Located minutes off the I-5 Freeway in Rogue River, Oregon, the Mountain of the Rogue is a mountain bike trail system that’s open year-round. Designed for mountain biking, the trails offer experiences for all skill levels. If you’re driving through the area, it’s a trail destination worth checking out.
TLDR;
Mountain of the Rouge, AKA MOTR, is a stacked loop trail system managed by the BLM. Lower-level trails are ideal for beginning and intermediate riders, with higher elevation trails becoming more technical and challenging.
Trail Maps
Trail Forks: Mountain of the Rogue
Recommendations
- Pack Tecnu and consider wearing pants- in the summer, poison oak is present. (Also, don’t fall off your bike into it)
- MOTR is ebike-friendly.
Getting there
Address: 4000 N River Rd #3924, Gold Hill, OR 97525
Best times to ride
Trail Conditions are best in the spring and fall. It can get hot in the summer, and freeze-thaw conditions in the winter can make the trail surface muddy.
Local bike club
The trail system is maintained with the help of the Rogue Valley Mountain Bike Association (RVBA) and volunteers.
Intro (Updated Spring 2025)
If you’re driving through Southern Oregon and looking to take a break to mountain bike, there’s a fantastic option worth checking out: a brand new trail system in the city of Rogue River, titled the Mountain of the Rogue Trail.
In the mountain biking world, Southern Oregon is best known for the trail system on Mount Ashland. However, the local mountain bike scene is much larger and includes trail networks near communities in Medford, Talent, Jacksonville, Applegate, Grants Pass, and Klamath Falls.
That makes for a lot of trail riding options, but the Mountain of the Rogue is only minutes from the Rogue River freeway exit.
One of the more recent additions to local area trail systems, the trailhead is less than half a mile from downtown Rogue River. Not only is it easy to get to, but the close proximity to the I-5 interstate makes it a great stop for riders passing through to take a break from driving.
While there are only 13 miles or so of trails, the flowy features and loop options make it easy to session your favorite sections. Southern Oregon’s first purpose-built mountain bike trail system, the trails were designed and built from scratch to offer a mountain bike optimized experience with bermed turns, rollers, jumps and other popular trail features.
Riding the trails at MOTR
A short climb up the single track gets you to the first turn-off to access the lower flow trail dubbed Pay Dirt. And yeah- it’s all single track.
Pay Dirt is filled with easily doubled rollers and berms, and it’s fun to run laps of this trail alone. Alternatively, you could continue further up the mountain to create a bigger ride with an even longer descent.
Mountain of the Rogue is a nice change of pace from a lot of the new flow trails we’ve ridden that involve miles of pedaling to get to the goods. And while the total mileage of the new trail system doesn’t quite reach 15 miles, the descents are fun enough to do multiple laps.
When we first checked it out, the trail was still new and wasn’t officially even open yet; much of it was raw, with loose turns. The warm summer and lack of moisture would make some refer to the conditions as blown out, but I found it was a nice change of pace from polished and buffed flow trails attempting to simulate bike park conditions.
Riding new trail is always fun in our book, and the character of the ride is certain to evolve over time.
Since the initial opening of the trail system, trail signs have been added, and a parking lot was constructed. Overflow parking is available on the highway below.
What it is:
A non-motorized trail system on BLM lands southeast of Rogue River, Oregon.
Phase 1 actions included the construction of 10 miles of trails and a trailhead parking area.
In the local news: Mail Tribune: Work Begins on Southern Oregon’s first dedicated mountain bike trail
Mountain of the Rogue Trail System from Steven Mortinson on Vimeo.
Summer conditions are hot and dry, with trail conditions best in the spring and fall. The trail is at a lower elevation than Ashland, which can make it a good destination for wintertime riding.
Directions: I-5 Exit 43 – To OR 99 (Rogue River Route) to OR 234 – Gold Hill, Crater Lake. Park on the side of the road, the entrance to the trail is obvious if you are looking for it. Inga’s GPS route: https://www.strava.com/activities/308641911
More on the Facebook page: Mountain of the Rogue