On June 28, 2025, Joe Miller set out from Lakeview, Oregon, for an 11-day backcountry bicycle tour on the Adventure Route of the Oregon Timber Trail (OTT). 553 miles and 42,400 feet of climbing later, he rode into Hood River, Oregon—battered and beaten, but ecstatic about his experience.

For those of you interested in taking on this epic trail, we’ll be sharing Joe’s story over the coming weeks, which includes his reflections along the way as well as several tips.

Joe Miller is a Board Member of the Oregon Timber Trail Alliance (OTTA), as well as an outdoor advocate and volunteer who has spent the past 30 years exploring the Pacific Northwest backcountry by foot, ski, raft, and bike.

Day 7 Friday, July 4: Sisters to Fish Lake Remount

Link to Ride With GPS for this section: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/304430102

Day 7 Ride Stats
Total Mileage	47.2
Elevation Gain/Loss	+3,484 / -3,620
Max Grade	15.6%
Total Duration	9:11
Moving Time	6:32
Stopped Time	2:40
Total Mileage	380.1
Total Elevation Gain/Loss	+24,164 / -25,432

Ride Report

My refresh at Hoyt and Indigo’s was much needed, but I had a schedule to keep as I was meeting my partner, Sarah, at Breitenbush Hot Springs, where she (surprise!) had scheduled a massage for me and which I was not going to miss.

Hoyt joined me for the day’s ride and after a lazy morning, we got rolling. We reconnected with the route about two blocks from the house and threaded our way through Sisters until directed onto the gloriously smooth, flat, and fast single track leaving town towards Black Butte. In my 30 years of mountain biking in Oregon, I had never been on this section, but I’ll be going back as soon as I can. It’s fast to Black Butte, but the route becomes less obvious along the way. For a few miles, we were riding through the forest without a trail or road in sight, following the line on the GPS.

The road leading into Camp Sherman. This is the most obvious it gets, and pretty soon the road fades away and its heavy riding through deep dirt.

The Camp Sherman Road was off to our left and we finally decided to bail off the untamed forest floor and back onto hard surfaces before reconnecting with the route at Camp Sherman.

After Camp Sherman, there is a short climb to Suttle Lake. Aware of the big climb we had coming up, we took a short break to eat and top off our water, then followed the trail around the lake before connecting back to the butter gravel road on the way up to Scout Lake and Dark Lake. At Dark Lake, the trail follows the east shore of the lake before a steep hike-a-bike singletrack up to Forest Road 2068. This section is, for the most part, unrideable, especially on a loaded gravel bike. Still, you can bypass it, but it’s a reasonably long detour and it’s faster to push up the trail because it’s a short push and saves a fair bit of riding.

After 8 miles of climbing out of Suttle Lake, you’ll hit a short downhill section before climbing granola/rice and beans, eventually connecting with the Old Santiam Wagon Road, where the sand starts.

Hoyt on the rough climb rice and beans climb up the Santiam Wagon Road. Mt Washington made the climb much more enjoyable.

We had heard from Sam (who had started with us in Lakeview) about a sandy hike-a-bike section at Big Lake, and unbeknownst to me at the time, this section is notorious in the Oregon bikepacking community since it is the only viable bicycle route from Sisters to the McKenzie River aside from a long ride on Highway 22. This road is favored by OHV riders in the summer and snowmobiles in the winter and it was in full, dusty and loud use when we passed through on the 4th of July.

Surprisingly, aside from a few washouts, both Hoyt and I were able to ride most of this sandy climb. It's not super steep but the challenging riding conditions distract from the amazing views of Mt. Washington.

This area burned not too long ago, and its starting to fill back in.

The sand was deep and very dry, but it had rained the night before, which may have compacted the surface. Additionally, we both had mountain bike tires that helped with flotation. On the plus side, you have fantastic views along this entire stretch.

After the energy-draining climb up to Big Lake, we met Indigo and some friends where the PCT crosses the road. Because it was the 4th of July, the area was busy with dirt bikes, four-wheelers, Razors, and the like, kicking up clouds of dust and drowning out our conversation. After a beer and some snacks, I parted ways and continued solo, but the sand ordeal was not quite over. After Big Lake, the route descends between Hoodoo Butte and Sand Mountain and was actually harder than the earlier climb up to Big Lake. The sand got deeper and I washed out frequently. I was still able to ride a lot of it but had to push quite a bit as well. After a few miles, the route becomes a pedestrian/equestrian/cycling only path, but the sand is still deep and tough to navigate before it turns to rice and beans gravel consisting of large chunks of volcanic rock intermixed with sand, eventually meeting up with Eno Road.

This was a fun descent, but the large volcanic cobbles made it slow and challenging. You'll hit this stuff as soon as you leave the sand.

Here's a closer look at the surface down the Old Santiam Wagon Road. Its another spot where you'll appreciate being on a suspended bike.

At least you'll have this section to yourself

The route crosses Eno Road and continues down the Old Santiam Wagon Road, which slowly turns into a singletrack trail through a forested area.

The Old Santiam Wagon Road fades into fun singletrack after dropping in from Eno Road

This trail is fast and the forest is beautiful, with the heavy canopy and a welcome respite from the sand and sun exposure on the Old Santiam Wagon Road near Big Lake. The trail continues to descend, with a few downed logs to navigate, but nothing too disruptive. It then emerges at the McKenzie River Trailhead, a place very familiar to me.

This is the start of one of the best trails in the Pacific Northwest

It was satisfying to complete the full route from Sisters to the McKenzie River, but I’m not sure I’ll do it again anytime soon.

Take a left onto Hwy 126 and soon the route crosses the highway to the Fish Lake Remount, a historic site where it’s worth spending some time.

Fish Lake Remount. I was really, really happy to be here.

I planned on camping here and there were two other bike packers with the same idea. This is a great spot to spend the night with a large, covered picnic area, water spigots, power, and a nice pit toilet. However, an area host informed us that camping is technically not allowed. After some gentle pleading, they graciously allowed us to camp for the night. So, if this is your planned overnight spot, you might want to ask the hosts if you can pitch a tent.

You're not supposed to camp here, but the kind hosts let us stay after some gentle pleading

I shared dinner with the other bike packers, one of whom turned out to be Chris Kratsch, the owner of Old Man Mountain, a company that makes bikepacking bags and racks. He was with his friend Travis, who was visiting from Los Angeles. We shared stories of our respective rides over dinner and I checked out the prototype gear they were testing.

I got very interested in full suspension bikepacking by this point in the journey. Chris at Old Man Mountain showing how its done.

Not sure if this design has hit the shelves yet, but it's got my attention.

I was glad to have some friendly folks to hang with for the evening to break up the loneliness of the ride.

I think Chris said they road about 70+ miles on singletrack that day. We were all pretty hungry

Basic Necessities

Water:

Top off water at one of the lakes you pass. Suttle Lake is a good option as there is potable water available, and a restaurant if you are looking for hot food. Dark Lake is the last option before heading up to the Old Santiam Wagon Road. Big Lake is the next resupply, then nothing until you get down to Hwy 126.

Camping options:

If you opt not to stay in Sisters, there is really nice camping along the Metolius River near Camp Sherman, as well as at Suttle Lake, Scout Lake or Dark Lake. You can’t go wrong with any of these spots. Although Big Lake looks close, the sandy section leading up to it puts it much farther out of reach.

At the end of the day, I camped at Fish Lake Remount, but technically you are not allowed to camp there. If you get kicked out there are a few campgrounds nearby, as well as some disbursed camping spots along Hwy 126.

Resupply options:

Camp Sherman has a good grocery and sandwich shop and there is a Mexican restaurant just after you cross the river. Suttle Lake Resort has a restaurant but no resupply for trail food.

Route:

The singletrack between Sisters and Suttle Lake is phenomenal, highly recommended, kudos to the Sisters Trail Alliance. After Suttle Lake, it's a challenging climb from the lower lakes, pushing up a short, unrideable singletrack before hitting butter gravel that turns into a rough granola/rice and beans climb before hitting sand. The sand section is hard, about 15-20 miles long, and exposed to the sun with little shade. Take shade breaks where you can, since this section will take you most of the day. You’ll likely be pushing your bike at times, if not for the whole section, which is another reason to use a mountain bike on this ride. I think anything smaller than a 2.2 tire and you’ll be pushing.

The Old Santiam Wagon Road has a deep and interesting history. As hard as the ride is, it’s not very often you get to ride along such a historical artifact.

Day 8: Fish Lake Remount to Breitenbush Hot Springs

Link to Ride With GPS for this section: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/51636110

Day 8 Ride Stats
Total Mileage	53.4
Elevation Gain/Loss	+4,977 / -5,891
Max Grade	12.3%
Total Duration	5:30
Moving Time	4:42
Stopped Time	0:48
Total Mileage	433.5
Total Elevation Gain/Loss	+29,141 / -31,323

Ride Report

I woke up early, had a quick breakfast, and packed up.

Morning at Fish Lake. This is the view of the lake which is full in the spring, but drains pretty quickly through the volcanic bedrock and resurface as the McKenzie River.

The Fish Lake Remount has a really interesting story, worth taking the time to read.

My stop for today is at Breitenbush Hot Springs and I wanted to arrive as early as possible to make the most of it. Leaving Fish Lake, I passed a pioneer family’s gravesite: they had gotten caught in a snowstorm and died in that very spot, a stark reminder of the privilege of modern living. There are lots of other historic facts around this area. Take some time to check out the place.

Today’s ride was 50+ miles with lots of climbing, but generally clean and rideable gravel. It was a welcome break from the challenging riding of the route up to this point. There is almost 5,000 feet of climbing, but the day passes quickly and easily, with no real obstacles or challenging sections.

Three Sisters and Mt. Washington. There have been quite a few fires and lots of logging all along the ride.

I even got treated to a donut offered up by a group of mountain bikers who passed me on their drive up to their trailhead. It was a great morning of riding.

Eight miles from Detroit Lake, the gravel heads downhill to Hwy 22, where you must contend with a 2.5-mile section on the highway. I hit this area at midday on July 5th and it was terrifying and chaotic—back-to-back cars going 60 mph with no shoulder. If you hit this section at night, you’ll want to use a light. It’s a false flat, so speed doesn’t help here, but thankfully the route turns off into town for an easier ride (it’s a left-hand turn, so you need to cross Hwy 22 traffic).

The route crosses back over Hwy 22 at the market, which is a decent resupply spot but somewhat limited on packable food options. Once across the highway, the route slowly climbs for about another 10 miles before the turnoff to Breitenbush. This road is paved without much of a shoulder, but the traffic is light and the vehicles that passed me did so respectfully and with a friendly wave.

I turned off the pavement to take the road up to Breitenbush, where I met my partner Sarah and began the long and slow recovery from the day. Hanging with Sarah was wonderful. We took in the hot springs, had a lazy day, and enjoyed a meal at the lodge. I made the 4:30 massage that Sarah scheduled for me, which put some energy back into my legs and left me lightheaded and transformed. This would have been another good spot for a full day rest, so if your schedule allows it, I highly recommend this as a layover.

It was, all in all, a wonderful day of riding, which turned out to be the last easy day until Hood River. The next three days almost broke me.

Basic Necessities

Water:

Water was not hard to find in this section.

Camping options:

Camping is popular around Detroit Lake, and the campgrounds are likely full from Thursday to Sunday. There are a few campgrounds up Breitenbush Road, and you can find dispersed camping areas along the climb up and to Breitenbush Lake in various spots.

I stayed at Breitenbush Hot Springs, which is a great option. Highly recommended. Get the 90 minute massage, it's transformative.

Resupply options:

The Detroit Store has trail food but of the highly processed variety. Not many options but enough options to get you by.

Route:

Fantastic. Good roads, mixed paved and butter gravel, one washed out section that requires crossing a creek but not a big deal. Even with 5,000 feet of climbing it felt like an easy day.