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Traveling the Santiam Canyon is a bit like traveling back in time. As you head east from the Willamette Valley, you ascend into the Cascade Range foothills—where the Santiam Canyon begins to envelop the Santiam River and its tributaries in basalt-strewn, old-growth forests of Douglas fir and mountain hemlock. These heavily forested ridgelines and valleys are home to the Old Cascades—a remote region that’s home to some of the most cherished trails along the whole Oregon Timber Trail.
Are you a passionate backcountry mountain biker or trail advocate that wants to work with us to promote and enhance the experience of riding the Oregon Timber Trail? Here’s your chance to make a difference. The Oregon Timber Trail Alliance is now seeking new volunteer board members!
The organization needs a diversity of voices, skills, and lived experiences on our board to help us achieve our mission. If you would like to be involved in the leadership of this growing organization, we invite you to apply below, especially if your life experiences, skills, and interests align with our mission.
The Oregon Timber Trail Alliance (OTTA) was formed in 2016 by mountain biking enthusiasts from across the state and was classified as a 501(c)(3) non-profit in 2019. The organization is dedicated to stewardship, education, community, and quality trail experiences throughout the Oregon Timber Trail corridor.
It’s the wind whistling through our ears as we descend. It’s the gear shifters clicking as the momentum changes. It’s that last pedal push to finish the climb. It’s all the reasons we love to ride outside. Sometimes the solitude is just right. Often enough though, there’s comfort in the company of others. We’re lucky we get to share these amazing trails with each other. It’s a collective effort to take care of them, as well. After several summers of isolation, we now have a chance to ride together and work together again. The Oregon Timber Trail exists because of the outstanding efforts of our volunteers who offer their time and energy. However, tools, travel, and preparation do come at a cost. This spring, we are hoping to raise $20,000 in order to revitalize areas of the Timber Trail impacted by wildfires, build new connections, and sustain the quality of all four tiers. We thank you in advance for your support.
In an effort to include those often overlooked or excluded by the cycling and outdoor recreation communities, we are offering five $1,000 scholarships to support and encourage Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color as well as gender expansive, trans, non-binary, women, and queer riders to make their adventure on the Oregon Timber Trail a reality.
Today we're excited to introduce Oregon Timber Trail's new executive director, Matt Ruddy. Take a minute to get to know him a bit better. Matt has a very interesting background. He’s an avid mountain biker, music lover, and lover of outdoor places. Matt says he can’t wait “to help the OTTA reach its goals in increased visibility, increased funding and support for paid positions that recognize the enormous amount of hard work that has been dedicated to building the organization, and to keep striving towards creating trail experiences where everyone feels that they belong.”
With his thirst for adventure and breathtaking photos, he crafted a story, a promise that with a dream and a bit of teamwork, we could all take the path less traveled, from one rural town to the next, The OTT was born. Gabe has been one of the key visionaries, along with Harry Daalgard and Chris Bernhart, to develop the specific alignment of the Timber Trail.
The genius of the trail is that it linked existing segments of singletrack. The trio interfaced with over one hundred stakeholders from the US Forest Service, dozens of trail groups, the conservation community, tourism representatives, elected officials, and local trail experts to see if the concept would fly. And fly it did.
Since 2018, Gabe has served as Executive Director of the OTTA. He has been the voice of the Timber Trail, the man behind the posts, the graphic design, the maps, and this past year he headed up all the trail work parties. If you joined us for a work party, surely you worked side by side with Gabe at the Watson Fire Rehabilitation. Gabe could be found staking trail alignment for crews to dig in, ready with a Silky to cut a snag.
Gabe will step down as executive director and will continue his planning work with Travel Oregon while developing the continuation of the Oregon Timber Trail with the Orogenesis Collective and doing select creative work with the OTTA in the future. Gabe will always be a spiritual founder of the Timber Trail and he'll always be a part of the project. Thank you for everything, Gabe. We are truly grateful for your hard work behind the camera, keyboard, and on trail.
Between wildfires and climate change, it has not been an easy year for the trail. The Timber Trail needs extensive work every year and relies heavily on your donations and volunteer trail work. We have a full calendar of trail work events on all four tiers coming up next year. Please sign up and join us! Out on the trail, whether riding or digging, is where the OTT experience really comes alive.
Our board is eleven members strong - all passionate mountain bikers and lovers of the outdoors who carry the torch for the OTT and its mission. With the overwhelming support of our community, partners, sponsors, and volunteers, the Oregon Timber Trail Alliance is now stronger than ever. As we enter our next chapter, our mission remains the same; The Oregon Timber Trail Alliance is dedicated to stewardship, education, community, and quality trail experiences throughout the Oregon Timber Trail corridor.
The Oregon Timber Trail links Oregon's communities and backcountry landscapes through profound mountain biking experiences. We know that challenging and inspiring outdoor recreation is a great vector for personal growth and wellbeing, as well as an enormous driver for the struggling economies of Oregon’s rural communities. We strive to make these experiences accessible to everyone and are proud to welcome riders from all over the world and all walks of life.
Tie the mighty Columbia River to Mt. Hood through Wasco County’s hill country and the verdant Hood River Valley along ribbons of backcountry singletrack. The mountain, the forest, the prairie, and the river all converge here, creating a varied splendor of geology, flora, fauna, and many layers of human history.
In an effort to include those often overlooked or excluded by the cycling and outdoor recreation communities, we are offering five $1,000 scholarships to support and encourage Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color as well as gender expansive, trans, non-binary, women, and queer riders to make their adventure on the Oregon Timber Trail a reality.
700 miles in 5 days? Sounds crazy to us but some folks think it’s possible. Since we launched the Oregon Timber Trail (OTT) in 2016 one of the most common questions is “How long does it take?” This year our curiosity has gotten the best of us—we’ve partnered with Laird Superfood and Rapha to track Fastest Known Times (FKTs) on the whole OTT route and each of the four tiers.
Pedal your way through massive old growth, past bubbling blue pools, around alpine lakes, and along a indigenous explorer’s route on the Oregon Timber Trail. The Anaxshat Passage embodies the trails and backcountry landscapes of the Hood Tier, all easily accessible over a long weekend from the Portland metro area and geared towards a less-experienced mountain biker.
I’m exhausted. After a week of grieving for black lives needlessly being extinguished I have a headache, clenched jaw, and no words left. After a week. Yet black people in this country have endured this exhaustion and much, much worse for four hundred years. So we're asking you: What can we do to make sure black lives matter?
Make a tax deductible donation now to support our mission of stewardship, education, community, and quality trail experiences throughout the Oregon Timber Trail corridor.
The Oregon Timber Trail Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.
Our EIN number is 82-5018544
