Start at 8,120 ft near the Mt. Howard summit and plunge down to 4,424 at Wallowa Lake. This unofficial-official maybe-legal-to-MTB trail is a newly built ATV track that is rocky, rugged and crazy to descend. With an average gradient at -20% you'll only want to go down this trail, not up. And that's just the average, as several pitches are in the -30s. And, I forgot to mention that this trail starts at the top of a GONDOLA!
The trail was built for emergency access on the mountain. The original downhill route was the service road on the back side of the mountain, with was largely unpopular because of the ho-hum nature of down-hilling on a dirt road. Even though this new trail wasn't built for MTB use, it is a step in the right direction for legit DH riding. More importantly, there is crazy terrain off of this trail just awaiting development of new lines if mountain biking is in the future of Wallowa Lake.
Killjoy alert: Unfortunately, the tram manager does not want mountain bikers accessing this trail shown here. So, to avoid coming out on the tram-owned land at the bottom, you can cut off the alternate route and come down the moraine. That is, assuming you can access the trail at the top before someone yells at you. The gondola is operated by Wallowa Lake Tramway, and might allow you to take a mountain bike to the top. The service road on the back side can climbed by bike, but not by car because of the locked gates. The other way to come down is on a paraglider.
Trail Notes
- 0.0mi Find the trail a few feet south from the lodge at the top of the gondola. The tracks go immediately under the lift.
- 2.7 Pass a road to the right that forms a trail that goes over to the top of the moraine, if you want to take this over to Joseph. You will follow the cattletrack on top of the moraine once you get out of the trees. Otherwise, to continue down the bottom of the tram, stay on the main ATV tracks
- 3.6 Arrive at the gondola and paved road at Wallowa Lake.
