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McKenzie River Trail (MRT)

RECOMMENDED ROUTE
Difficult Difficult
 4.6 (182)
  1. Areas
  2. OR
  3. …Central Oregon
  4. Willamette National Forest
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“Rivers, bridges, lush terrain, waterfalls, blue pools, and technical riding. ”

Katy Ryan
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Map Key

25.4

Miles

41.0

KM

100%

Singletrack

3,147' 959 m

High

1,430' 436 m

Low

488' 149 m

Up

2,197' 670 m

Down

2%

Avg Grade (1°)

16%

Max Grade (9°)

Dogs Off-leash

E-Bikes Not Allowed

Overview

The MRT is 20+ miles of flowing singletrack, ideally located among old growth forest, waterfalls,mosses, ferns and brilliant blue pools of water. It is a long, mostly downhill and a a super fun spin. Of course, it wouldn't be the perfect trail without the sharp volcanic rock technical sections. The upper MRT has most of the technical, while from Trail Bridge Campground it is fairly smooth.

Need to Know

The McKenzie River is one of the coldest in the US. Don't jump in from any cliff, it is deadly. The volcanic rock is pretty slick when wet. Blue Pool is extremely dangerous with many life-threatening injuries every year.

Shuttles for bikers and hikers are available for the McKenzie River Trail and O'Leary Trail, from McKenzie River Mountain Resort 541-822-6272 and Horse Creek Lodge & Outfitters 541-822-3243.

Description

The MRT is a beautiful trail with a mix of beginner, intermediate, and advanced sections. It is often ridden downhill as a shuttle, but if you are fit you can ride part or all of it uphill.

Above the "blue pool" (Tamolithch Falls) is mostly intermediate with a few technical bits. There are three main areas of technical in the upper third section of the MRT: east side of Clear Lake, a short section below Sahalie Falls, and mostly after Tamolitch Falls where it becomes very rugged and rocky - great fun if you like technical challenges, wise to walk if not.

From the start, you'll ride a few miles of moderate singeltrack. At Clear Lake you can continue the easy-moderate trail on the westside, or opt for the highly technical section on the east side (a sunny, sweltering hot, sharp lava rock, tube eating option if you like that kind of adventure...credit to Mark for that). After the lake, it's back to nice flow.

A bit of technical sections below Sahalie Falls, quite a bit more below Tamolitch Falls. If you don't care to ride the volcanic rock, you need to walk it, there are no ride-arounds.

After you encounter Trail Bridge Campground, the riding is fairly smooth again, with a very smooth finish, but watch out for a very steep embankment and narrow trail shortly after you cross the log bridge over the Smith River feeding into the reservoir. If you've got wide handlebars it is easy to bump roots/rocks sticking out up hill and careen down the cliff.

Contacts

Land Manager: USFS - Willamette National Forest Office

Shared By:

Katy Ryan with improvements by Andy Matthews and 4 others
Full Details

Trail Ratings

  4.6 from 182 votes

#1

in Willamette National Forest

#19

Overall
  4.6 from 182 votes
5 Star
75%
4 Star
15%
3 Star
5%
2 Star
3%
1 Star
1%
Recommended Route Rankings

#1

in Willamette National Fo…

#2

in Oregon

#19

Overall
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126,564 Since Jun 9, 2013
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Photos

The smooth and fast lower MRT- McKenzie River Trail
Oct 2, 2014 near McKenzi…, OR
Fun on the McKenzie River Trail
Oct 17, 2013 near McKenzi…, OR
The lower section going up
Apr 4, 2013 near McKenzi…, OR
Rocky volcanic fun! This section requires twenty minutes of focus to get clean.
Jul 2, 2017 near McKenzi…, OR
Trail bridge over Lost Creek
May 3, 2014 near McKenzi…, OR
Clear Lake colors
Mar 29, 2013 near McKenzi…, OR

43 Comments

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Check-Ins

Jul 23, 2023
Don Lastnm
Jul 10, 2023
Private User
Nov 28, 2022
Mark Loftin
Aug 11, 2022
Chris LaVoie
Checked out the MRT and the new improvements to the Deer Creek crossing as it was just restored and reopened after the fire last Fall. 26.5mi
Aug 3, 2022
Howard Silverman
Well Done Trail!!!! Really an epic route. Too to bottom- 1st 3miles intermediate, mile 3-12 difficult, last 12+ fun and floppy with some climbing. — 9h 45m
Jul 20, 2022
Mark Loftin
Amazing scenery and epic trail.
Sep 5, 2021
Aqueel Suleman
lots of sharp rocks and roots. nice views. forest fires about 20 miles away during this ride 24mi
Jun 9, 2021
Ang Schmidt
You aren't a mountain biker until you ride this trail! We used McKenzie River resort for shuttling to the top. Untouched by fire in 2020, go ride!! 25.4mi — 6h 00m

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