Many mountain bike riders will stop at nothing in search of the perfect ride. If you are looking, Bobby Lake Trail could be it. What makes this such a great ride is that both the experienced rider and the novice trail rider will love it. It has everything one likes in a single track trail without difficult technical riding and steepness. Besides fun riding this trail has great mountain vistas, pristine mountain lakes, big old trees and colorful meadows. This is the ride to take friends who have never ridden single-track trail. It won't turn them to mush and you won't get bored.
Go east on Highway 58 past Oakridge. Park at the Gold Lake Snow Park area about 1 mile west of Willamette Pass. From here cross Highway 58 and ride north on the Gold Lake Road 500. This is a well-maintained gravel road. Once on this road, options are plentiful. You can simply stay on the road and ride to Gold Lake. For a nice single-track twist, turn west at 1.4 miles to Upper Marilyn Lake. It is .04 miles to the lake. The trail follows the northeast edge of the lake. Ride cautiously; this is a popular and easily accessible lake and you are bound to come across other nature lovers. Half way around Upper Marilyn Lake, the trail heads downhill to Lower Marilyn. From here, a trail goes to Gold Lake, 2.2 miles from Highway 58.
At Gold Lake it is about 3.3 miles to the Bobby Lake trailhead. The trail follows the west shore of Gold Lake. Along the way you will pass trail junctions to Fuji Mountain and Mt Ray. Once at the Bobby Lake Trail junction, head east to the lake. West takes you to the Waldo Highway. West of the highway is the trail to Betty Lake. Beyond Betty Lake is great riding to the Waldo Lake Trail and to South Waldo Shelter. If you think it is confusing reading this description without a map, think what it would be like riding it without a map.
Keith Nelson
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