Driving up Century Drive to go snowboarding at Mt. Bachelor on Sunday morning, I noticed the parking lot at the Cascade Lakes Welcome Station — where the Catch and Release, C.O.D. and Ticket to Ride trails all meet — was nearly full.

But we’ll have all spring and summer to ride those trails.

This time of year, I like to get a few more weeks out of the trails east of Bend, before they become too sandy and dusty by summertime.

Horse Butte, southeast of Bend, is an ideal mountain biking option through late April and well into May. The relatively flat and nontechnical nature of the trails near Horse Butte provides a great way to ease into the season for those riders who spent most of the winter skiing and snowboarding rather than mountain biking.

Last week, I made the short drive to the Horse Butte Trailhead.

The Coyote Loop Trail and Arnold Ice Cave Trail (Trail 63) form a loop of about 10 miles that can be ridden in either direction. I started out on the Arnold Ice Cave Trail to ride the loop clockwise.

The trails traverse the burn where the 1996 Skeleton Fire scorched 17,000 acres, opening up sprawling views in every direction and leaving behind sagebrush and bare juniper trees.

To the west, I could see nearly all the prominent Cascade peaks of Oregon: Mount Bachelor, the Three Sisters, Broken Top, Mount Washington, Mount Jefferson — even Mount Hood to the far north on the extremely clear day.

The trails near Horse Butte are rideable for all skill levels and offer a good warmup before heading out to more grueling rides this season.

It is extremely important that all user groups cooperate in areas like Horse Butte, where frequent users include hikers, trail runners, mountain bikers and equestrians. Mountain bikers are required to yield to pedestrians and horseback riders.

While the trails at Horse Butte are nice for biking this time of year, they also allow for access to lava caves. Sure, you can drive down China Hat Road to find some of these caves, but getting there via mountain bike seems to add a sense of adventure.

I followed the signs on the trail to Boyd Cave, located about a quarter of a mile north from the Coyote Loop Trail along Forest Road 560.

Boyd Cave is one of several lava caves in the Deschutes National Forest that is open and accessible to the public, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

I walked down the access stairs and stepped into the dark cave. After strapping on a headlamp, I ventured a few hundred feet into the lava tube.

The lava caves were formed thousands of years ago from crusts of solidified lava that grew over the top of flowing lava, according to the U.S. Forest Service. When the eruption that produced the lava stopped, the lava drained out of most of the lava tube, forming the cave.

Boyd Cave is a well-preserved lava tube with little collapse and a total length of about 1,880 feet, according to the Forest Service. (Boyd Cave was reportedly vandalized and defaced with graffiti earlier this year. Trail users should respect the area and never leave anything behind.)

I headed back up the steps, into the bright sunlight and back on my way.

On the return trip to the trailhead, I stopped a couple times just to take in the quiet of the High Desert and the warmth of the spring sun.

The ride back to my car was fast and flowing. I cruised through the sagebrush and past old juniper trees as the snow-covered mountains dominated the horizon.

Sure, Central Oregon is filled with mountain biking options this time of year, but Horse Butte still offers a special oasis away from the west-side crowds.