The North Umpqua River is a recreational paradise. There is great fishing, camping and whitewater action all in a beautiful forested setting. Although it is not too near any major metropolitan areas or minor metropolitan areas for that matter, it is no secret and on busy holiday weekends the popular strategically located campgrounds will likely be full. The riding is mostly in classic big western Oregon forest and not particularly technical or strenuous, that is, unless you did the whole thing in one day. The trail was featured in a 2009 issue of Bike Magazine as no less than the best mountain bike trail in the United States. Some of the editors may live in the area but assuming they have ridden some of the other famous trails in the US, that is quite a claim to fame.

If you are contemplating a major mountain biking road trip you could make a very scenic driving loop by riding the North Umpqua River Trail then heading on up to Bend for all the action up there including the Deschutes River Trail. On the way to Bend from the NURT you would be passing right by Crater Lake. Although there are no mountain biking trails in the national park,  there is a paved road that goes around the rim that is a popular ride. After leaving Bend on the way back home you could ride the McKenzie River Trail. If you are into river trails In between the three trails listed above is the Middle Fork of the Willamette Trail near Oakridge. This is not a bad trail and pretty in the fall with the leaves on the trail. But most of the trail is in a fairly active broad stream channel with cobble stones etc and not near the amount of big western Oregon trees as the three above.

If you are a kayaker both the North Umpqua and the McKenzie River are excellent class III whitewater runs with plenty of play spots.  The North Umpqua is a little seasonal in that regard however so later in the summer it is not normally run. The North Umpqua is also a well known fishing destination. Near the confluence of Steamboat Creek (also good kayaking) there is a high end destination fishing resort complete with a gear shop that sells PataGucci fishing wear and a gourmet restaurant. They do allow bikers and kayakers although there may be a smell code.

If you open the USGS map set below you will see that there are a ton of campgrounds, so if the popular ones are full there are plenty of others. Some of the out of the way ones are actually surprisingly nice with pavilions etc. Speaking of camping, the trail has been written up as a bike-packing destination. If you are so inclined you could carry camping gear with you on your bike however, there are lots of campgrounds and easy highway access all along the trial, so that would not be necessary unless you just want some out of the ordinary adventure.

Most of the major campgrounds with hosts have free brochures with maps developed in part by the  BLM and the Forest Service. The BLM has an excellent website with interactive maps similar to the most excellent brochure. You can also download the entire above mentioned brochure!

(This page is a work in progress. If you have any comments about the trail please pass them along. Also if you have ridden the whole thing top to bottom in one day let me know how long it took. I am trying to get some kind of range of time to put on this page. I have only ridden it in sections after a day of kayaking.)