New Public DH Trails Opening in Bend, OR

Bend, Oregon has a reputation as a biker's town. With more than 500 miles of singletrack in the Central Oregon area, its not surprising that two wheel enthusiasts flock to Bend. However, with the exception of a few, many of Bend's trails are more cross-country style. 

In order to increase the number of publicly accessible trails for those who love longer-travel bikes and gravity aided riding, The Central Oregon Trail Alliance (COTA) put out a request for a bid to build the new trails and was met with a proposal from RAD Trails- the nonprofit trail building leg of freeride legend Cam Zink's company, Sensus. 

COTA and RAD Trails are now building three brand new trails off Wanoga Butte, including two downhill trails and a jump line. COTA will also build a climbing trail and a third downhill trail with in-house builders. In efforts to utilize the local community in the project, RAD Trails' proposal came in backed by a powerhouse team of Bend-based freeriders and builders that includes Cam McCaul, Dusty Wygle, Arlie Connolly, and Jacob Guthrie. To head up the project alongside RAD Trails' lead builder, Cody Wilkins, is Bend born and raised freerider, Carson Storch.

Construction on these trails began in June of 2025, and the jump trail, which was machine cut by Storch and Wilkins and then hand packed by Wygle, Guthrie, Connolly, and McCaul, is slated to open to the public on Wednesday, July 9th. The other trails are expected to open Summer 2026 and connect to some of Bend's preexisting trails.

"Projects like this are a great reminder that it takes time to build great trails and long term partnerships with land managers. It’s a behind the scenes level of work that is under appreciated. Chances are, if you want new and exciting trails, so does the managing trail organization," said Wilkins. A grant from the Bend Sustainability Fund and Visit Bend was a huge catalyst in helping COTA to fund the project, and machines donated by Kubota USA and a water tank provided by Ablis CBD were essential for digging in Bend's summer conditions. 

While COTA has an immensely talented in-house build team, its fantastic to see other companies like RAD Trails work on a trail system and provide variety for the region. The amount of local builder talent utilized in this project also bodes well for the longevity of these trails -Storch and the other builders plan to stay involved with maintenance and ideally more trails in the future. 

"We are so stoked to get these new trails going in Bend! The DH trails will be a little bit longer because water is harder to get up the hill, but the new jumpline is running great! Get it while it’s fresh!" said Wilkins, "We’ll come back in the Fall for a tune up before winter. We can’t thank COTA, visit Bend, Kubota USA, Abliss CBD, and all the volunteers enough. We can’t wait to see the local talent ripping these trails soon."