A classic ride on the south side of Mt Ashland. The Colestin valley is about as far south as one can go in Oregon without being in California. In fact, this ride dips it’s toe into the golden state as you navigate around the old Fruit Growers Association mill site to get to the namesake of the ride, Trestle Rd. Much of the area was owned and logged for the production of wooden boxes to ship fruit in. The Fruitgrowers were fans of small scale railroad logging and many of the roads in the area are reclaimed rail beds. That means a perfect slight gradient. Trestle Rd is 11 miles long and averages 2.5%. That’s the type of climb even a gravitationally challenged individual like myself enjoys. The roads really wind and wander their way up the flanks of the hills in this area, offering amazing views of Mt Ashland, Pilot Rock, and Mt Shasta.
This ride is a bit lower in elevation and has more south facing slopes so it’s possible to do further into winter and sooner in spring than some of the other high country gravel routes. A bike with 40mm wide tires is the perfect choice, although it can easily be enjoyed on a bike with a narrower tire if the conditions are firm. A wider tire is nice if the roads are soft and spongy from moisture. There’s a tiny amount of some pretty rough Siskiyou County pavement so I wouldn’t recommend taking a road bike, even one with 28s would not be fun. The vast majority of the road surface is decomposed granite. A small bonus of this loop is that the majority of it is within cell phone range. You can Instagram to your hearts content on the ride There’s quite a few year round creeks running on the second half of this loop, so even in summer, two water bottles is plenty if you bring a filter. Extra ride bonus, the loop starts AND finishes on a descent!
There’s four lengths of ride to choose from. All the routes except for the short option start together and will climb the Trestle Rd to 4 Corners before they choose how long their day will be. The short route lops off the last two miles of the Trestle Rd to and turns you onto FS Rd 41S06 for a beautiful and smooth three mile descent down to Fountain Of Youth Spring. The spring has a faucet with potable water to refill your bottles and regain some of the youthful vigor you might have lost on the ride. Say hi to Ponce DeLeon if you see him. After topping off your water you hang a left at the saddle and head down hill to the southeast on Hilt Hungry Rd back to your vehicle and the start/finish of the ride.
The Classic is just shy of 32 miles with about 2800ft of climbing. . If you going to do the Classic route, at 4 Corners, you’ll turn right and head east on FS Rd 40S06 and gently traverse and roll for 10 or so miles until you hit Colestin Rd. At the intersection of 40S06 and Colestin, you’ll hang a right and start the descent back to your car and the start finish of the ride.
The difference between the medium and Classic Trestle Honey Badger is the extra loop down to Beaver Creek and then back up to 4 Corners via Fountain Of Youth Spring. When you first reach 4 Corners you go left for the descent down 41S08 to Beaver Creek. It’s a giggle fest and super fun, but you don’t get to do that descent if you choose the Classic route. Once you’ve hit Beaver Creek, you’ll climb up Hilt Hungry Rd to the Fountain of Youth Spring and then take a left on 41S06 to climb back up to 4 Corners. At 4 Corners you’ll head back down the Trestle Rd. While you don’t get to do the classic traverse across the 40S06 road and bomb the descent down Colestin Rd, you do get to drop down the 11 miles of Trestle Rd. If you’re on the fence about how much mileage you want to bite off but are curious about the extra bit of the long route option, this is the route for you. It’s also a great cheat code to catch back up to the friends that dropped you on the long route and maybe leap frog ahead of them. Imagine their surprise when they get back to the start and there you are waiting for them!
The long route will do the same route as the medium route, but will continue east on the 40S06 Rd when they climb back to 4 Corners the second time. The long route will then be back on the Classic course and will roll the 10 or so miles to the Colestin Rd, where you then hang a right and descend back to the start.
The ride will start and finish at the Hilt church. Please be respectful of the historical building and the residents of the area and don’t litter or muck stuff up.
Ride with GPS Links
Length
Trestle Honey Badger Short 26 Miles
Trestle Honey Badger Classic 31.8 Miles
Trestle Honey Badger Medium 39.8 Miles
Trestle Honey Badger Long 46.3 Miles
Altitude
Trestle Honey Badger Short 2854ft
Trestle Honey Badger Classic 2775ft
Trestle Honey Badger Medium 3738ft
Trestle Honey Badger Long 4247ft
Honey Badger Rides 