When We Like to Ride This

We like this route in the fall (Octoberish) when the Larch trees are golden yellow. Summer is also a great time to ride, but start early to beat the heat and enjoy some solitude. During the summer, the single-track around Suttle Lake can be busy with hikers, and the road to Round Lake can be more rutted and is more traveled. Thus, we like the off-season before Memorial Day and after Labor Day.

In the spring the route can be wet, muddy and boggy. Avoid.

Terrain & Riding

Miles 0 to 4 / Suttle Lake Trail / Single Track
The first 4 miles are a single-track loop around Suttle Lake meandering through pine and ponderosa forest. It is quite scenic, but also some of the most technical single-track of the day. In spots, a little bit ledgy and some tree roots to negotiate. This is a multi-use trail, thus give way to hikers.

After circumnavigating the lake, find the Lake Creek trail single-track (to the left) just before crossing the bridge over Lake Creek. Negotiate the tight single-track and underpass of the highway. At the junction, don’t go right and downhill, instead go left and uphill.

Miles 4 to 15 / Round Lake / Gravel
The next 4 miles climb 1000 feet up a red cinder road. Initially the riding is forested and then moves into and old burn scar where the views open up and get better the higher you climb. The most prominent peak is Three Fingered jack. Be warned, there will be sections of rock cobble. Just before mile 9 take a left on a dirt road to go to the lakeshore. Highly recommended!

The descent from Round Lake is just as demanding as the climb. Some rock cobble, some washboard.

Miles 15 to 23 / Metolius Preserve / Single Track & Double Track
Just after mile 15 your pick-up the Lake Creek Trail. This double-track trail will lead you to the Metolius Preserve. Stay in the right hand groove, as the left hand groove is the horse trail and more rutted and soft.

Lake Creek currently provides spawning habitat for native redband trout and nesting habitat for a wide range of neotropical songbirds. Lake Creek is also an important part of current efforts to reintroduce spring chinook and sockeye salmon to the upper Deschutes Basin. Historically, a significant proportion of Metolius River spring chinook spawned in Lake Creek, and one of Oregon’s two native sockeye salmon runs migrated through Lake Creek to Suttle Lake. By protecting the Metolius Preserve, the Land Trust is helping to ensure a successful reintroduction of salmon in the upper Deschutes Basin. [Deschutes Land Trust]

At ~ mile 16.7 make a right hand turn on single track into the Metolius Preserve proper. The riding in the Preserve is a mix of easy single-track or narrow double-track. Nothing technical.

The Land Trust acquired and protected the 1,240 acre Metolius Preserve in 2003. This primarily forested property supports mature ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and western larch, as well as a rich diversity of other plant species. Three miles of Lake Creek, an important tributary to the Metolius River, flow through the property, contributing to the rich habitat found on the Preserve. [Deschutes Land Trust]

The route traverses the Preserve from the north side to the south side passing through the Larch, Fir, and Pine loops in that order.

Watch your navigation closely, as it is easy to miss a turn, but difficult to get lost. We would also recommend that you download the Metolius Preserve map from the Deschutes Land Trust.

The Larch Loop:
The Larch Trails “take visitors through one of the most ecologically diverse sections of the Preserve. Fall is spectacular in this section of the Preserve when red and orange vine maple leaves and brilliant yellow larch shine. Spring and summer offer beautiful wildflowers and butterflies.”

The Fir Loop:
“The Fir Trails offer a great introduction to the Metolius Preserve with covered interpretive kiosk and creekside viewing platforms. Springtime brings lovely native wildflowers like mariposa lily, summertime offers cool, creekside refuge from hot sun, and fall blazes with beautiful golden bracken fern.”

The Pine Loop:
“The Pine Trails of the Preserve are home to our (The Deschutes Land Trust’s) most visible forest restoration efforts and are a great place to observe white-headed woodpeckers and other cavity nesting birds working on the snags we’ve created.”

Miles 23 to 26 / Sisters – Suttle Tie Trail / Single Track & Double Track
Upon existing the Deschutes Land Trust and crossing Highway 20 it is onto the Sisters-Suttle Tie Trail. It starts out as double-track and then moves into some great dropbar single-track. Here, you are back in pine and ponderosa forest.

The Start

Designated day use parking area. As your driving toward the “general” lodge area, continue straight, to the Day Use area which is lakeside. Picnic tables. Toilets.

Food & Water

• None

Route Notes

1. The start and parking is a bit tricky. Park at the Day Use area on the east side of the lake. It is just west and north of the Suttle Lodge. The route begins by going out of the parking area and circling around Suttle Lake in the clockwise direction. The route begins on single-track trail.

2. This is a much more technically demanding ride than the Metolius Preserve ride. The loop around Suttle Lake is all single-track, but has rooted and off-camber sections. All rideable by someone with good technical skills. You can walk these sectors, but expect 10+ sectors.

   The ride up to and around Round Lake can be rocky, chunky, loose and washboarded. It is all Forest Service road, passable by a Subaru Outback at low speed.

3. October 2026: This route was previously known as Metolius Preserve + Bonus Lakes, we have renamed it Tripple Ripple.

Route Options

If you are looking for a shorter ride that still includes the Metolius Preserve, we would recommend the Metolius Preserve route. This is a really, really good ride but with a bit with less climbing.

Have you ridden this route? Got a question? Join the discussion!