Oregon Timber Trail: 2026 Grand Depart

Aug 18th, 2026

Words by Alex Schultz

Photos by Alex Shultz and Erich Weidenkeller

The Oregon Timber Trail Race started at 6am on July 11th, 2026 from the Deep Creek Campground, way out in the remote stretches of Southern Oregon by Lakeview.

The first section of the Oregon Timber Trail, known as the Fremont Tier, is by far the hardest section of trail in the 680ish mile OTT700 race route. Just getting to Deep Creek Campground is a task. It’s pretty far out there. The forest feels untouched and the area is very quiet. The gravel roads out there are in really good shape since they hardly ever get used! I enjoyed a ride out to the start in Chris and Katy’s truck from the Old Man Mountain warehouse in Bend, OR. We arrived around 6pm the night before the start and were welcomed by fellow racers and race director, Max Keegan.

Grand Depart

After chatting with folks at the start, I got my bike together and organized everything for the 6am morning start that was quickly approaching. I think almost everyone spent the night out there that was racing, it just makes the most sense to sleep out there since it takes a while to get there from Lakeview.

I woke up when it got light around 5am and stuffed as much leftover pizza in my face as possible. As I mentioned, the first 200 miles in the Fremont Tier are some of the hardest of the OTTR700. The first resupply is in Chemult, over 200 miles into the race. It took last year’s winner over 48 hours to hit Chemult. I knew I had to be prepared for 48 hours of hard riding without resupply.

In my preparation for the OTTR700, I was a bit daunted by two full hard days of riding without resupply. I can’t think of very many instances in my racing career where I’ve had a carry this long. Maybe AZTR800: Payson to Flagstaff? Maybe CTR: before cathedral cabins era- Silverton to Buena Vista? Who knows what exactly would compare. In the end, I do feel like it compares most to the old CTR- Silverton to Buena Vista carry. Whatever you want to compare it to- one thing is for sure, it is HARD.

Raw Oregon Backcountry

The first 200 miles of this race are special. It is raw Oregon backcountry. I didn’t see a single other trail user in the first 200 miles! There really is nothing out there but forest and beauty. For me as a bikepack racer, it is inspiring. Rough trail surfaces on top of the extreme backcountry are motivating for me. There are some incredible descents out there, some built well, some really raw. They are all fun. The extended descent down to the Chewaucan River is one of the highlights of the Fremont Tier for me.

After navigating a hard first day in the Fremont Tier I found myself descending down to the Chewaucan River just after sunset. I was really happy to be able to do most of the descent in the daylight and arrived at the bottom just as it was getting dark. I topped off my water supplies, stopped at the outhouse for a break and continued on up the trail from the river and into the night.

This next section after the river got extremely tedious. It was not only steep but raw. The trail surface is slow and then the downed trees start to get really bad. The hike up from the river takes a while and eventually once over the steepest parts you hit the downed trees. It was in this bad tree section that I decided to take a sleep. As soon as I hit a warmer section of trail I quickly pulled my sleep kit and laid down. I woke up ~4 hours later and continued my way through the trees. The trail did eventually get better and I cruised my way to the Bear Creek climb.

Oregon Cows Are Crazy

I drove a cattle herd up the trail from Bear Creek for almost an hour. It was unbelievable they would not get off the trail. This was one of the worst cattle experiences of my life. They did eventually get off to the side close to the top near Gov’t Harvey Pass. I was relieved to open the cattle gate at the top and lock them in behind me. Oregon cows are crazy.

Navigating the Boulder field at the top near Gov’t Harvey Pass became a challenge. Not just from fatigue, but having the first mechanical issue of the race on my bike. My rear shock had transferred most of its air from the positive to the negative chamber. This resulted in a ‘sucked down’ situation for my shock. It was stuck at about 80% of the way down through its travel.

I aired the shock back up to around 170psi, but it didn’t make much of a difference in terms of getting the shock back up. I had no idea at the time that I would have to pedal this malfunctioning bike to Sisters, Oregon. As I continued down the trail I tried to not let the stiff rear end and thrown-off bike geometry get into my head. There was only one option for me at the time, and that was to continue forward.

I eventually got down to the base of Hagar Mountain (after smashing my pedals into numerous rocks and breaking one side). I had to use extreme caution at first in my riding to not smash pedals into rocks with my new thrown-off bike geometry. The pedals ended up so low with the shock sitting near the bottom of its travel. The trail at Hagar Mountain is incredible. Its thick forest combined with sights across the valley made the hike up somewhat enjoyable. The descent down Hagar was fast and somewhat flowy. I looked forward to seeing the next major obstacle- Yamsey Mountain.

The climb up to Yamsey is relentless. It starts off hard and stays hard. The trail surface is not fast. There are mosquitoes. There is not much out there other than the deserted campground ⅔ of the way up. The spigot at this campground was functioning and useful to fill a bladder. I eventually hit the final hike up to the Yamsey summit just as it was getting completely dark, not the best timing in terms of doing a fast descent.

Yamsey seemed to drag on and on. But the descent down the west side toward Chemult went fast. After I dropped around 1,000ft, it got much warmer and I was comfortable again. I eventually hit the gravel road toward Chemult. I got to around 3 miles out from Chemult and decided to just pull my bivy and sleep there. Getting food that night would have been nice, but I was so tired around 2am when I stopped I’m not sure I even would’ve enjoyed eating.

Oakridge: Bikepacker’s Dream Resupply

I got up when it got warm around 530-6am. After hitting up the gas station for a subway breakfast and a resupply in Chemult I was feeling motivated to hit Oakridge at a decent time to get a hotel that night. I knew the timing to hit Oakridge would be about right for a hotel and it would probably be my one chance to get extended rest in a room for the entire race. The Middle Fork Trail down to Oakridge is one of the best descents in this race. It goes on for a long time and is techy. Lots of natural roots and rocks to get over and most of it is completely rideable.

I eventually made Oakridge around 10pm and went to the 24 hour store. This store is a bikepackers dream resupply. Tons of choices and hot food ready to go even late at night. I got a room just down the road and was able to rest until around 5am the next morning.

I rolled out of Oakridge knowing what everyone says about Bunchgrass: one of the worst trails of the entire race. They were about right. It was very slow going and the trail was almost completely covered in vegetation in spots. I had also heard that the trail would be a lot better after Bunchgrass and that it was the last overgrown section of trail. Boy, was that wrong. There are many bad sections of trail after Bunchgrass also.

After getting through Bunchgrass the trail takes a pretty fun descent toward Waldo Lake, which was interrupted very often by a downed tree. Even with the trees this is a great section of trail. I rode around a ton more deadfall on the north side of Waldo Lake and eventually hit the Lava Lake store that night around midnight. I slept that night for a long time since I wanted to get food at the Lava Lake store that didn’t open until 7am.

Sisters Motivation

After crossing the Cascade Lakes Highway the next morning, the real fun starts. This part of the race is shared with the High Cascades 100 course and is groomed extremely well. It felt amazing to fly around corners and jump with confidence again. After traversing a bit the long descent down to Sisters begins. The descent was probably over an hour. This descent is almost entirely singletrack and dropped the race pretty much right into Sisters.

Sisters was a major stop for me. I was finally able to get my shock switched out on my bike and correct my bike geometry! After this swap was done it felt like a whole new bike. I was so motivated after this. I rode up Crescent Mtn that night until around 2am.

The Final Tier

The Crescent Mountain (Pyramids) area is classic Pacific Northwest type riding. The trail seems as though it was hand dug built by a mountain biker. It winds its way through old forest down steep mountain sides. Slow going out there as I hit it just after a rain storm, but still awesome. I eventually made it to Detroit for a burger and a resupply before hitting the long stretch to Parkdale.

The climb up from Detroit was uneventful until the trail started up again toward the top. This section of trail really made me upset. The downed trees were bad, some of the overgrowth was bad. It was an extremely slow 4 miles or so that I did not expect. The trail very slowly got better until it hit the gravel road that takes us toward Timothy Lake. It was very cold up there and I needed to ride with my puffy on and lots of extra clothing. I made Timothy Lake around midnight and decided to sleep on the north side of the lake until 530am the next morning.

All Smiles

I knew I could finish the race by 8pm when I started riding the next morning toward Mt Hood. I had a lot of fun trails coming that I knew would be motivating. Surveyors ridge and the bike park descent into Hood River area are some of the best trails on this entire race. I was all smiles descending into Parkdale off of Surveyors Ridge. I stopped in Parkdale for an ice cream and some snacks before the final climb to the top of the Bike Park above Hood River.

I rolled into Hood River around 7pm making my finish time ~6 days 13 hours. I was really happy to finish the race with the bike in one piece and in the daylight. All in all the Oregon Timber Trail is a stellar trail worth riding as long as you expect there to be some very tedious pieces of trail.

Follow Alex’s adventures on Instagram @schultzy954