily shuttles, guided rides and skills sessions run until October 31, then we’ll transition to backcountry nordic skiing and snowshoe tours from December through March.

Cool events to complement your mountain bike rides

Some unique, free events are happening on the Willamette National Forest this month.

Mountain Town Throwdown Festival

We’re looking forward to the Mountain Town Throwdown Festival at Willamette Pass on September 20-22. Come for the disk golf tournament or pedal from the resort to some of the best high country singletrack in Oregon.

Cog Wild will be there all weekend, come say hi or join a free intro to mountain biking session at 2 PM on Saturday, September 21.

If you pass through Oakridge en route to or from the festival, visit the Middle Fork Bistro for tacos, fresh salads and cold beverages. Hours are Friday – Sunday from 3:30 to 7:30

Santiam Wagon Road Exhibition

For my fellow nature and history nerds out there, check out the Santiam Wagon Road Exhibition on September 28 at the Fish Lake Remount Station. This is at the top of the McKenzie River and adjacent to the Old Cascade Crest Trails. Ride for a day or two and spend some hours at Fish Lake learning about the rich cultural history of Santiam Pass with some seriously passionate folks.

Not sure how or what to ride out here? Contact us to set up a guided ride.

Come mountain bike with us and join the fun!

Saturday May 25

Join us for a full day trip from Bend, or meet us at the trailhead as we ride the Dog River trail near Mt. Hood.

The Dog River Super D is happening the following day so join us to preview for your race run, or just enjoy a fantastic trail for multiple laps.

Schedule:

• Meet at Cog Wild Bend office at 7:00 to load up; leaving at 7:15. $149 per adult rider, includes a Nancy P’s sandwich for lunch, snacks and post-ride beverage from Deschutes / Polar. $100 per rider CJC juniors. Use the book button to reserve
• Meet us at the Dog River trailhead at 10 AM. Special rate of $50 / rider email info@cogwild.com to claim these seats.
• Plan is to ride three laps, with some options for other trails later in the day.
• Bring a swimsuit as the river is right there for a cold plunge after the ride.
• Sign up by Wednesday night — we have a 4 person minimum and will refund your deposit if we don’t have 4 riders by Thursday morning.

The trail:

• https://www.trailforks.com/trails/dog-river-trail-675
• Starts fast through big hemlock / fir forest
• Has an undulating climb that starts less than a mile down
• Then there’s a tricky rock section that you might want to inspect / session about 2.5 miles down
• From there it’s incredibly fun to the bottom, with rocks, roots, creekbeds and reports say recent trailwork over the weekend has the trail running well.

Our Level 2 Progression Session and Jumping for Oldies groups started up this week. Here is a video and a few photos of the riders working to build their foundational skills like body position, pressure control and timing during the first day of class.

Looking great, everyone!

Jumping for Oldies day 1 with Erika and Missie at Phil’s trailhead.