Photo: Daniel Sharp

The Oregon Timber Trail Gravel Tour is an unofficial bikepacking event along the spine of Oregon from the California border to the Washington border. The majority of the route is gravel roads.

The Oregon Timber Trail Alliance recently created a gravel version of the Oregon Timber Trail route. It winds 552 miles through the high country of Oregon east of the Cascade Mountains. About 73 percent of the route is on non-paved roads, 8 percent follows easy trails and 19 percent is on paved roads with sparse traffic. It’s isolated, challenging, and absolutely stunning.

This adventurous route begins in Lakeview near the California border and ends in Hood River at the Washington border.

The route winds through some of Oregon’s wildest terrain, following high rocky ridges, skirting alpine lakes, crossing rivers, and hitting a few small communities along the way. The gravel version roughly parallels the original version; the big difference in alignment is that the gravel version doesn’t drop down to Oakridge but instead stays on the east side of the Cascade Mountains.

Follow this link for a detailed map of the route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49206963

Various trail maintenance groups (OTTA, OTA, COTA, STA, 44 Trails, and HRATS) and the Forest Service maintain the trails along the Oregon Timber Trail route. Without this group effort, the route wouldn’t be possible.

This is not an organized or sanctioned event. It’s simply a group out to ride their bikes on the same route at the same time.