Alsea Falls Complete Loop

Dogs Off-leash

E-Bikes Unknown

Alsea Falls is a gem of MTB in the Oregon Coast range. This route is pieced together to include all the trails that are currently (2014) open in the area. The High Baller and Springboard Trail loop is the shorter loop, but there is more out there! Trails range from old-school singletrack, converted fire roads, tight technical singletrack to roller-coaster, grin-inducing downhill flow trails.

Parking fee: A day pass is $5 for a passenger vehicle, $10 for a van, and $20 for a bus and annual pass is $30. The annual pass is a district-wide pass for the whole Northwest Oregon District, except Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. All transactions can be done through Recreation.gov ( recreation.gov/activitypass…) or by downloading the Rec.gov app prior to arrival.

Head towards the campground from the trailhead to cross the South Fork Alsea to access the river trail. This is a fun and flat to gently rolling trail that serves as the perfect warmup for the fun to come! Follow the river trail until it spits you onto the gravel.

Take a right on the gravel to head back to the So. Fork Access road, take a right, and take your first left. Follow the fire road until you see the Y, stay to the right and cross the yellow gate. Continue to climb and you'll reach another fork, stay left to climb up Anchorline Trail, which is a shady climb, and it makes the ride up very pleasant. Anchorline will lead you to the High Wall, which is a short and steep section. Look to the right and you'll see Bailout Trail.

Bailout is such a blast of a trail! The first part of the trail is straight and fast and it leads you into a few switchbacks with berms that is a nice change of rhythm. Bailout takes you back to a fire road, continue to the right and when you reach the next intersection, stay left and the road will take you to Dutchman, which is hands down my favorite trail in Alsea!

Dutchman has it all: roots, fast flowing descents, tight switchbacks with berms and it allows you to enjoy! This is one of those trails where you'll enjoy it no matter the speed you're going at. The trees and ferns make you feel like you're in a fairy tail! Dutchman leads you an intersection where Springboard Trail ends. Take a right and rip down a converted fire road, but watch your speed, there are a couple of water bars that can bounce you off your bike! There is also a sharp left hand turn to get onto the Bridge Trail, which is a classic tight singletrack with a few rooty section.

After you cross the bridge, you're almost back at the trailhead, and now it's time to take a left onto the paved road behind the yellow gate and go onto autopilot for the next 3.5 miles of climbing. The paved climb can seem long, but only the first 1.5 miles are steep, the last 2 miles are a gentle climb. Just stick to the pavement until you reach BLM Road 35, which is where the road stars going down (stay left) and you'll reach the top of Upper High Baller when you see the picnic table on your left.

High Baller is a blast! Challenging tight singletrack with a lot of off-camber roots and very tight turns that progressively opens up to wider, flowing turns, but there are a couple of little drops and the trail has quite a few changes in rhythm to keep you on your toes. You'll get to catch your break when Upper High Baller lets you onto a fire road, and look to your left and you'll see the access to Lower High Baller, which is a roller coaster with big-wide open turns and a few jumps!

Lower High Baller leads you directly to Springboard Trail, and you can continue to enjoy the flow trail all the way to the intersection with Dutchman. Springboard is the kind of trail that will have you grinning the whole way down! From there, you can follow the trail back to the trailhead, or if you want to go again, you can pedal up Dutchman, take a right on the fire road and follow it around to do it again!