Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

North Umpqua Trail, Oregon

2K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  H0WL 
#1 · (Edited)
The North Umpqua Trail is about 80 miles long paralleling the North Umpqua River, near Roseburg, Oregon. There are 11 segments, 10 open to biking, ranging from 3.6 - 15.7 miles in length. Joe@MBD and I started at the western end and rode Lemolo, Dread and Terror, Hot Springs, Deer Leap and Jessie Wright for a total of about 38 miles. This is by far the best Oregon trail I've ever ridden. Except for quite a few narrow spots with pretty good drop-offs to the river below, it is not especially technical. And even though it is primarily downhill, there are plenty of difficult steep climbs.

The Lemolo section is a great, fast warm-up for the next section, Dread and Terror, which gives a good sampling of deep, dark, Oregon rain forest. Although fairly short, Hot Springs starts with some pretty tough climbs and ends with some great big ups and downs. Deer Leap involves some major climbing back up to 3,000 ft., perhaps a thousand feet above the river. The temperature was in the high 80's by then and it was pretty tough. Jessie Wright was a nice cool down. We only saw a handful of other riders and a few hikers the entire ride. We stopped quite a bit for photos, more on my photo site.














Joe slipped on this.








Wall of mosses.


Filtering some water.

















































 
See less See more
36
#4 ·
Great pictures. Thanks for the report and the Garmin track (I love maps). As I stated in the other thread, this is definitely on my bucket list.

Looks pretty muddy in spots, was that all rideable or did it get too gloppy in places (I realize it's a rain forest and the trail is sustainable... just wondering how it rode).
 
#5 ·
Yes, that is great passion. I rode that trail a number of years back. Talk about a hidden gem. We rented a house right there on the river and rode almost all of it. Also did some white water rafting. All in all, a great, fun, memorable trip. Can't wait to head back there again.
 
#8 ·
Just Adding a Little to Wherewolf's Post

Hello,

I am Joe, the rider that appears in most of Wherewolf's photos. He had told me before we went that the North Umpqua Trail was spectacular ... but I was still blown away by the sheer beauty of mother nature.

In no way am I in the same league as Wherewolf when it comes to photography. I am adding a few photos of him and a couple of videos that I think can add a little to his post.

Wherewolf in ActionWherewolf in Action

DSC03704
</a>Flume ... Had Water in It!

DSC03691
</a>First Falls

DSC03697
</a>Lemolo Falls ... 100 feet Tall

DSC03700
</a>Wherewolf ... Tree Stuck Like an Arrow

<div class="ItemCenter"
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top