More trails, more bikers, and (hopefully) fewer closures … will all add up to more fun on the Klootchy Creek mountain biking trails network.

In 2020, coronavirus pandemic restrictions and weather conditions (wet and/or dry) led to blanket closures of trail systems across the state.

In early July 3 2021, the current system of trails at Klootchy Creek were all closed due to fire danger.

When it is open, an overview of Klootchy Creek shows a total of 17 different mountain bike trails.

The North Coast Trail Alliance manages the trail system with GreenWood Resources and the Clatsop County Parks Department. The trail alliance is still hosting mountain biking events along the Oregon Coast.

While the latest closure is “discouraging,” said Steven Blakesley, president of the Northwest Trails Alliance, enough work was completed in the off-season that there are “just under 10 miles” trails in the Klootchy Creek system, up from 7.7 miles at this time last year, with more trail openings on the way.

Before the July closure, an “Upper Low Tide” trail was opened for intermediate riders, while the “Quarantine” trail was completed all the way to the Klootchy Creek mainline road.

“We had done work on the lower part of the system, and we were about to start on the intermediate trails (before the closure),” Blakesley said.

The alliance’s long-term goal is to have 40 miles of networked trails. Volunteer trail-builders have put in more than 5,000 hours of work on the trails.

“When we had the grand opening (in 2019), we had 2.7 miles,” he said.

Early returns in 2020 showed “where people are coming from, and they’re starting to come from all over,” Blakesley said. And that was in a summer hit hard by inclement weather, coronavirus restrictions and a 10-day closure in August for fire danger. The virus and the summer fire season kept organized work parties from developing the trails, while the funding is “mostly driven through tourism dollars,” Blakesley said — another major setback because of coronavirus that wiped out much of the tourist season.

“COVID hit us hard in the sense that it made it difficult for the volunteers and the fundraisers to get together, because of the social distancing rules,” he said.

Collaboration

Until recently, the “true mountain bikers” of Clatsop County had limited options on where to ride.

Thanks to a collaborative effort of the Northwest Trails Alliance, GreenWood Resources and the Clatsop County Parks Department, those options improved dramatically with the Klootchy Creek Trail system.

The network of trails is located off U.S. Highway 26, two miles east of the U.S. Highway 101 junction. It’s also the county’s only system of trails built specifically for mountain biking.

County commissioners were joined by representatives from GreenWood, the trail alliance and others involved in the project for a chainsaw “ribbon-cutting” that officially opened the trails in July 2019.

The Klootchy Creek trail system has something for every type of mountain biker, from the casual rider to the most serious expert mountain biker.

“The project is really about designating trails for all user levels and user-desired experiences,” Blakesley said in 2020. “It really covers a lot of ground.”

Before you go, a quick check of some of the trail names (which can be found at trailforks.com) might give you an idea of what the trails are like.

The Klootchy network includes the “Defibrillator,” “Sticky Buns,” the “Get Down,” “Dirty 30” and “Holy Shoot,” just to name a few. Trails are all classified by difficulty.

“The trails are very different and they all have a unique feel to them, so they appeal to different people,” Blakesley said. “That’s the goal we’re trying to reach. We love seeing new riders up there.”