paddlernate
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Portland, OR
I was able to wheel at Cline Buttes for three days last week and I really can't say enough good things about this place. This was a unique trip for me in many ways. It was the first off roading I've done in ten years, since I had my Samurai. It was the first time my XJ has been offroad since finishing the build. I got married on 9/20, and we went to Bend for a fun, quick honeymoon.
Cline Buttes rec area is divided amongst several uses; mtn biking/hiking, horse riding, and off roading. It's nice that these users don't really have to cross paths, but it didn't really matter because we were pretty much the only users all weekend. We went biking in the "Maston" area and saw no one, and wheeled for a total of about 10 hours in the off roading area, 4 of those on Saturday afternoon, and only ever saw a single dirtbiker. It was kinda nice to be there without a bunch of trail traffic, but also unnerving to try these obstacles alone. I was also a little saddened by how underutilized this place is. Its only 25 minutes from downtown Bend, and the trailheads/staging areas literally cost millions of dollars, yet there was no one there on some great weather days.
The environment there is eerily beautiful, with twisted cypress and juniper trees against a rocky desert backdrop.
There is something there to wheel for everyone, from stock to insane. Over the course of the few days, I ran every trail there with the exception of #17, a black diamond that had a severe off-camber section that looked like it'd roll me.
From the Barr North staging area, you head out on green trails that would be a wet dream for the go fast guys. The sand is buff, and the turns are banked, many of them blind around the Junipers. Knowing no one else was out there, I was rallying the Jeep through there like it was a dirtbike, getting it sideways and throwing the sand. Permagrin.
You can ride the greens and blues for hours if you want, and if you go, I'd highly recommend getting out to Deep Canyon on trail #23.
You'll inevitably pass by the play area, which is where I spent my first evening, in a light drizzle. There's a lot of fun obstacles in the play area, many of which were well over my head. Even a little wet, the traction was obsurd. Basically, the play area encompasses one of the small, rocky buttes which is about 40 or 50 feet tall. You drive along the bottom of the rocky ridgeline until you see something you like, and then turn uphill and go for it. If you make it up, you take a short trail back down around the side, and you're back at the base of the ridge, ready for another.
Its really pretty cool, and satiates your urge to just drive over everything out there. The importance of staying on the marked trails out here can't be understated, since everything is just barely clinging to life as it is. The play area actually hasn't seen a lot of traffic at the top yet, and its kinda sad to drive right over a little tree that's taken 30 years to get to 2 feet tall. Given the size and quality of the play area, there's just no good reason to drive off the trail elsewhere.
Cline Buttes rec area is divided amongst several uses; mtn biking/hiking, horse riding, and off roading. It's nice that these users don't really have to cross paths, but it didn't really matter because we were pretty much the only users all weekend. We went biking in the "Maston" area and saw no one, and wheeled for a total of about 10 hours in the off roading area, 4 of those on Saturday afternoon, and only ever saw a single dirtbiker. It was kinda nice to be there without a bunch of trail traffic, but also unnerving to try these obstacles alone. I was also a little saddened by how underutilized this place is. Its only 25 minutes from downtown Bend, and the trailheads/staging areas literally cost millions of dollars, yet there was no one there on some great weather days.
The environment there is eerily beautiful, with twisted cypress and juniper trees against a rocky desert backdrop.
There is something there to wheel for everyone, from stock to insane. Over the course of the few days, I ran every trail there with the exception of #17, a black diamond that had a severe off-camber section that looked like it'd roll me.
From the Barr North staging area, you head out on green trails that would be a wet dream for the go fast guys. The sand is buff, and the turns are banked, many of them blind around the Junipers. Knowing no one else was out there, I was rallying the Jeep through there like it was a dirtbike, getting it sideways and throwing the sand. Permagrin.
You can ride the greens and blues for hours if you want, and if you go, I'd highly recommend getting out to Deep Canyon on trail #23.
You'll inevitably pass by the play area, which is where I spent my first evening, in a light drizzle. There's a lot of fun obstacles in the play area, many of which were well over my head. Even a little wet, the traction was obsurd. Basically, the play area encompasses one of the small, rocky buttes which is about 40 or 50 feet tall. You drive along the bottom of the rocky ridgeline until you see something you like, and then turn uphill and go for it. If you make it up, you take a short trail back down around the side, and you're back at the base of the ridge, ready for another.
Its really pretty cool, and satiates your urge to just drive over everything out there. The importance of staying on the marked trails out here can't be understated, since everything is just barely clinging to life as it is. The play area actually hasn't seen a lot of traffic at the top yet, and its kinda sad to drive right over a little tree that's taken 30 years to get to 2 feet tall. Given the size and quality of the play area, there's just no good reason to drive off the trail elsewhere.
