Freeridin' Black Rock Trails in Falls City

Awhile ago, we wrote about the IMBA article on the legally sanctioned Black Rock Trails. Sooo, we decided to go up and check it out for ourselves! This is what we found:



This place rocks! Trails like Ganny's Kitchen are almost unbelievable in terms of flow and air time. Being from California (where rides with stunts are quite limited), it just seemed like it couldn't actually be an "open" trail. Throughout the 1200 feet of vertical drop, the amount of high-quality stunts, jumps, gaps, drops, and skinnies was amazing. The park also included a 'practice/skills area' with an excellent variety of features for every level of rider.



The weather was great in July, cool enough to self-shuttle/climb a few laps on the smooth low-dust trails. Black Rock bike park is a 'must hit' destination on the freeride route north. (Just a couple hours north is Post Canyon, on the way to Whistler!) Sept 15-16 2007 is the first annual Black Rock Bike Fest, which includes shuttles and camping.

Download the GPX file of our rides here.

Logistics:
Falls City is in northern Oregon west of Salem. The only bummer about the area is the lack of accessible public land and camping. Luckily, we ended up finding private land to camp on. If interested call Dawn or Bruce, 503-787-1010, for reservations for tent camping and RV parking. They are super nice people with a great chunk of property only minutes from the riding area.
Another place to stay is the newly opened Black Rock Inn with 3 units.

Black Rock is Sicter Gnar!

Im seeing a lot of press on the Black Rock Trails in Oregon, and thought I'd blog some excerpts from the article on IMBA.com. Check it out:

"Just outside Salem, Oregon, in the rural logging town of Falls City, lies the Black Rock trail system. This killer freeride area, located on a 1,000-acre tract of State Forest Land, is maintained by volunteers from the Black Rock Mountain Bike Association (BRMBA)....

Kowalski started what would become the BRMBA, and created two important documents with land managers: a partnership agreement and trail management plan. The partnership agreement spells out how the partnership works and who performs what services at the facility. The trail management plan is more technical in nature, and includes trail construction, maintenance and management guidelines adapted from the Whistler Trail Standards and IMBA's trailbuilding resources. (Download the Black Rock Management Plan.)

Trail construction and maintenance at Black Rock is an all-volunteer effort. In just a few years, these diehards have built a vast catalogue of skinnies, drop offs, dirt jumps and inspired singletrack. Black Rock trailwork parties attract as many as 40 volunteers from as far away as Portland and Eugene. "When it comes right down to it, it's the riders who organized and built these trails. Individuals have got to step it up and engage their passion for the sport. That's the only way stuff like this happens," says Rich Bontrager, current BRMBA President."



Still photos from the IMBA Website thanks to Joe Rykowski (In the Zone Photography.)