Trails in the Dutchman winter trail system. The new snowshoe trail provides a connection from the Dutchman Sno-Park to the snowshoe trail to Todd Lake. There have also been other minor modifications to ski trails in the Dutchman area.

If you have been cross-country skiing in this area over the last couple of decades, you know that not a lot has changed on the trails in the sno-parks near Bend. We have a great network of ski trails across six local sno-parks, but despite increased use and a growing regional population, the total mileage of the ungroomed ski trail system has remained largely the same. Bend is one of the few places in the country with dedicated snowshoe trails, and the increased popularity of snowshoeing has made the existing trail systems pretty busy. And now that fat biking is a thing, the snowshoe trails are seeing use from more than just ‘shoers.

The Central Oregon Nordic Club recently sought permission from the U.S. Forest Service to add or reroute about 10 miles of ski and snowshoe trails in the sno-parks along the Century Drive corridor, and thanks to grant funding from the Deschutes Trails Coalition and donations from local skiers, we’ve begun to put some of those new trails in place.

In the Dutchman system of trails, the biggest change is the addition of a snowshoe trail from Dutchman Sno-Park that connects to the existing snowshoe trail to Todd Lake. We’ve also re-routed the Water Tower Trail near the water tower to eliminate an unsafe bridge, and we’ve modified part of the Big Meadow trail to make it easier to maintain and avoid conflicts with snowmobiles. And there is now a short connector between the Big Meadow and Flagline Access trails to avoid confusion, since these trails are close together. At Edison, the most obvious change is the addition of a connector to give another loop option for those on snowshoes. There are also sections of the Snowshoe Long Loop, the Alternating Current Ski Trail and the Light Bulb Loop that have been re-routed at the request of the Forest Service in order to protect sensitive wildlife areas.

Next summer we plan to add a snowshoe trail at Edison that will go to the AC/DC shelter.

At Meissner, a section of the snowshoe trail to Nordeen Shelter has been re-routed to make it less steep and easier to navigate.

In the Swampy Lakes area, a work in progress is a re-route of parts of the Beginners Loop trail in order to make it easier for less experienced skiers. We have cleared the trail and put markers in place, though some refinements are expected this winter as we see how it skis. Next spring and summer, we’ll be adding two new trails in the Swampy Lakes trail system to provide more loop options for skiers that still connect with the shelter; There will also be a new option for snowshoers in the Swampy snowshoe trail system that provides an alternative to the steep hill on the Porcupine Loop.

At Vista Butte Sno-Park, we plan to add a snowshoe trail that will go to the summit of Vista Butte.

And if that’s not enough — we’re also upgrading signs. We’re switching to blue and white signs and away from the brown signs that have been typically used at trail junctions. These promise to be more durable and more visible. In all, we expect to replace about 70 signs in the next year.

It takes a fair amount of work to lay out and clear trails, and install assurance markers and junction signs. Without the small army of volunteers who put in and maintain these trails, none of this work would be possible. And a big thanks to Deschutes Trails Coalition for seeing the value in winter trails and being willing to support this work.

If you are interested in getting maps of any of the winter trails, they are available on the Deschutes National Forest website, and can be accessed through this link: tinyurl.com/DeschutesTrails. Updated maps showing the new ski and snowshoe trails are expected to be posted soon on the website.