Big wheels: New E. Fort Rock OHV trails tailor-made for ‘Jeeping’
The Deschutes National Forest said Wednesday it recently finished the Rim Butte project, an 18 -mile off-highway vehicle trail system for Jeeps and other Class II OHVs in the East Fort Rock Trail System.
The newly constructed trail system was planned and designed in a collaborative process between the Deschutes National Forest and volunteers from the motorized user community.
As a result, the Forest Service said “the Rim Butte trail system minimizes impacts to natural resources while providing unique and challenging opportunities in a forested environment with rugged lava rock features for the Jeeping community.
“This system provides some of the most fun, challenging and unique Jeep trails on the Forest and was built by volunteers and National Forest staff,” the announcement said.
Over 70 volunteers have donated nearly 2,000 hours of time to this project, which began in 2015. Much of the funding to construct the project came from a Recreational Trails Program grant, administered by Oregon State Parks and Recreation, which provided funding to build the staging area and purchase trail signage.
The trails are in the East Fort Rock OHV Trail System managed by the Central Oregon Combined Off Highway Vehicle Operations (COHVOPS), a motorized trail program responsible for the management of 1,157 miles of designated routes across the Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests and Bureau of Land Management Prineville District.
