An unseasonably warm spring means many area trails are snow-free and ridable earlier than usual this year — much earlier.

Trails in the new Wanoga complex, southwest of Bend, are mostly free of ice and snow and are offering supreme mountain biking.

Members of the Central Oregon Trail Alliance, who spend countless hours building and maintaining mountain biking trails, have been hard at work constructing the trails at Wanoga.

“It’s pretty much a whole month earlier,” COTA chairman Woody Starr said last week, referring to when the trails became ridable. “That kind of caught us off-guard a little because we have to plan things way in advance.”

One vital event is the COTA Spring Fling, a trail work party set for Saturday, June 15 (www.cotamtb.com). Starr and other dedicated COTA volunteers hope to get a significant portion of Tyler’s Traverse — a new trail in the Wanoga system — completed that day.

Anybody who enjoys Central Oregon singletrack is encouraged to attend and help expand the state-of-the-art trail system.

Tyler’s Traverse will run from Kiwa Butte eastward to Benham Falls along the Deschutes River Trail.

“There’s a few places that people have been riding (on Tyler’s Traverse),” Starr said. “It’s really hard to find. There’s no signs.”

For now, if cyclists want to enjoy the newest trails in Wanoga, they can ride the Kiwa Butte and Dinah- Moe-Humm trails. Last year, I remember having to wait until almost late June for those trails to become snow-free.

But this spring, all trails in the sprawling Deschutes National Forest west of Bend are accessible early.

The Kiwa Butte and Dinah-Moe-Humm trails, located at about 5,500 feet in elevation, account for about 8 miles of singletrack accessible via Wanoga and Edison sno-parks. These trails were not completed until fall 2010.

A week and a half ago I made the 15-mile drive from Bend to Wanoga Sno-park to ride Kiwa Butte and part of Dinah-Moe-Humm.

The easiest way to find the Kiwa Butte Trail is to ride the Tiddlywinks Trail from Wanoga for about 3 miles to the connection with the Kiwa Butte Trail. Signs now marks both the Kiwa Butte and Dinah-Moe-Humm trails.

The Kiwa Butte Trail starts off with a few boulders to ride over and then cuts along the west side of the butte. Green alpine meadows line the trail to the east, while views of snowcapped South Sister and Broken Top to the west can be found through gaps in the towering pine trees.

While the naming of the Kiwa Butte Trail is self- explanatory, the naming of the Dinah-Moe-Humm Trail isn’t. The trail gets its name from the title of a song by Frank Zappa, a popular rock musician in the 1960s and ’70s.

The Kiwa Butte Trail connects to Dinah-Moe-Humm at Forest Service Road 4133. Near this intersection is also the west end of Tyler’s Traverse.

I took a right onto the singletrack and began a gradual climb over a few technical rock sections on Dinah-Moe-Humm. I rode for about a mile before turning around and heading back the way I had come.

Riding the Kiwa Butte Trail back toward Wanoga Sno-park was quite a thrill, as I cruised over some fast, rolling up-and-down sections and some boulders that were incorporated thoughtfully into the design of the trail.

I turned back onto Tiddlywinks and rode my way back downhill to the sno-park, completing a ride of about 12 miles.

The existing trails at Wanoga are a blast, but many more miles of singletrack are in the works. Once Tyler’s Traverse is completed, mountain bikers can ride a loop that includes the Steve Larsen, Tyler’s Traverse, Kiwa Butte and Tiddlywinks trails.

The more volunteers COTA has working out in the woods — including at next month’s Spring Fling — the sooner that becomes a reality.

Editor’s note: Mountain Bike Trail Guide, by Bulletin sports and outdoors writer Mark Morical, features various trails in Central Oregon and beyond. The trail guide appears in Outdoors on alternating Wednesdays through the riding season.

Kiwa Butte and Dinah-Moe-Humm trails

DIRECTIONS

From Bend, drive 15 miles southwest along Century Drive to Wanoga Sno-park. Start out on the Tiddlywinks Trail, which connects to the Kiwa Butte Trail after about 3 miles (right turn onto singletrack). The Kiwa Butte Trail connects to Dinah-Moe-Humm at a four-way intersection after another 3 miles (another right turn onto singletrack). Dinah-Moe-Humm runs for 5 miles to Edison Butte Sno-park.

LENGTH

Kiwa Butte Trail is about 3 miles and Dinah-Moe-Humm is about 5 miles.

FEATURES

Outstanding Cascade peak views, varied terrain, technical trail features and passing lanes.

RATING

Aerobically moderate and technically moderate.