Winberry Divide Trail to Eugene to Crest Trail Loop

Winberry Divide Trail is one of the best ridge trails for mountain biking in the Middle Fork of the Willamette drainage. The only thing missing are expansive views. The valleys on either side are only intermittently visible through the trees. The trail's narrow, mostly smooth singletrack clings tenaciously to the sides of the precipitous ridge that separates Winberry Creek from the Middle Fork of the Willamette. The fun starts with a fast downhill through open second-growth forest before the trail begins a series of steep ascents and descents along the ridge, often under dense stands of cedar and enormous Douglas firs.

If you ride this as a loop, be sure not to expend all your energy on the nearly 2000-foot, gravel road ascent to the trailhead, as Winberry Divide Trail itself will add around another 1000 feet of climbing over its 5.5-mile length. Even as a shuttled ride, this trail is physically demanding. Once you reach the western end of Winberry Divide, head back down to the shore of Lookout Point Reservoir via a section of the Eugene to Crest Trail that is one of the best downhills anywhere. After a short section of old logging road, the trail dives into the forest for miles of twisty, fast, and exciting descent. Of course, there a few more short climbs to keep it interesting. Route finding also gets a little tricky as the trail crosses a maze of logging roads at one point. Be sure to take a short break from the high speed descent to appreciate the fern covered cliffs and the large stand of madrones a little more than half way down.