Ashland

[Abies]

Going to be passing through Ashland this weekend and have a day and a half or so to ride. Any experts on routes there? I understand Time Warp is one of the premier trails and it appears to be open. Is it crazy to ride up the road without a shuttle? I know there’s a good shuttle service but I’m training for big bike packing trips this summer and would prefer to pedal unless it’s a bad idea.

Other recs, riding and otherwise, are welcome!


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[Tailwind]

I’ve only ridden out there a few times and it’s been years so I can’t comment on specific trails but I’ve pedaled up to Mount Ashland from town and liked it. A big climb but solid.

My current rule of thumb : it doesn’t count if you don’t pedal it. If you get heli dropped on Rainer or hike up half dome then rappel down it’s just not the same as “doing it”.

Kinda fun actually as it’s forced me to figure out big “shuttle rides” by just pedaling which honestly usually takes less time than driving for three hours to setup a shuttle.

[SchralphMacchio]

Ride Time Warp. It’s a solid trail and devolves into beatup chunder shortly after opening, as I just don’t think the soil on that side of the mountain holds up super well. At the bottom of Time Warp you pedal back to the Four Corners trailhead and have your choice of Catwalk (very high speed sidehill trail with a lot of tight berms) or Marty’s (I prefer Marty’s but I bypass all the gaps), then you go up Caterpillar to Lizard, and again have a choice of Jabberwocky (high speed sidehill flow trail with huge airplane turn wallride berms that cross a creek drainage) or Rabbit in the Hole (tight mini dual slalom course) to BTI (older flow trail); I prefer Jabberwocky early season and BTI later season as BTI tends to hold up better.

The trails that drop down from the middle of the ski area (Bull Gap Road) are also worthwhile and in that case you might as well pay Ashland Mountain Adventures for a commercial shuttle so you can hit them in the afternoon following a morning Time Warp to town run. Bull Gap singletrack is more flowy XC (very pedally) so not “rad” like Time Warp but it has a special place in my heart, and Upper/Missing/Lower Links are spectacular flow trails with jumps that use the vertical super duper well.

Pedaling from town up the watershed loop road is totally fine btw if you are training, it’s a closed road so it’s a very easy way to pedal up 5000 vert to get your training on to the Time Warp TH.

Those are the main trails that are on the map. No Strava please if you find or have someone show you anything off the map, which if they existed could hypothetically offer you steeper looser trails with bigger jumps.

Downtown Ashland is a gem of our meth burdened state; head to Ruby’s Gil’s for lunch and try to estimate the street value of unlocked bikes at any point in time, it’s great fun. I love going there because I know my bike will always be the absolute jankiest shittiest one in the corral. I also love me some Caldera - it’s far from the best beer in Oregon (pFriem wins hands down) but the food and vibe are awesome. Mix Bakeshop for the best sandos in town, at least for bougie hipsters with $100k+!vans anyway.

Hit up Oakridge on the way to/from Ashland if you can. I can share lots of beta on that, we are firing on all cylinders now, Moon Point just got cleared so all the big shuttle drops are now running top to bottom in A+ shape.

Any other questions?

[donutlynx]

I live in Ashlandia, and no - it isn't crazy to ride up to the top of the trails, Time Warp, etc. That's the only way I'll do it. There are multiple ways to get to the top, and all are worthwhile. I prefer Tolman Creek - it should be mostly, if not completely, clear of snow. Plenty of places to eat/drink/socialize. Feel free to PM if you have specific questions. Enjoy.

[Abies]

Incredible info, thanks everyone. Girlfriend and I are getting down there late morning Sunday and will give pedaling up from town a try. Looks fairly easy to just turn around if I run out of time.

I’m from Oregon originally and have ridden Oakridge several times but unfortunately no time for it on this trip. Might hit it in the fall.


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[Andeh]

The climb up the road isn't bad, just long. Steady moderate grade.

After you finish Time Warp, you can traverse over on the fire road to either the west side or east side. The west side traverse (to No Candies) goes on seemingly forever - we tried that last year and do not recommend. East side traverse to 4 Corners isn't bad. If you're feeling really strong, rather than dropping in there, you can pedal back up and hit upper Links. That's classic flowy high alpine singletrack.

There are lots of obvious trails not on Trailforks, even some sanctioned ones.

[Verde]

Jackson Wellsprings is a nice place for a soak/steam/sauna and the best part is the cool temperature mineral pool. Just north of town.


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[Abies]

Got in late and couldn’t get started until like 2:30 but still got a ride in to the top via Tolman Creek Rd like someone suggested. Awesome ride. Definitely burly with the length of the climb and elevation for this lowlander, but pretty moderate grades the whole way and the views were great. I can see how some of those trails would get blown out and loose, but it was prime today. Definitely coming back soon to explore more trails.


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[SchralphMacchio]

Ashland has some unique soil. It’s kind of a DG/loam mix, but the DG part of it has like a high silica content in some areas that makes coarse crystals in the soil and helps build an interlocking matrix. So as the soil dries out, the main trails on the Super D course (Bull Gap singletrack down) never get all that soft or all too loose. Some trails are a little more erosion prone though and they can get brake bumped and soft enough where 120 - 130 mm bikes get tossed around - it always seems worst on lower Time Warp and Catwalk, also very bad on the unsanctioned trails where you are floating on soft topsoil and if you don’t have good tires you aren’t able to dig in and get purchase. But for how much shuttle traffic that place sees, trails like Upper and Lower Lynx, Caterpillar, Lizard and BTI hold up impressively well through the nasty heart of September/October fire season.

June melt and October rain season tend to be very very hero. Shuttle season ends in October but November riding can also be extremely good.

[frorider]

It’s one of the only zones in PNW I haven’t ridden despite going through there semi regularly. Always seem to time it with a 95 F heat wave so we go to plan B every time.

[SchralphMacchio]

It’s not quite PNW … Ashland has more sunny days a year than the Bay Area does! Rogue Valley climate is almost closer to Sonoma Valley than Willamette Valley. I’ve always considered the southern boundary of the PNW to be the North Umpqua River watershed.

But Ashland worthy riding, put it on your list to combine with with a volcano ski trip, as that’s when trail conditions are best. North Umpqua Trail is also worth a trip but it takes a while to clear, September is kind of prime time for the upper stretches of that trail. Dread and Terror might be the best trail I’ve ever ridden in my life … remote, wild river, exposed trail, flowy in spots, rubbly in spots, waterfalls, fern canyon, glowing maples, giant cedars and firs, a few sections of you fall you die (easy riding on those but literally don’t fall off the trail or else), primo loam … it’s an adventure ride.

[frorider]

I use PNW as shorthand, I don’t sweat the border discussions. It becomes the Upstate NY thread.

I first rode N Umpqua RT 18 yrs ago. My post was just reflecting on how amusing it is, given my PNW roots & having ridden so many zones, that I haven’t ridden Ashland.