Swamp Wells (Trail 61)

Dogs Unknown

E-Bikes Unknown

This is an incredible tour through the lava lands of Central Oregon. The trail begins on the north side of the Newberry Crater Rim trail and descends through the lava flow and pumice fields to the southeast side of Bend at Horse Butte. The trail is great singletrack, a bit more old school style than most of the trails in Bend. Expect to average 8 to 9 mph at best.

The trail starts with a fairly steep descent down the north side of the Crater Rim in heavily forested terrain. There are a few rocky technical sections here and there, easy to walk through if needed. The trail is really a black maybe to the Swamp Wells Horse Camp (about 10 miles), then blue (about 15 miles). What gives the a difficult rating is its narrow width, limited sight lines, tight turns, and a few steep uphill steep pitches that may be hike a bike.

This trail doesn't get a lot of traffic, but is maintained by a local group of volunteers. The best time to ride the trail is in the Fall after some moisture has released from the skies and has frozen hard several times. The trail tops out at 7500+ feet, thus if the Mt. Bachelor Pine Mountain lodge webcam shows snow, expect snow on this trail.

To get to the trail, you'll need to ride around to the Newberry Crater Rim / Swamp Wells junction. There are several ways to get there, and each will add at least 4 miles and 1500 feet of climbing. Ways to get there: (1) ride the Newberry Crater Rim trail starting from the west side of Paulina Lake or (2) ride the Newberry Crater Rim trail starting from the east side of East Lake using ....