Sandy Ridge has long been one of the crown jewels of Pacific Northwest mountain biking — a BLM-managed trail system just an hour outside of Portland, and one of the most popular mountain bike trail systems in the area. At the top of that progression ladder sits Johnny Royale, a one-way, park-style jump trail that currently holds the distinction of being the most progressive flow-style jump line on BLM-managed public land in the country — a title previously held by the Enticer Trail in Redding, California.
That’s a big deal. And right now, Johnny Royale is getting the refresh it’s needed for a while.
Sensus R.A.D. Trails, alongside Hills Builds, have been contracted to rework the trail from top to bottom, and construction is already underway. Founded by freeride legend Cam Zink, R.A.D. Trails is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit with the goal of bringing progressive trails, bike parks, and community to the mainstream. Sensus Lead trail builder Cody Wilkins is a veteran in the craft with a deep bag of tricks and a reputation for creating amazing experiences for riders of any level. (there’s solid piece on Cody here at Mountainbikeacademy.com.) Their portfolio spans projects from Lake Tahoe to Bend to Maui, so Sandy Ridge is in capable hands.
Joining the Sensus Trails team is Hills Builds, who have teamed up to focus on the hand and shovel work to ensure the final product is top-notch.
Work Has Already Started — and It’s Top-Down
If you’ve ever dropped into Johnny Royale and felt like the bottom half was a completely different trail — you’re not wrong. That disjointed feeling, combined with drainage problems and some genuinely punishing landings (should you come up short -I’ve personally bottomed out hard enough to worry about ovalized headtubes and broken bike bits), is just one of the items the crew is looking to address.
The build crew is working their way from the top of the trail down. The upper section of Johnny Royale has always been the part that gets riders fired up. Getting the flow right from the very first feature sets the tone for everything below it.
One of the most immediate and welcome changes: the first few jumps have already gotten wider, with larger landing zones adding a bigger margin for error. If you’ve ridden this trail, you know what this means. Some of those landings left very little room for mistakes — and the trail has seen its share of riders get carried out. A wider, more forgiving landing zone doesn’t make the trail easy; it makes it smarter. You can still send it just as hard. You just have a little more real estate when you come down.
Build it, ride it, test it
It isn’t enough to slap the lips into shape and pack them. The build team is also test riding each feature to ensure the jumps work and flow into the next. Many of the lines already feature a more basic lip with an advanced line option off to the side for more creative interpretation.
Drainage Work Is Underway
Beyond the features themselves, the trail had some genuine infrastructure problems. Drainage issues in a few spots have been a persistent headache, and the crew is already addressing them head-on. Excavator work has begun, digging out the drain zones, with plans to add gravel and install culvert pipe where needed. Getting water off and away from the trail properly isn’t glamorous work, but it’s the kind of thing that determines whether this refresh lasts.
Case Pads: A Safer Learning Curve Without Softening the Trail
Perhaps what I’m most excited about is the potential addition of case pads on some of the trail’s more treacherous landings. For the uninitiated: a case pad is essentially a flat zone placed at the top of a jump’s landing — the spot where you land if you come up short. They’re common in bike park flow and jump trails, and they’re a game-changer for riders in the midst of leveling up and pushing their limits. One of the challenges with Johnny is that you need to blast the jumps right out of the gate, and gaining that confidence can be challenging, especially after an injury. If you’re not nailing the speed, casing the landing can be rough on the body and bike – I’m pretty sure I’ve bent parts on mine on days I wasn’t feeling 100%. Those “fuck-you bumps,” as I like to refer to them, have taken out more than a few riders.
We might be seeing the trail ride more like A-line (though potentially with lips you can do tricks off) and less like unforgiving BMX trails. On my second visit out, this was confirmed, with the build crew taking an afternoon break from shaping to test-run the first few features.
This doesn’t mean Johnny Royale is going beginner. It’s still a double-black diamond jump trail. What it means is that riders working up to the bigger features won’t necessarily pay with their body or bike every time they miscalculate. That forgiving margin is exactly what keeps people progressing instead of going home in an ambulance.
The Bottom Section Problem — Finally Being Addressed
Long-time Johnny Royale regulars know the feeling: you’re charging through the upper section, momentum building, features flowing one into the next — and then after the section in the clearing, the trail flattens out and something changes. The jumps don’t really have lips, and they’re smaller. The lower section has always felt disconnected from the rest of the trail, partly a result of the more gradual grade down low. It’s a common criticism that the crew at Sensus has heard loud and clear.
While the terrain can’t be bulldozed into a steeper pitch, the Sensus team has promised the fun factor on the lower section will be considerably improved. The specifics of how they reshape and rework the features to compensate for the flatter grade will be worth watching. Trail builders of this caliber know how to work with what the land gives them — adding rhythm sections, compression features, and creative shaping to manufacture speed and flow even when the grade doesn’t provide it.
What to Expect
The refresh is actively underway, and there’s no confirmed reopening timeline just yet – the goal is by June and the Sandy Ridge Shuttle Day Fundraiser. Expect the trail to be closed during the construction period until then.
When it does reopen, Johnny Royale should ride more cohesively from top to bottom, drain a bit better after rain, and offer a slightly more forgiving — though still deeply challenging — experience for expert riders. The bones of one of the most exciting trails in the region are still there. Sensus R.A.D. Trails is just finally giving it the full send it deserves.
Learn more about Sensus R.A.D. Trails at thesensus.com.
We’ll have more coverage as the project progresses. Follow Bermstyle on Instagram and Facebook for updates.