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Cole Loop Trail

Trail Snapshot:

Length
7.8 miles
Elevation.
1653' ↑
Difficulty
Forecast
Rating
3 downed trees on the east side new bypass on both sides of the gate

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Trail Description

 E-bikes NOT allowed on Cole Loop


Cole Loop is an optional loop which you can add to your ride around Grey Butte. It was historically a horse trail, but certain times of the year — winter and spring — it’s in good shape for mountain biking.

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    Recent Reports

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    1. DeWayne Weaver says:

      I rode the whole 23 mile loop today including the bypass of the shooting range (not on this map for some reason). Only a few sandy spots on the east side as usual. The normal soft spots are pretty firm. Sections to the north are really overgrown but ridable. Cow Canyon is restored beautifully! Wear long socks or pants for the north sections. Beautiful scenery!

    2. Peter Sussmann says:

      parts of Cow Canyon downhill were blown out by a flash flood from last evening’s thunderstorm. All rideable but will need some trail love to redefine areas in the “stream”channel…

      1. Bruce Bradshaw says:

        Blowout still evident in Cow Canyon. Tread isn’t well defined where it crosses the wash. Tricky places to stay on your bike.

      2. DeWayne Weaver says:

        Cow Canyon is all refurbished and riding great as of late Sept!

    3. Steven Powers says:

      Rode the north section from skull hollow to grey butte trail. The reroute around shooting range is soft and choppy from horses. The trail was dry.

    4. Brian Thomas Coop says:

      Snow covered (1-2″) on north aspects, but riding well as long as you get there before it thaws…

    5. Miguel Montaña says:

      Mud. Ice. Avoid.

    6. Jon Conway says:

      Cole Loop, Gray Butte and Smith Rock are all riding really well. I would recommend getting out there ASAP as the cattle are grazing and the equestrians are out in FORCE. There were at least a dozen horse trailers at the Skull Hollow TH yesterday (3/28/21)!

      1. Bruce Bradshaw says:

        No cows out today in Cow Canyon and on the east loop. Those trails riding well.

    7. Bruce Bradshaw says:

      Eastern loop is riding well. Didn’t ride westside.

    8. Ochoco National Forest says:

      Mud Season! The road up to Gray Butte TH and Cole Loop access is very muddy and slick – please avoid. Higher elevations are worse currently than lower elevations.

      P.S.A. – If mud is sticking to your shoe or bike tire, you should turn around. We know, fun killer. Please understand that huge numbers of volunteer hours, money, love and passion have gone into your trails, and riding through significant mud causes damage. Don’t worry, tacky spring riding is just around the corner!

    9. Bruce Bradshaw says:

      Eastern side of Cole Loop around Pine Ridge is riding well except for a couple of trees across which are easy ride arounds.

    10. Bruce Bradshaw says:

      Cattle on the loose in Cow Canyon, but little trail impact so far.

    11. Brian Thomas Coop says:

      The two trees that were blocking the trail between Skull Hollow and the Saddle (intersection with Gray Butte Trail) have been cleared.

      For anyone that rides the east side of this loop (around Pine Ridge), a group of equestrians did a number on it by riding it while it was muddy. Now that it’s dry it’s pretty punishing hardened post holes up to the cattle troughs. :( North of that it’s riding pretty well thanks to a few downed trees we purposely didn’t clear.

    12. David Caplan says:

      Rode up from Skull Hollow to connect with Gray Butte trail. There is water running down the trail in a few spots on the lower section, and one big juniper down across the trail up near the intersection with Gray Butte. Overall, great conditions.

    13. Matthew Simeti says:

      I only road down the cow canyon section of the Cole Loop trail and it was muddy. I would advise to stay off for now or ride it early when it is still frozen.

    14. Bruce Bradshaw says:

      Eastern half which is not shown on the map view is riding well. Based on posting running race scheduled for 11/9.

    15. Bruce Bradshaw says:

      Seems like it would be helpful to add the Trail Crossing Corrals trailhead to the map as the easiest access to this trail from the west.

    16. Bruce Bradshaw says:

      Dusty down low, but tread still firm. Seems to be getting more foot traffic than anything else.

    17. Suzanne Marcoe says:

      Riding pretty well at the moment. A bit horsed-out, but not too bad. Reading the previous comments… what is gumbo? ;-)

      1. Zach Blickman says:

        It’s a delicious mix of mud, gravel, pebbles and sand that coats your tires and dries to concrete-like hardness. Don’t worry, when it’s available, it’s always all you can eat and you always go home full.

        1. Suzanne Marcoe says:

          Oh, I see. That definitely sounds like a buffet to avoid!

    18. Zach Blickman says:

      Still plenty of the infamous gumbo on the west side. I imagine the rest isn’t much better.

    19. Ochoco National Forest says:

      The Crooked River National Grassland and surrounding areas received several inches of snow this past week, and the forecast looks like more of the same. While snow doesn’t tend to stick around too long on the Grassland, mud season does.

      P.S.A. – If mud is sticking to your shoe or bike tire, you should turn around. We know, fun killer. Please understand that huge numbers of volunteer hours, money, love and passion have gone into your trails, and riding through significant mud causes damage. Don’t worry, tacky spring riding is just around the corner!

    20. Joe Pandolfi says:

      Rode cole loop clockwise today to grey butte summit. Trail is marked up by horse hooves but very little mud. Awesome riding.

    21. Zach Blickman says:

      A little choppy and a few stretches with a touch of gumbo, but overall it’s riding great.

    22. Brennan Morrow says:

      Defintly muddy

    23. Mike Schmeiske says:

      Rode this today clockwise from the Skull Hollow Trail climb and was in great shape for the descent down to the fenceline/private property boundary. From there, the bottom half or so is pretty bumpy from the hooved traffic, but not so loose it’s unrideable.

    24. Brian Coop says:

      We rode the east side of this loop (not shown on the map) up from the Skull Hollow TH to avoid the usual road climb. It was medium horsey early on, but actually got pretty good as we came around Pine Ridge until we tied back into Rd 57. Adds 5-5.5 miles to the Smith/Gray ride, so if you’re looking for a little more mileage (but no additional climbing) it’s actually a pretty good option.

    25. Brennan Morrow says:

      Conditions are perfect out there right now.

    26. Zach Blickman says:

      Not too bumpy, wildflowers are out. This is a great +/fatbike ride!

    27. Brennan Morrow says:

      Conditions Perfect. Cattle Chop is much less now. Be aware there is a Horse event May 5th 6th 7th on gray butte, not a good weekend to ride .

    28. Brennan Morrow says:

      Conditions good. Cattle chopped up the trail a bit last year when muddy, so there are some speed bumps present.

    29. Brennan Morrow says:

      Cattle have hit the trail in muddy conditions making trail very choppy for about 50% of trail

    30. Brennan Morrow says:

      Dirt is perfect! Cow are gone. No mud. Trail is mostly packed smooth like a race track.

      1. Erik Santner says:

        Did you enjoy the Cole loop? We took that south side that one time….how is the rest?

    31. Brent Edens says:

      Such a good descent in the clockwise direction! One on the most beautiful around.
      Getting a bit on the dry side. There are a couple of short sandy sections and a bit of horse chunder, but totally worth getting on!

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