Eastern Oregon beckons for your next adventure!
The Oregon Natural Desert Association and the Mountain Shop invite you on to learn about new opportunities to explore your public land on the 750 mile Oregon Desert Trail on foot, by bike or packraft, via an October 10th event at the Mountain Shop, 1510 NE 37th Ave, Portland, Oregon. Doors open at 5 p.m., with the panel beginning at 6 p.m. Space is limited, so register for the free event at ODTBootsBikeBoat.eventbrite.com.
Join bikepacker Gabriel Amadeus, ultra-runner Christof Teuscher, thru-hiker Brian “Tomato” Boshart, and packrafter Renee “She-ra” Patrick for a panel discussion about their adventures in the high desert, and the importance of public lands for recreation.
Enjoy free beer from Base Camp Brewing, explore lightweight gear options from Six Moon Design, and score some great raffle prizes from Six Moon Designs, Oboz, Sawyer, Clif Bar, TOAKS, Gerber, Gossamer Gear, Trail Butter, Superfeet and more.
The 750 mile Oregon Desert Trail traverses some of the most spectacular natural areas of the state’s dry side, including Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, Steens Mountain and the Owyhee Canyonlands. Thanks to thousands of volunteer and staff hours, the guide material, maps, GPS tracks and waypoints, and town information are all freely available for anyone to create his or her own Oregon Desert Trail adventure. With a western terminus in the Oregon Badlands Wilderness and an eastern terminus in the Lake Owyhee State Park near the Idaho border, this route crosses mountains, vast deserts, rivers and canyons. It links existing trails, old Jeep tracks, historical wagon roads and cross-country navigation, and is accessible at different points by bicycle, horseback and raft in addition to foot. Some sections offer easy walks along well-marked paths. Other areas require GPS skills, significant outdoor experience and serious preparation, particularly for water sources.
Also of note, the Oregon Natural Desert Association has asked federal agencies to consider designating the Oregon Desert Trail as a National Recreation Trail “Connecting Trail” linking the existing Fremont National Recreation Trail and the Oregon High Desert National Recreation Trail. (See othis Nov. 8, 2013 letter.) This would result in the more formal adoption of the route, allowing for signage, inclusion on federal maps and more.
The association wants feedback from users and from the communities surrounding the trail so they can work with land management agencies to refine the ODT and offer the best information possible to visitors to our public lands: Please contact the organization at renee@onda.org. And consider sharing your adventures on the trail on our High Desert Trip Reports page.
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