Video Route Report: Pine Mountain Observatory Loop

Contributed by Dallas Mignano as part of our Local Overnighter Project, the Pine Mountain Observatory (PMO) Loop provides an overnight sampler of the high desert forest of the Oregon Outback. The PMO’s highpoint and midpoint brings riders to the University of Oregon’s astronomical observatory and adjacent campsite at the top of Pine Mountain. Back in May, videographer Chris Wilson rode the route and put together this report. Watch it below and scroll down to read his notes.

Route Report

Words and Photos by Chris Wilson

Day 1

Overall, I had a really great time on the route. Going clockwise, day one had a lot of tarmac. It’s also a lot easier to climb up to Pine Mountain on the gravel road from this direction. I got to the observatory around 2:00 PM with no one around. There are quite a lot of camping opportunities leading up to the observatory, at the observatory, and just leaving the observatory. A few parties ended up trickling in over the course of the evening.

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Day 2

Day two had much more gravel and singletrack. I was happy to be trending down on this terrain because going up would have been far less fun—the sandy singletrack, in particular. I took a detour to explore one of the caves. In retrospect, I wish I’d have checked them all out and brought a better headlamp. I can also see why folks may not want these posted on the route guide (to keep them from being vandalized by the masses). I was back at my car at 12:00 PM.

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Notes

• I rode this route with 2.3″ tires. I think this (or wider) is a pretty good choice given some of the sandy sections, but you could get away with skinnier tires.
• Bring lots of water! You don’t see much water on this route.
• Be prepared for exposure to the sun for the majority of the route.
• I think this would be a wonderful ride in the shoulder seasons!

More from Chris Wilson

Make sure to dig into these other video route reports from Chris Wilson...