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Mountain Bike Lava Lands Blackrock Trail to Benham Falls

Bend, Oregon

Description

Added by Lindsey Banks

Distance: 10.5 miles total. Elevation gain: 400 ft. Beginner mountain biking trail near Bend. Easy access from Lava Lands Visitor Center. Fantastic views of Lava Lands and Deschutes River.

Blackrock Trail starts at the Lava Lands Visitor Center, which is about a 5-mile drive south of Bend on Highway 97. You can park at the Lava Lands Visitor Center and then take the trail marked Sun-Lava Trail. This will take you to Blackrock Trail, which you will see as a turn-off to the right about 0.3 miles in.

Blackrock Trail is a 4.2 mile long singletrack trail. It is relatively flat dirt with a few rocks and a lot of pine cones to ride over. The trail follows along an old lava flow almost the entire way. Stop to climb up the lava rock and get a view of the Cascade Mountain range and the miles and miles of lava rock. It is an incredible view.

You’ll reach the end of Blackrock Trail when you get to the railroad tracks. If you want to continue your trail along the Deschutes River Trail, this is where it will meet up. The Deschutes River Trail will take you to Benham Falls and Dillon Falls. You can either take the hill to the right and ignore the “No Trespassing” sign to cross over the railroad tracks, or take the dirt road to the left which will take you to the Sun-Lava Paved Path. Either way, you will end up at the Benham Falls trailhead in 0.3 miles.

It is only about 0.3 miles to get to the Benham Falls Trailhead from the railroad tracks, then another 0.5 miles to get to the Benham Falls overlook. Again, another amazing view, this time of whitewater rapids and the falls.

The Deschutes River Trail is a lot different than the Blackrock Trail. It is a double-track trail with few rocks. It is a very easy ride to the falls.

After leaving Benham Falls you can continue on the Deschutes River Trail further to Dillon Falls, take the Blackrock Trail back to the Lava Lands Visitor Center, or take the paved Sun-Lava path back to Lava Lands Visitor Center. Even though the terrain on the Sun-Lava path is easy (paved the whole way), there is a slight incline in the path pretty much the entire 4.9 miles back to the start. It definitely makes for a more aerobic ride back.

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Features

Mountain Biking
Bathrooms
Easy Parking
Forest
River
Scenic
Waterfall

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