Mountain Biking

Phil’s Trailhead

Phil’s Trail is a 12.4 mile out and back trail located near Bend, Oregon. The trail is rated as moderate and primarily used for hiking, trail running, and mountain biking. Dogs are also able to use this trail.

This is one of the most popular mountain biking trailheads in the Pacific Northwest. Numerous trails of varying difficulty originate at this trailhead, including Phil’s Trail. This area has quick access to Bend with a small parking area and a toilet.

Wanoga Trail Complex

During summer months Wanoga turns into a perfect place to park and access mountain bike trails. You get direct access to Funner, Tiddlywinks, Storm King, and Larsen’s. Miles of fast, flowy, and feature rich MTB trails right from the parking lot.

Wanoga Sno-Park is located about 15 miles west of Bend on Cascade Lakes Highway. You’ll find a large parking lot with a warming shelter that’s wired for electricity and a restroom (vault toilet), however, there is no water. A Sno-Park permit is required November 1st through April 30.

Mrazek Trail

The Mrazek Trail is maintained by Phil Meglasson (the Phil of Phil’s trail) and is not maintained by COTA. You can expect lots of twists and turns, tight corners and Phil’s unique flavor of trail design along the way.

The trail begins at the West end of Shevlin Park and heads up the ridge in a fairly moderate grade all the way to the intersection with Metolious Windigo trail. You can also access the top of Farewell near the top of Mrazek. There is a section of Mrazek near the bottom which was burned in the Two-Bulls fire in 2014 — riding through the burn area is interesting as the fire charred the landscape beyond recognition and opened up some decent views.

Maston Trail

Maston is a trail system North of Bend (technically part of the Redmond trail network) which provides a good mountain biking and trail running option in the winter months. Typically the soils here are too dry and sandy in the summer, but they hold up nicely in winter. Riding is fairly flat and there are a few moderately technical sections scattered throughout the system. The best part of the area is the Rockbar Trail which takes you through some carefully stacked lava rocks and along the edge of the canyon overlooking the Deschutes River. The rest of the trails have lots of interesting Juniper trees.

Arnold Ice Cave Trail (Horse Butte)

Arnold Ice Cave Trail runs from Horse Butte trailhead all the way out to Swamp Wells Horse Camp.

Bunch grass, sagebrush and hidden rocks make for a narrow tread — with the trail getting more remote as you get farther from Horse Butte. The trail starts in the tree cover, and ends in tree cover — but the vast majority of the trail has open views all around. There are some rocky bits along the way with the most challenging portion being a short switchback climb up a ridge just before mile 3.

The first intersection on this trail is with Boyd Cave Trail around mile 4. Many people ride a 10 mile loop connecting Arnold Ice Cave, Boyd Cave, Coyote Loop Trail, and Swamp Wells.