Popular mountain bike trail blocked by juniper tree

Some people are chiming in on social media about a popular Central Oregon mountain bike trail that was possibly vandalized over the weekend.

Jim Wintermyre was mountain bike riding Sunday in the Cline Buttes Recreation Area north of Bend and took photos of a large juniper tree right in the middle of a bike trail.

Wintermyre said he was in the same area the day before and didn’t see the large tree.

He posted the photos on the ‘Bend Trails’ Facebook page and said he believes the tree was placed intentionally to hurt a rider, who might be going downhill on the trail.

Bruce Schroeder of the Central Oregon Trail Alliance told NewsChannel 21 on Monday this is the first time, he’s seen something like this on a bike trail in the area.

” We don’t see this very often,” Schroeder said. “I don’t remember the last time something (like this), especially in the Cline Buttes area. It’s a random act of vandalism and unfortunately can cause serious harm.”

Schroeder said he’s glad the cyclist was not hurt, and was able to move the large juniper tree out of the way.

The recreation area is managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Prineville District, which is aware of the incident.

BLM spokeswoman Lisa Clark said the agency is always willing to take feedback from recreational users.

” We really try to meet a lot of the needs of our trail users out there, and a much more appropriate way to deal with an issue someone has is to come to us directly,” Clark said.

The BLM is working to make those trails more visible for users.

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact the BLM Prineville District Office at 541-416-6700.