This signage greets Canal Trail users at the Nottingham Square neighborhood, but the trail is open to users on either side of it.

Despite Central Oregon’s plentiful trail options, there aren’t many bona fide trails on Bend’s south end, other than the Deschutes River Trail, most easily accessed if you live in southwest.

But there is the Central Oregon Historic Canal Trail, which parallels the Central Oregon Canal. Four miles in length, according to Bend Parks & Recreation District, it runs from the Deschutes River to Reed Market Road, then dips south again toward 15th Street, where you can pick up another section running between there and Ferguson Road.

On Thursday, I pedaled my commuter/hybrid bike from my south end home north to the segment of the Canal Trail where it crosses Third Street, then made my way east on the compacted-gravel trail. Now, this is not the most beautiful stretch of trail — a point driven home when, as luck would have it, a bird on a branch overhead pooped on my beanie. (Some, including my wife, will tell you this is good luck). I rode on down the trail, which is sandwiched between businesses such as Carl’s Jr. and the dry canal bed.

Had it been on the itinerary, I could have continued east along Reed Market to pick up the Larkspur Trail, which runs north and south and from which one can reach Pilot Butte State Scenic Viewpoint.

Ideally, I’d have stayed along the canal, but it passes through the Nottingham Square, which doesn’t allow public access. So instead, I took one of the bike path openings into the Luderman Crossing neighborhood, made my way to 15th and pedaled south to the trail crossing near 15th and Chloe Lane. Here, the canal is sandwiched between the many homes that have changed the southeast Bend landscape dramatically in recent years.

At Murphy Road, I hung a right and pedaled west again, admiring the under-construction Alpenglow Park, scheduled to open by early summer. Presumably, the Central Oregon Historic Canal Trail would make an excellent way for Bendites to get there, so I asked the park district about the possibility of trail access through Nottingham Square.

“The section of the canal ditch rider road (aka maintenance road) that passes through the Nottingham neighborhood is privately owned by the Nottingham Homeowners Association and not open to public access,” said Henry Stroud, a park district planner. “While the park district is eager to extend the Central Oregon Canal Trail through Nottingham and connect Alpenglow Park to the greater trail system, this would require permission from the HOA. If given the opportunity, the district would welcome the opportunity to work with HOA to open the trail safely and protect the privacy of nearby residents.”