Volunteer Stats:

• COTA volunteers logged a record 18,677 hours maintaining Central Oregon’s trails.
• We did maintenance work on 100% of the 150 trails we steward, which total more than 600 miles of singletrack. 

• COTA built more than 6 miles of new trails at Bandit Springs in the Ochocos, Barnes Butte in Prineville, Royal Flush between Bend and Sunriver, and the Madras East Hills. 
• Invested $100,000 in major improvements to the Phil's skills area, the Wanoga infield bike park, and Bike Park 242 in Sisters.
• Bend was named a Top 10 mountain biking destination in the country—we agree!​

New Trails:

• Bandit Springs: COTA finished the machine work on the 13-mile Bandit Springs trail system in the Ochoco National Forest. These beautiful trails near Scotty and Cougar Creek trails wind through large ponderosas, and serve as cross-country ski trails in the winter. 
• Barnes Butte: COTA built a new 1.7-mile green trail called Calumet at Barnes Butte. This trail system right in town offers excellent mountain biking and hiking trails from beginner to advanced. The trail called Mini Moab gives you an idea of what the advanced trails are like. ​
• Royal Flush: COTA contracted Black Sage Dirt Works to extend the Royal Flush trail to join Afternoon Delight. This jump and flow trail has quickly become one of the most popular trails in Central Oregon.    

Bike Parks and Flow Trails

We Love Flow: COTA invested $100,000 in improving three bike parks and skills areas. This work wouldn’t be possible without financial support from riders like you and our partners the Bend Sustainability Fund (a Visit Bend project), Deschutes Trails Coalition, Mt. Bachelor Play Forever Fund, NewSun Energy, Sisters Park & Recreation District, and Visit Central Oregon. ​

• Bike Park 242: COTA invested heavily in Bike Park 242 in Sisters. Black Sage Dirt Works reworked the jump lines, and COTA staff and volunteers did a huge amount of work improving the start tower, reworking the wood skinnies and drops section, rebuilding the pump track, and increasing sustainability through dust mitigation, weed removal, and planting native vegetation. 

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• Phil’s Skills Area: COTA invested more than $50,000 in the skills area at Phil’s trailhead. This area now offers an improved strider course, jump lines galore, a drop zone, a pump track, beginner rock skills, and an open area where local coaches can run drills. Beginner to intermediate riders will find loads of fun features to practice their skills.

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• Wanoga Infield: COTA invested in improving the Wanoga Infield bike park. Black Sage Dirt Works built up the start mound, improved a jump line, and added a drop zone. Volunteers hand finished the work and improved the area’s sustainability by better defining the ride and return lines to protect native vegetation. The bike park still sports a couple of the original roller lines appropriate for beginner riders. ​  

Cool Stuff

• La Pine State Park: COTA started doing trail maintenance at La Pine State Park this year. If you haven’t checked out this scenic 16-mile beginner trail system near the confluence of the Deschutes and Fall rivers, we highly recommend it. 

• Sawyer Program: COTA’s volunteer sawyers don’t get enough props. They lug their chainsaws all over the trail system in early spring when the snow has barely melted and the mosquitoes are horrendous so the rest of us don’t have to huck our bikes over the hundreds of trees that fall across the trails each winter. ‘Nuff said. ​

 

• Signage Improvements: COTA is investing in improved signage throughout Central Oregon. COTA has placed trail maps at nine popular trailheads and is working to improve signage at the Madras East Hills, Radlands, Crook County and more. Financial support for this work was provided by Deschutes Trails Coalition, NewSun Energy, Rotary Club of Crook County, and Visit Central Oregon’s Future Fund. ​

 

• Send Squad: Huge shout out to COTA’s Send Squad. This group of highly trained volunteers specializes in building (and rebuilding) jumps and berms on popular flow trails. In 2023 they logged more than 3,050 hours maintaining features on Lower Whoops, Royal Flush, Tiddlywinks, and Tyler’s. That berm riding sweet? That jump rebuilt? Thank the Send Squad.

Community

• Group Work Events Program: COTA hosted 10 group work events this year, including school groups, life skills groups, and corporate events. Participants try their hands at trail work and learn about sustainable recreation and balancing recreating in nature with the needs of wildlife and other natural and cultural resources. Is your group interested? Email [email protected]. 

• Trail Assessment for Adaptive Mountain Bikers: Riders with disabilities need more information than green, blue, black to plan an epic ride. To ensure they have the information they need, COTA hired Empowering Access and Dovetail Trails to ride 100 miles of trails and document the experience for adaptive mountain bikers. Check out the results on our website here. This project was made possible by a private grant facilitated by the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA). 

• Trail Work Training: COTA held a ton of trail work trainings this year, including Trail Maintenance 101, Rock Work 101, Drainage and Water Management 101, Jump/Flow Trail Maintenance, Turn Best Practices (radius and S turns), and Drainage in Flat Areas. We also welcomed 15 new crew leaders, volunteers that have gained enough trail work experience to lead groups of volunteers on trail work projects. Every trail work event is an opportunity to learn, so don’t wait for an event labeled a “training” to start your trail work journey.  

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• Women of COTA: COTA’s Women of COTA Program continued to grow and provide a supportive community to participate in trail work and learn about the lands where we ride. Join our Meetup group to find out about all of their events.