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Westside Tour

5 Star Route / Bend, Oregon / Published September 2017
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The "high wheel" logging skidder. / At the start.
Please, walk the pedestrian bridge in Drake Park.
The Deschutes River, miles 1 to 2.
The hard-packed river trail, miles 2 to 5.
The short paved stretch along Mt Washington drive.
Some of the bike path, ~ mile 8.5
The Three Sisters mountains in the distance.
Entering Shevlin park.
The West Fir trail through the park, ~ mile 10.
The cut-through trail, ~ mile 12.5.
A short section of Skyliners Road.
The trail parallel to the pump track. Stay right!
Just past Phil's parking lot, ~ mile 14.5.
The double-track dirt road through the forest, ~ mile 16.
The paved bike path heading back towards Bend.
A little urban passage.
Just before the bridge across the Deschutes, catch the trail to the right.
Wandering along where the mills and log booms where in Bend's logging days.
A little cobble action.
Gravel Girl's ride metrics.
"Sound Garden" by Lee Kelly, 2010.
"Centennial Planter" by Jerry Werner, 2004.
"Centennial Logger" by Jerry Werner, 2004.
"Two Bits" by Craig Congleton, circa 2013.
Yakaya by Troy Pillow, 2010.
"Flowing" by Al Goldsby.
"Otter" by Ann Bannard, 1980.
Tunnel mural, artist unknown.
"No Caulks Allowed" by Roger Foss, 2001.
Mural on the side of a building, artist unknown.
Second tunnel mural by Sandra J. Klein, 2016.
"Cascade Landscape" by Bruce West.
*
Route:
Loop | 25 mi
*
Gain:
1300 ft
*
Surface:
50% gravel, 5% single-track , 20% bike path, 25% paved
*
Technical Difficulty:
Easier
*
Navigation:
Attention Required
*
Locale:
Urban
*
Tire Suggestion:
40mm +
*
eBike Friendly:
No
Community Condition Report:
Update

A great entry-level ride that includes First Street rapids, the North River trail, Shevlin Park, Phil’s Trailhead, Good Dog Park, River Bend Park, Miller Park, and Drake Park. Wow!

The West Side Tour is just that …. A quick tour of Bend’s Westside.  It’s a lot more urban than we normally ride, but we’ve tossed in enough forest roads to make it an honest gravel route.

What we love about his route is that it is chocked full of Bend history, culture, and heritage and has some amazing river and mountain views. There are kiosks for the first schoolhouse in Bend, the history of the irrigation dams, some old logging and mill implements, and a number of pieces of art and sculpture.

Read More
Map & Details
Brown = gravel / dirt road
Blue = single track
Red = paved road
Purple = paved bike path

Route Downloads:

Ride with GPS Strava GPX file Cue Sheet

When we like to ride this…

This is a go to route for us Bend locals. It goes most of the year, except when we there is snow in town. We like this route outside of tourist season. If done during the summer, and early start is recommended (prior to 8 am).

And if the weather is touch and go, this is a perfect route. It is really easy to bail out and be back to town in a flash.

The Start

Drake park near the historic green “wagon wheel”.

Lat / Long: 44.059283, -121.319430

Food & Water

  • ~ mile 0, downtown Bend.
  • ~ mile 20.5, the cafe at the Loge Bend.
  • ~ mile 24, the Old Mill.
Highlights

Terrain & Riding

The route is fun, close to town, relatively flat, and a mix of paths, trails and road. Expect to encounter others on the trails, remember to give way. The terrain is a mix of urban and national forest, with a number of scenic river and mountain views.

Be ready to test your navigation skills. There are a number of tricky turns, ones that are easy to miss, thus zoom way in on your navigation device. Way in!

Points of Interest

Drake Park / ~ The Start

You start out in downtown Bend, in the historic Drake Park. You then pass by First Street Rapids and take the River Trail around Awbrey Butte with nice views of the mountains. When the River Trail ends, you will take paved roads up the backside of Awbrey Butte and head out to Shevlin Park.

Shevlin Park to Phill's Trails / ~ mile 8.9

Then you meander through Shevlin Park and then on a few paved roads to reach Skyliners Road and then over to Phil’s Trailhead Parking Area (which is the start of an extensive mountain biking area). Here you are on gravel roads that will loop you to Century Drive.

Back to Town / ~ mile 18.5

You then catch the bike path back towards town, which winds you into a gravel road, paralleling Century Drive. You will drop down into the Old Mill District and follow the Deschutes River, then slice through a historic neighborhood to take you back to Drake Park.

Notes & Options

Route Notes

  1. We recommend a red blinky light with rear looking radar detector (i.e. Garmin Varia)

Comments

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

Podcasts

Roundabouts in Bend (A short history)

In this podcast, we talk with Mike Hollern, the Chairman of the Board for Brooks Resources, about the early days of roundabouts in the city of Bend. Learn about the first roundabout, some of the challenges in building the first, and some of the unique benefits.

History of the Old Mill

Learn about the history of the Old Mill, how it influenced the name of our city and what it looked and felt like when the mills were operating. Joining us is Kelly Cannon Miller, the Executive Director of the Deschutes Historical Museum and Vanessa Ivey the Manager of the Deschutes Historical Museum.

Logging in the Old Mill: Local Cyclist Tells the Story

Bend, now a town of outdoor enthusiasts, microbreweries, and technology, used to be the center of timber production. The Old Mill District was the heart of this activity, with two active mills, one on the east bank of the river and one on the west bank. In the 1950s, over 50 rail cars per day would off-load timber into the river. On today’s show, long-term resident and bad-ass gravel cyclist Jeff Boulet shares snippets of history with us.

Ridden and Reviewed by:

Gravel Girl

Gravel Girl / Team Dirty Freehub

She loves a good day of gravel, like most people like a good book. She’s always amused by the outdoors and the wild adventures. Gravel Girl is a Co-Founder of Dirty Freehub.

Captain O

Captain O / Team Dirty Freehub

He should have “Never Stop Exploring” tattooed on his chest! He loves adventures on bikes and is a Co-Founder of Dirty Freehub.

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