The Oregon Timber Trail Alliance is dedicated to stewardship, education, community, and quality trail experiences throughout the Oregon Timber Trail corridor.

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Stewardship

Throughout our programs we foster respect and a collective stewardship ethos for Oregon’s diverse public lands and recreation resources. The OTTA has partnered with the US Forest Service and dozens of nonprofit organizations across the state to identify areas of need and coordinate maintenance for over 400 miles of singletrack trail.

• OTTA volunteers have logged over 10,000 hours since 2017, valued at $280,000

• Restored all 130 miles of the Fremont National Recreation Trail from a severely neglected state

• Spearheaded a multi-year effort to enhance and restore the Bunchgrass Ridge trail—an area with a high historic, indigenous, and ecological value

• Officially adopted the treasured Waldo Lake trail and the remote Lemish-Charlton loop

• In partnership with Trans-Cascadia and Alpine Running, helped unearth one of the most treasured trail riding areas in the state—the Old Cascade Crest—and continue enhancement efforts with a successful Title II grant in 2019

• Partnered with Back Country Horsemen and Go Beyond Racing to begin restoring the neglected Olallie Lake Scenic Area trails

• Received a $150,000 Recreational Trails Program grant to rehabilitate 16 miles of the Fremont National Recreation Trail after the devastating 2018 Watson Fire

The OTTA has established its legacy as a proactive and effective trail stewardship leader, and will continue to enhance its maintenance and volunteer programs by folding in elements of education, history and community engagement.

Education

Education is a key component to recreation—the OTTA has published an extensive route guide with lessons on area history, ecology, and communities. We’ve hosted basic skills classes and developed our Sawyer Certification and Backcountry Builder programs to create a skilled volunteer labor force. A holistic approach to user, volunteer, and community education is integral to our success in the OTTA’s other areas of focus.

• Hosted a series of sold-out Sawyer (chainsaw) Certification courses resulting in over 50 new certified volunteers who in turn cleared thousands of fallen trees off trails on our public lands

• Integrated a First Aid & CPR certification course with our Sawyer program to ensure volunteers had the appropriate skills to manage life-threatening injuries in the field

• Coordinated sold-out skills courses on bike camping 101, backcountry navigation, and camp cooking

• In partnership with the Willamette National Forest developed a Backcountry Builder course to train volunteers on trail building techniques for upcoming volunteer events

With continued outreach and education the OTTA will grow our community of responsible trail users and stewards for generations to come.

Community

The communities that the OTT travels through are key to its transformational experiences, and the community of riders and volunteers creates a sense of belonging and camaraderie. Cycle tourism brings $400 million into Oregon’s economy each year, and the Oregon Timber Trail is an integral part of our Gateway Communities’ tourism economy.

• Hosted a series of educational and inspiring film nights to grow our community of riders in the off season

• Partnered with Springwater Environmental School students to educate about the natural and cultural history along the OTT and published the resulting student research findings in the OTT route guide

• Teamed up with a landscape architecture course at the University of Oregon to develop a map and guide to the Willamette Tier

• Recipient of Central Oregon Visitor’s Association and Travel Southern Oregon grants to implement our Gateway Community program, leveraging the communities’ ability to provide services to trail users

• Helped the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) coordinate the first ever NICA bike camping trip on the Deschutes Tier

The OTTA strives to engage local communities across the state and invest in their health and future as public land stewards and recreationists. 

Experience

The OTTA is focused on preserving and creating backcountry singletrack trail experiences along the OTT corridor. The backcountry cyclist is not only looking for a well-designed and well-maintained trail, but an un-molested landscape to travel through while experiencing diverse ecosystems and rich cultural history. Access, trail connectivity, conservation, and public land preservation are paramount to the sought experience of the OTT rider.

• Published an extensive digital mapping resource and 90-page route guide containing all the information needed for experiencing the OTT

• Has seen riders from 28 different countries download the route guide

• 150,000 unique website visitors and 350,000 pageviews

• “2017 Best New Route - Odyssey” from Bikepacking.com

• Published in over 50 media outlets nationwide

• Created a guide to the “10 Best Day Rides of the OTT” in partnership with Travel Oregon

• Created Tier Loop program to provide more accessible bikepacking experiences

• Recipient of Forever Fund and Hood-Gorge Strategic Investment Fund to improve trail experiences in the Willamette and Hood Tiers

• Inspired thousands to explore Oregon’s backcountry

The OTTA has an ambitious 70 miles of new trail planned by 2027, and someday will be an uninterrupted ribbon of trail navigating all the wonderful ecosystems, communities, and layers of Oregon’s landscapes.