A mountain biker flies off a berm drop at Post Canyon near Hood River on Oct. 1.

Bend and Hood River always seem to be battling for the label of “best outdoors town” in Oregon.

They both have the hiking, fishing and skiing/snowboarding opportunities. Bend has the mountain biking while Hood River has the kiteboarding and windsurfing.

But wait, Hood River ALSO has the mountain biking. If you somehow tire of the 900 miles of singletrack in Central Oregon, head to Post Canyon just west of Hood River along the Columbia River Gorge.

According to traveloregon.com, Post Canyon is one of the original gravity networks in the country, “and it has aged exceedingly well. Over time an enthusiastic group of local trail builders has populated these forested hills with a plethora of features, from perfectly bermed turns to steep roll-downs.”

The Post Canyon trail system is mostly located on the 30,000-acre Hood River County Tree Farm and is managed by the Hood River County Forestry Department. The seemingly endless network of trails includes 3,400 feet of vertical descent from the top down. The Hood River Area Trail Stewards build and maintain trails at Post Canyon.

A new experience

While staying in the Portland area earlier this month, I made the one-hour drive east to Hood River with my friend Tony Barnes. I had been to Post Canyon once about 15 years ago, and Tony had never been there, so we were both relatively new to the area.

Because there are so many options, from big gaps to flowing downhill to twisty cross-country, I decided we would ride a loop of the lower portion of the network.

Post Canyon includes four main trailheads: Post Canyon Road, Seven Streams, Family Man and Binns Hill.

We started from the Seven Streams Trailhead, which included a small parking area about a mile up Post Canyon Road just west of Hood River. A Hood River County Parking Pass is required to park at any of the HRC Trailheads. Visit the Hood River County website (hoodrivercounty.gov) to purchase daily or yearly parking passes, which can only be bought online.

We began by climbing the Seven Streams Trail, which was firm and tacky from recent rainfall, and continued the challenging climb all the way up to the Family Man Staging Area.

The Family Man area includes several skill building areas, built for beginners to experts, and is one of the most popular areas at Post Canyon. It includes a progressive dirt jump line, a dirt pump track, skill building bridges and ramps, an intermediate jump line and an advanced drop line.

We enjoyed a few of the easier lines before continuing our climb up the El Dorado Trail. Fall colors of red and yellow popped along the hillside as we pedaled through the deep forest.

Sprawling views and downhill thrills

Eventually we arrived at a viewpoint where we could see brilliant snow-covered Mount Adams above the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. To the north, we could see Mount Hood and the sprawling, orchard-dotted Hood River Valley on the clear, crisp fall day.

Tired of climbing, we decided to begin our descent back toward Seven Streams Trailhead, starting on a trail called Bad Motor Scooter. The path included large jumps and berms along pristine dirt, and set the stage for the rest of our downhill thrill ride.

We connected to Upper Grand Prix, a black-diamond (advanced) trail that featured more swooping drops and berms, even one spot where the end of a berm sent riders flying into the air off-axis. From there, it was blue (intermediate) trails Lower Grand Prix, Spaghetti Factory and Kleeway all the way back to Seven Streams Trailhead.

I got a bit overconfident on a medium-sized jump on Kleeway, and was sent over the handlebars and into the bushes. I popped right back up, but I could feel the pain of the crash for the next week or so.

We ended up riding about 10 miles in a little more than two hours. The ride included about 1,200 feet of ascent and 3,400 feet of descent.

But we only scratched the surface of the Post Canyon network, sticking to the lower trails. I’m eager to return to Hood River and experience an all-day adventure that includes the upper portion of the renowned trail system.

Road-to-trail-to-road: Heartburn over fate of Bend’s Duodenum trail

For air time, head to Wanoga Infield skills area