Madras Chapter
Effective in September, 2018, Madras became an official COTA Chapter. This recognition helps us to move forward with building more trails in Jefferson County, with the East Hills Trails Project first up.
What’s the East Hills Trails Project?
The Madras East Hills Trails Project is an outdoor recreation project to the east of Madras. This area offers beautiful rolling hills with about 1,000 ft elevation change per 10 miles, and is ideal for trail runners and cross-country style mountain biking. Also because it sits at a lower elevation - about 2,250 feet above sea level - it’s a great area for winter and summer use. The soil is slightly clay-based, allowing for solid trails year round.
The East Hills is owned by a few primary players including Morrow properties, Bean Foundation, City of Madras, and USFS/Crooked River National Grasslands. All four primary entities have a strong history of supporting recreational use of lands, and the private entities have donated lands to the city and/or county in the past for parks and open spaces.
Our intent for this project is to build a multi-user trail system in the East Hills that will eventually spread into the Crooked River National Grasslands. To begin, access points need to be created from Juniper Hills Park into the East Hills. From there we have a lot of options for trail design. There are numerous amazing viewpoints, and some awesome natural features to work with.
What’s the East Hills Trails Project?
The Madras East Hills Trails Project is an outdoor recreation project to the east of Madras. This area offers beautiful rolling hills with about 1,000 ft elevation change per 10 miles, and is ideal for trail runners and cross-country style mountain biking. Also because it sits at a lower elevation - about 2,250 feet above sea level - it’s a great area for winter and summer use. The soil is slightly clay-based, allowing for solid trails year round.
The East Hills is owned by a few primary players including Morrow properties, Bean Foundation, City of Madras, and USFS/Crooked River National Grasslands. All four primary entities have a strong history of supporting recreational use of lands, and the private entities have donated lands to the city and/or county in the past for parks and open spaces.
Our intent for this project is to build a multi-user trail system in the East Hills that will eventually spread into the Crooked River National Grasslands. To begin, access points need to be created from Juniper Hills Park into the East Hills. From there we have a lot of options for trail design. There are numerous amazing viewpoints, and some awesome natural features to work with.
Where are we now?
The Madras East Hills Trail system is fully up and running year round! With roughly 12 miles of single track, green, blue, and black trails, this trail system is perfect for all riders. Additionally, since this trail system is on city land, e-bikes are allowed! This is one of the few land managers COTA partners with that allow e-bikes on the trail. Enjoy!
The Madras East Hills Trail system is fully up and running year round! With roughly 12 miles of single track, green, blue, and black trails, this trail system is perfect for all riders. Additionally, since this trail system is on city land, e-bikes are allowed! This is one of the few land managers COTA partners with that allow e-bikes on the trail. Enjoy!
Madras Chapter receives Clean Trails Project Grant
