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C.O.D. Trail
Trail Snapshot:
Trail Description
E-bikes NOT allowed on C.O.D.
C.O.D. is one of the more technical mountain biking trails within the Phil’s area and is a favorite for many rock lovers. The start of C.O.D. is somewhat vague. You can ride the trail as far East as SW Swarens Ave. – which takes you along the bottom of a rocky ridge along Cascade Lake Highway. Very few people ride on this section as it heads out from a neighborhood. The trail crosses Skyline Ranch Road near the Tetherow golf course sign where lots of people enter the trail (on the right side of the sign).
You can also access the trail at the top of the short hill up Skyline Ranch Road, where you can drop down on the more technical trail at the bottom of the rock ridge, or travel the less technical trail along the top. In this same vicinity you can access C.O.D. across from Loge Bend and a quarter mile further you can also access C.O.D. across from Rim Rock Park just off the Rim Rock paved path.
Lower C.O.D. near Tetherow is very rocky and technical. Momentum is the name of the game. Once you head up the steep switchback and up onto the ridge (at the Marvin’s Garden junction), the trail mellows out for a mile or so. After that, there’s a fairly good chunk of technical trail once you start heading back down the ridge. Just as things get spicy – stay to the right after crossing a fire road and going around a large boulder if you want to ride up onto the technical option. If you stay left down the fall line you will miss it. Both options come together in about 100 yards. COD stays fairly technical for 3/4 of a mile and then pops back up on top of the ridge again.
Soon after this you will encounter a 3 way intersection. ELV comes in from the right, and COD turns left. The trail turns into Ticket to Ride if you continue straight. This section of COD we call COD RockStacker. It was the first section of the COD re-route that was build several years back. The Rockstacker section runs for about half a mile and spits you out on a fire road. Cross the road and within about 30 yards COD will cross Ticket to Ride and will head up the hill for the newer re-route finished the Summer of 2019.
The new Re-route takes you all the way to the Welcome Center. There is a LOT of rock and technical trail to ride on the new re-route.
Shortly after the Welcome Center intersection is the Old Dirty Pirate (ODP) section of trail that has been converted from a log riding/free riding area to part of the new 2-way C.O.D. It’s still technical in a few spots but due to the USFS requiring wood features to be engineered, most obstacles have been removed.
C.O.D. goes from techy in sections to easy from the end of ODP to the intersection with Stormking. There are a couple short options here and there — but nothing as confusing as Lower C.O.D.
C.O.D. is named after bend resident Cody Davis.
This trail is maintained by Central Oregon Trail Alliance.
Upper COD is closed from Storm King to Ticket to Ride Monday through Friday.
There is a fresh tree in the Middle section fell along route. From Welcome Center it is at the top of the “S” in the trail not too far out. There is also a small tree fell across path on north side of dirt road midway to Ticket To Ride cross. Hiking yesterday.
Tree down just up from the welcome center just ast the armored drop. About 10-12”
I cleared that tree today. Thanks for letting us know.
Tree on upper COD cleared. Thanks Don +Swamper
Sadly someone has gone in on COD reroute and worked from welcome center to rockstacker adding dirt on top of rock features. We spent 6 hours scratching dirt and blowing off with a blower. One tree down about 1/4 mile west of rockstacker.
Clear to Stormking
tree new down near stormking clear. Thanks Gary/Bindy
Encountered an Aggressive Coyote middle section upper SK. During a coat break, i got circled so I made some growl scares at it and then as I rode off I got aggressively chased for about 1 mile (1/2 mile back from SK/COD intersection. The lil Devil wouldn’t buzz off. Maybe it was mama and Supply chain left her without formula, lol, Idk but heads up around there. 6-22-22 evening about 6:30.
Riding great.
I was surprised this morning to find they are logging so close to the trail while it is still open. I came around a corner and there was a processor actively operating less than a 100 feet from the trail. Felled trees lying within 30 feet of trail and fresh sawdust scattered across trail periodically. Had to check and make sure I had not missed a trail closure somewhere.
I’m not complaining, just surprised.
Just lost my keys on lower, beer for the person who gets them back to me
COD is perfect right now. Get at it!
Just biked COD from Paintball Paradise down to the welcome center. Start is a little rough but it smooths out quickly. I’d recommend biking up COD to the ticket to ride int and trining around to avoid all the mud and snow. Is totally bike-able the whole way though. Glad to be back on my bike! New season time!!!!!
Kind of new to the area … came in through Marvin’s Garden and did lower COD, RockStacker, and Middle COD. Really enjoyed the trail. The trail was fairly steep in spots but dry, and the rocks had good traction. Quite a bit more challenging than much of what we’d ridden over at Phil’s complex. Great trail! Definitely out of breath by the time we got to the top with a few scrapes and bruises to boot. We ride hardtails so it kept us on our toes.
Riding great.
COD is riding well from Loge to Visitor Center. Some wet areas on the trail, but nothing wet or muddy enough to do any damage. Some areas of pretty deep sand too, so don’t wait too long.
Lots of ruts and erosion on the lower part of the trail from all the recent rain. Riding great if you like your trails rough and rocky!
A big “Thank You!” shout out to the individual(s) and agencies that helped clear out the camp on the COD/FS road junction just before it gets techy. Fantastic cleanup which must have been a chore! Thanks so much from myself and my riding friends. Please let all of us riders know what we can do to help report and aid with remediation of any future camps that we may run into.
Small snag of trees down at the west end of “The Dip”. None thicker than about 6”.
Clear now.
SK to the visitor send is great. Even the snow Joe mentioned yesterday is gone. But don’t go back down Storm King. It’s a mess.
6 trees cleared above 4610 on COD. trail is in great shape till about 100 yards from stormking and then turns to snow. 1 larger tree also cleared that was blocking tech line near rimrock trail. A couple trees still remain below ticket on COD.
Numerous trees down between ELV and the Tent City (aka white road crossing). Also a couple trees down on ELV. A couple will probably require a chain saw
Someone cleared the trees yesterday! Lower part up to ELV is riding well. Haven’t tried higher.
COD: Ice Ice baby. No fun at all. Need some snow… Went back to Green Gate to Funnier which was alot more fun… lol. Still ice but more and more snow as you climb higher on Funnier.
Your description needs to be updated since the path to the Rim Rock path and parking (formally Good Dog) has been rebuilt.
thanks for pointing that out. Edited.
Rode up COD to about 1/2 mile from Storm King. Mostly excellent, a few small ice patches but really no mud at all. I cleared some small trees but there are ~6 trees down between the Ticket to Ride junction and where I turned around that will require saws. A couple spots had multiple trees come down together and are pretty messy.
I had a Bobcat (or Mountain Lion. Are there Bobcats out here?!?) kitten dart out in front of me on the section of trail that connects Tetherow/Skyline Ranch RD to the COD trail. I didn’t see mama but I definitely slowed down to give the little one some room to run.
The trail is in great shape. Not many turns blown out. technical areas all doable and not too beaten up.
One tree down by the road you cross just before you reach the ELV junction (climbing up). It’s old and kind of broken up. A couple people could muscle it off the trail but I was riding solo. And I’m old and feeble. :-)
Here dirt this evening. All the way up.
Rode up COD from Entrada to Ticket to Ride and down Grand Slam. finished at 12:30 and there were no burn piles or smoke at that time. But there was smoke further south on my drive home, maybe south of Century drive and west of the river?
Just an FYI, The USFS is looking at some Prescribed Burning starting as early as Sunday that may impact a few trails and produce some lingering smoke it spots. To keep appraised of things visit https://www.fs.fed.us/r6/webmaps/deschutes/west-bend/public-information/
Riding perfect from the bottom up to the Visitor Center. Beyond that I’m not sure… also, looks like the VC parking lot is open again.
Perfect on the fatbike today from the Stormking Junction to the Visitors’ Center. Probably muddy if it warms up.
Clear and dry all the way to the top.
I did a COD/Ticket To Ride/Grand Slam ELV lop yesterday. Although I agree wit the “riding well” conditions report, there definitely were a few mushy bits.
This is a friendly reminder that when you encounter mud it’s best to walk it but if you must ride it please go through, not around. Thanks!
Rode pretty well all the way up to the visitor center. A few soft spots on the sides of the trail, but the middle was solid.
The good news is that if you enjoy technical rock head down to the black line near Tetherow and session until your ? is content. Bad news is the higher trail is still very soft in many places. The 2nd tech section from the East was also riding really well but for now I’d advise jumping on it from Rim Rock instead of riding the higher up stuff. Give it 3-5 more dry+warm days and there is going to be a lot more sections firming up. Patience young Skywalker.
About 1.5 – 2″ of soft, fresh snow at the top of COD. Turning into a dirt/snow mix by the time I got back to the USFS Visitors’ Center. Great conditions.
Bit of freeze thaw action this afternoon. Nothing drastic but any areas which were in full sunshine were a little squishy. Trail got better the higher I went. Guessing the same for all Phil’s area trails with the freezes overnight and sunshine during the day.
Firm, grippy and crispy from Storm King to the Visitor’s Center. With freezing overnight temps, the trail conditions should withstand moderate rain and remain primo until the next snow comes…..go ride!
Good fatbike ride down COD today. Maybe 2″ of untracked snow at the top, and less as you head down. I climbed Lower Storm King from Conklin to get to COD and LSK was about 70% snow and 30% dirt.
Tree cleared off upper COD above 208 road. Thanks for the help Gina! 2 large trees which could have been cleared were left, as new route around them looked good and added a new turn. Yeah for nature!
Rode COD from the start to the visitors center on 11/7 and encountered at least some snow the whole way. All rideable though. Tree down towards the end of “The Dip” if you’re riding W, beginning if you’re riding E.
Thanks for the report. Tree has been cleared.
No trees down between Storm King and Ticket to Ride.
All dry from the top at Storm King down. Good dirt. Get some.
2 trees down below stormking via report on FB
This is true. Rode this Tuesday 24th- two spots where large trees down just past road 214(?) – the first road past 4610.
Rode upper COD from Storm King to Ticket to Ride intersection on the fatbikes. Pretty much 1-3″ standing water the whole way down. (Don’t get mad, the car was at the bottom – and we stayed in the middle of the trail and got our rear ends soaked). May need a few days to absorb and could be icy if it freezes tonite.
The green trail heading east of the Welcome Center is now signed Ticket-To-Ride.
This is because the cod reroute will be COD proper. It’s flagged and pinned and we will start building possibly as soon as next week. It could be a long process to get it built as there a lot of rock work but we shall see.
Ticket to ride will be one continuous loop from welcome center that is green for visitors. Last I heard.
Are you building trail between the Welcome Center and the first road crossing heading north?
After that road the planning maps make it look like COD won’t change, but a new green trail will be built all the way to ELV.
Correct. COD reroute will extend from the black line near welcome center over to that road crossing where the “rockstacker” segment spits out on the road currently. From ELV toward town COD stays as is.
The weekday closure has been lifted. News reports have it being reinstated after Labor Day.
There is a new tread that avoids the two crossings of graded path east of the Welcome Center by staying on its north side. Pin flags mark the new route’s west end. The east end is unmarked but within view of the path cut. Rumor was the path is going to be paved this fall.
Here’s a link to the 2017 map of the Phil’s area USFS closure information (updated in April). Basically upper COD and Grand Slam are closed during the week. Saw this link float by a while back but struggled to find the post again so, bump. http://cotamtb.com/wp-content/uploads/WestBend-CLosureRecMap_11x17_2017_0413.jpg
Perfect conditions this last weekend, get out and ride it!
COD is good to the top!
road COD up to SK intersection, a couple of snow patches at the very end
Per other reports, riding great past visitor center. Also, has the technical section down from Tetherow been dumbed down a bit? I didn’t remember so much smooth armoring. Maybe my skills have improved?!? Unlikely…
Correct it’s been armored from above the ridge to below. I personally am cod trail adopter and wasn’t happy about this but Tetherow owns the land and between them and the trail contractor it was decided.
Progress at the cost of progression. I always liked that section because I couldn’t clean it every time. All good, still fun…
Riding well all the way past the visitor center. Just 2 small patches of snow you can easily ride through.
In great shape until just before ELV, then lots of snow. Upto then, only a couple tiny patches of snow that will probably be gone within 24 hours.
COD has been cut by a bulldozed grade just east of the Welcome Center. I assume this is due to the construction of the paved bike path.
Rode from the new Welcome Station back to town. There are soft spots but the rocky sections are still riding as good as ever.
C.O.D. all torn up by land moving equipment just West of Tetherow. WTF?
If it’s the trail that runs along the top of the cliff band, I heard it’s gonna be going away. Tech trail under the cliff will be untouched.
Perfect conditions on COD today after last nights rain.
Lower COD near Tetherow (below cliff) was trimmed back last night. Almost completed from Entrada to Good Dog.
Any feedback on how busy this will be on a late July weekend? We’re staying at the Seventh Mountain Resort and I’d love to get some trail running in. I don’t want to cause a fuss though if there’s a lot of traffic.
COD is never that crowded – as it’s one of the more technical trails in the phil’s network. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Make sure to run the river trail out your backyard as well. That has a lot more hikers than bikers, and it’s super scenic.
Thanks, Joe, for the feedback. I’ve been on the river trail. It’s ok for trail running, just really flat. :p Though plans have changed thanks to a hamstring injury.
I’ll actually be bringing my bike and attempting Catch and Release and maybe Lower Storm King. They look novice friendly.
Great conditions 4/3, with only two trees down together at about the mid-point
Last Sunday (03/27/16) we rode up COD from the junction with Marvin’s Garden and it was in great shape all the way to the Storm King junction. There was a fair amount of snow on Storm King and some more on Grand Slam heading back downhill. I imagine with the warm temps this week it will be quite passable with only a couple sections where you can’t pedal through the snow – even with a regular 2.2″ mountain bike tire. I’ve found that just about everything below 4400′ is snow-free.
A few snow drifts and downed trees starting out, clears quickly. Riptastic the rest of the way down!
Green gate down
Rode COD from entrada yesterday up past ODP area. No mud to speak of. Rode the rockstacker, the black line and ODP. Logging operations have really worked over ODP but nothing important looks ruined. Lots of tread work repair to do once they are finished up there. Section of COD below ODP (old road section) is now a major road due to logging. Was going away anyhow – so don’t be alarmed.