King Castle Trail is part of a larger network, including Olallie, O’Leary Mountain, and Castle Rock, BUT these trails are not suitable for adaptive riders. The trail itself is four miles, but when combined with the service road climb, the full route becomes a challenging ten-mile adventure. The climb covers six miles and gains 2,050 feet of elevation, though shuttling is an option. Personally, I prefer the climb—it’s a rewarding journey with breathtaking scenery and abundant wildlife (one of our crew even spotted a mountain lion!).
Old Santiam Wagion Road boasts a long and fascinating history, once serving as a trade route for indigenous peoples and later for European settlers. Today, it offers a fun and scenic recreation trail. For adaptive riders, it’s fully aMTB1, meaning no worries or difficulties at all. The route is quick and exciting, so it’s over before you know it—plan on a couple laps to make it worthwhile. Each loop covers seven miles. Afterwards, a visit to nearby Clear Lake is highly recommended.
Willamette Valley, OR ⎪Not Suitable⎪
The McKenzie River Trail is a quintessential ride in the Willamette Valley, offering stunning views as it follows the river for most of its length. However, it’s important to note that the trail may not be the best option for adaptive riders. During my recent ride, I tackled the lower fifth of the trail. While much of it is rideable, there are two hard stops along our route—narrow bridges—and I required significant assistance along the way.
Willamette Valley, OR ⎪Not Suitable & aMTB1⎪
Marys Peak is the tallest peak in the Oregon Coast Range. It has a rich history and is sacred to the Kalapuya people, the original inhabitants of the Willamette Valley. The existing trails in the area are not adaptive bike friendly….unless you are down for some Type Two fun. However, the road to the summit is wide open, offering amazing views, and there are a couple gravel routes, making it well worth the effort. In the coming years, we hope to build approximately 25 miles of new trail across the highway to the south. They will be universally built and exciting for riders of all types.
Salem, OR ⎪aMTB1-2⎪
If you are looking for a backcountry XC experience and want to work on your skills, then this is the perfect place for you. Catamount Trail is pretty much the main event. It undulates through lush forest. That doesn’t leave it without fun flow sections though! All the gates are 36” wide so make sure you measure your bike before heading out there.
Moab, UT ⎪aMTB1-3⎪
For years, I have tried to find a route of significant mileage in Moab that I can ride solo to no avail. There is the Circle O area with adding on some of the green stuff (Lazy and E Z), but I still got into a little trouble there. There’s the green stuff in the Klondike Bluffs area, which is probably the most adaptive friendly in Moab, but again, there are some very tricky spots. Be sure to read my blog on that area. The views are unreal!
Klondike Bluffs is my favorite area in Moab. Mostly because of the trail Baby Steps North, which is all slick rock and loaded with little ledgey drops. It is plenty wide with absolutely zero exposure, so it’s great for adaptive riders with capable equipment. It’s the perfect example of how techy fall-line is no problem for adaptive riders. It’s when a trail traverses and is exposed where we get into trouble!
Brevard, NC ⎪aMTB1-3⎪
Lower Black is what the locals call this trail, but the official name is Black Mountain Trail (Lower). The climb, Thrift Cove, is listed as a blue trail on TrailForks, but is basically a two mile fire road. It is quite grueling and feels longer than that though. The route itself is very short and multiple laps seem ambitious, unless you’ve got a power assist. I’m told the upper and middle sections are a no go for adaptive riders. The descent on Lower Black is fast, fun, worth the effort, and over way too soon. It is littered with fun stuff to play with: rock sections, roots, double fall Iines, berms. It ends with a long chunky rock section that drops back onto the climb trail.
Monroe, OR ⎪aMTB1-3⎪
Getting to Alsea Falls is quite the endeavor, but let me tell you that it is well worth it. The trails are well built and crazy fun! This area is the epitome of what I like to do, climb the wide stuff and downhill the fun stuff.
Santa Fe, NM ⎪aMTB1-3⎪
Just up the highway from Santa Fe is a Christian conference property called Glorieta Adventure Camps and they just happen to have some of the best trails in the area. All trails are available to the public. This is one of my favorite places to ride!!!
San Diego, CA ⎪aMTB1-3⎪
This area offers some technical “Sedona Style” riding which makes it extremely fun, but potentially tough for adaptive riders. Most of the trails are wide open, but the technicality requires me to be reserved in sending someone out there solo. The steep loose undulations make it pretty much impossible for those with front-wheel-drive bikes, without support. If you are solo and do have front-wheel-drive, then I’m sorry to say that I do not recommend you ride this area. You could perform an out-and-back on the fire road climb, but if you are going to descend the fire road, please do so slowly and with extreme caution. There is heavy hiker traffic. You could definitely descend Nighthawk, but it’s the Nighthawk Connector that creates the question mark. Its steep, loose, and extremely rocky. Get up there and look at it. If you are comfortable with it, then Nighthawk is a much better descent than the fire road. It’s not the greatest trail in the area, but if you are solo, it’s the only one I can confidently send you down. There are other options, but it’s complicated and I’m hesitant to create an aMTB1 route. If you are a solo front-wheel-drive rider, and are intent on riding here, then please contact me and I can direct you. If you do have suspension, clearance, and rear-wheel-drive, then more options open up, even if you are solo. See my aMTB2 routes below. You’ll need a support rider the first time though. If you have a support rider, then you can can get rowdy! There is some good stuff here. See my aMTB3 routes below.
Portland, OR ⎪aMTB1⎪
Oregon Metro Regional Government’s first attempt at MTB specific directional gravity trails and they nailed it! If you live in the neighborhood, this is a perfect area to rack up some hot laps.
Portland, OR ⎪aMTB1⎪
This entire area is rated aMTB1 and most adaptive riders will be good to go solo. WIth the out and back on Madrona and Chehalem Ridge, you end up with significant mileage. Great views and worth the trip out!
Grand Junction, CO ⎪aMTB1-2x⎪
Moto inspired, a lot of this area is very trike-able and loaded with some technical terrain. Fire roads run through the middle of everything so it’s great if are a weirdo like me who prefers to climb the wide stuff and DH the fun stuff. Trails listed here are very limited, but I plan on doing much more exploring because this place is rad! Beware moto traffic. Luckily you can hear them coming!
Moab, UT ⎪aMTB1-3⎪
This area is kind of known as the mellow area, but don’t be fooled. It has its fair share of potential challenges and technical terrain. What it definitely has is unreal views! If you camp at the Deadhorse State Park, you can ride right out of camp onto the trail.
St. George, UT ⎪aMTB2⎪
The the lower green section of Jem Trail is full of fast flowing turns. There are a couple technical sections but nothing to stress about. Definitely worth the climb. The section towards the bottom, along the Virgin River, gets narrow and slightly off-camber in some spots. Adaptive riders are advised to turn around about a 1/4 mile before the end.
Sky Forest, CA ⎪aMTB1-3⎪
I love this place! It is conveniently located for a day trip from anywhere in So Cal, but fun to camp and stay a couple days. You earn your turns here but the climb is mellow. The trails are built so well that the vertical you gain, from what seems like an easy climb, is very surprising. The trails are usually immaculate and very well maintained. The staff is extremely helpful and cheery. Open year-round! Thursdays are Burger and beer for $15.
Mammoth Lakes, CA ⎪aMTB2⎪
I’ve figured out two double black routes that most adaptive riders can ride solo. It will take practice though. These are not aMTB1 routes and definitely need to be ridden with support the first few times. There are some potential dilemmas and it will take a few laps before being able to ride them without support.
Foothill Ranch, CA ⎪aMTB1⎪
This area is entirely aMTB1 — No support rider needed — and great for adaptive riders. Even the fun DH trails are wide enough and perfect. There is a usual loop that most riders do, but it involves some road time and climbing singletrack. I like to climb the wide stuff and DH the fun stuff so I draw my own path.
Anza, CA | aMTB1 |
Eight miles of grated fire road providing beautiful views and moto style berms for the descent.
Buckeye, AZ⎪aMTB1-2⎪
If you are driving through and need to stop for some exercise, the trailhead is right off the highway. Everything is true singletrack, but the impact is plenty wide with only three exceptions on the entire route we did. All the trails are very turny so there was a lot of cranking with one arm and steering with the other. Beautiful views though!
