2 Day Bikepacking Trip Near Bend, OR: Horse Butte Trail to Newberry Crater

Located just 40 minutes south of Bend, Newberry Crater is an outdoor-enthusiast’s paradise, with miles of trails to explore, numerous campsites to choose from, and even a couple primitive hot springs, if you know where to look.  My friend Andrew and I decided to explore the area this past weekend by mountain bike, taking the Swamp Wells Trail all the way up to the Crater Rim Trail, and then making our way towards the Little Crater Campground before further exploring the trail network in the area.

Having tried this ride one time before and failing due to heavy snow along the last 5 miles of the Swamp Wells Trail, I assumed that early October might be a good time to explore the area, but we completely lucked out on numerous counts: weather, season (we saw almost no one on the trails), and trail conditions.  It turns out that October is the ideal time to plan your bikepacking adventure up to Newberry Crater, so get to planning!

The Map

Want the GPX version of this map, or just more detail?  Click here.

‘Tis the Season

Carefully eyeing the forecast, we officially decided that Newberry Crater was going to be our destination around midweek, and so Friday evening Andrew bused his way over to Salem and we immediately headed for the Swamp Wells Trailhead, where we would be spending the night before our early morning start.

We slept in until 7am, took our time getting the bikes ready to go, and officially started our ride around 8:30am, where the trail starts as a steady uphill for the first 13 miles or so.

Early morning sunrise

The campsite for the night.

No the trees aren’t on fire, the sun is just going a little crazy.

Breakfast digs.

Locked and loaded.

Chilly start.

All smiles at the beginning.

The view after about 5 miles.

Things were pretty dusty at certain points, even though it had rained earlier in the week.

And we made it to our first checkpoint.

However, once arriving at Swamp Wells Horse Camp, the trail becomes a bit more primitive and steep.  While it is officially a multi-use trail, unlike some multi-use trails that are bumpy and unfavorable for bikers because of horse use, this one very quickly begins to feel like a mountain bike trail.  Littered with small rock gardens and technical ascents, it kept both Andrew and I constantly vigilant.

Lots of rocky uphill on this section.

And some beautiful, wide open spaces.

There were also a few small snow spots, but nothing too bad.

And the junction! It was almost all downhill from here to our campsite.

Celebratory lunch of champions: Vegetarian beans and fritos. I ate four of these.

Andrew deeply concentrating on the map.

Andrew’s Loki pointing us towards our eventual path.

Around 1pm, we arrived at the junction for the Crater Rim Trail, where we ate lunch before enjoying a quick descent down to our eventual respite spot for the night, Little Crater Campground.  We arrived at the campground, set up camp, and then decided that since the day was still young, we better take advantage of it and head up to Newberry Crater’s highest point: Paulina Peak.

The chaos that is camping

The view from our spot.

Paulina Peak – our final highpoint destination for the day.

Starting towards the peak had us riding the highway for a bit.

While there is singletrack that can be ridden to the top, Andrew and I felt we had earned a gravel road ascent, as the first 24 miles of our ride had been singletrack climbing.  Once at the top, we enjoyed beautiful panorama views of the lakes, the lava flow on the south side of the crater, and many of the peaks so well-known in the Bend area.

We started on pavement…

Which quickly turned to gravel.

There were some beautiful views of other cones in the surrounding area.

And then we were at the top.

Daring contemplative shot.

This was taken solely to get Andrew a full sponsorship with Orbea.

And then we realized it was time to ascend.  We had about 1 1/2 hours left of light, so decided it was in our best interest to ride singletrack back down to our campsite, completing a small mini-loop for the afternoon ride, because everyone knows a loop is so much more satisfying than a simple out and back.  so we took the Crater Rim Trail over to the Lost Lake Trail, which turned out to be the highlight of the trip for both of us.  We both raced down the trail as the waning light accented the lava flows and surrounding landscape with soft purple and pink hues, a perfect contrast to the rugged, rocky terrain surrounding us.

Part of the lava flow on the way down.

Sunset on Paulina Lake.

Sunrise on Pualina Lake.

Geared up for a cold morning ride.

After climbing up about 500 feet, we finally made it to the flatter Crater Rim Trail.

What was left of my meager snacks.

Heading down the Coyote Loop Trail.

Upon arrival back at the car, we both agreed that this was one of the most fulfilling and enjoyable weekender routes we had ridden to date and, while exhausted, we both felt completely invigorated to tackle our weekday duties the next day.

Of course, no trip would be complete without an unreasonably large burger, so Andrew and I stopped at Next Level Burger before heading home, a Vegan burger joint that makes some stellar veggie patties.  Andrew and I didn’t even look at the menu; we simply ordered the largest, most expensive burger on the menu.

It’s called The Animal, but don’t worry; no animals were harmed in the making of The Animal.

Categories: Oregon Bikepacking, Pedals and Packs

Tagged as: Bend Mountain Biking, bikepacking, Marin Pine Mountain 2, Newberry Crater, Newberry National Monument, Orbea Loki