Eastern Oregon All Terrain Vehicle Association

Updated May 30, 2022

Well I'm trying to do a better job of updating this site this year. I make quick posts on our Facebook page and forget about this, so if you want more recent information check us out there.

The trails on MERA are opening up. I think there is still a little snow around North Knob. Due to all of the recent rains the trails are really wet and prone to damage. Please use some caution and common sense when riding to keep our trails in good shape.

We will had our first YSEP class this year on Saturday May 21. There were only 2 kids that made it. We will try again on Saturday June 25. Keep that in mind if you have or know of someone that needs the class. They can get more info and sign up at http://ysep.omraoffroad.com/

We are still waiting for the OK to build the section of single track on MERA that will connect Hillside Ride to Fenceline where it meets Mainline at Up and Away. When already built from where Hillside Ride hits Vaca Loop over to the the other leg of Vaca Loop. The next step is building from there over to the Mailine Up and Away junction. With any luck by the time we finish that we will have the go ahead to build across the hillside on over to Mainline. We also have one short section to add to Dead Bull and once that is finished you should be able to ride all of the single track without having to ride any road sections.

The lands swap with Hibbert was completed sometime last year. This involved trading the land on the west side of F.S. 3120 for an equivalent amount of land to the west of the rock pit and Hillside Ride. Sean has plans to add more ATV trail in that area and we are looking at adding a route up to Vaca Loop to bypass the open rocky hillside above the rock pit. This would make for an easier option for those with less experience. If anyone has any ideas for additional trails of any kind let me know and we can look at what you are thinking about.

We will have another MERA motorized trail work day Saturday June 4, 2022. We don't have the OK to build what we want, but still have some trail we can build.

There is plenty of work that needs done on the ATV and Jeep trails. Some just need brush and branches cut back. Most of them also need traffic on them so they are easier to follow

We are up there at other times trying to keep up with maintenance on trails and can always use more help. If you would like to help out you can always text me at 541 805-0172 and you can come help me or I can tell you what needs done if you want to go on your own.

I believe there is more work being planned to clean up the Breshears system as well as to replace the last bridge. I know Ben has put in for a grant to get a new excavator as the old one is decades old and continually breaks down. If you didn't get a chance to check out the work that was done up there last year make sure to get up there this year. So far they have improved things without taking away the unique character of the system.

We did quite a bit of trail work on MERA last spring and summer. Aside from the normal maintenance that we have to do each year we were able to open up almost 3 miles of new single track trail. This trail is between 201 Mainline and 206, It is named Detour. It is connected at both ends to Dead Bull. One end at 206 and the other at 201. This is a really fun easy trail.

We were a little early getting Breshears opened up this year due to the snow coming off earlier at the higher elevations. Rob and I had them open the middle of June this year. For the most part the trails held up pretty good.

The Forest Service pretty much got shut out of doing any more work last year due to the high fire danger. The year before from mid to late July and into early August they did some tread work. They started at the "R" trail and came over Kenny's Mountain and went as far as the bridges on Bell Cr. trail. They moved the trail over in places and rerouted it in others to get it out of some of the worst low spots. The Bell Cr, Upper Breshears junction has been revamped and they moved the trail out of the deep water/mud hole just up from the junction. They also replaced the short bridge next to the one we replaced the year before. I not sure how much sign work they got done last year due to dry weather and fire danger. If the weather cooperates the the bridge on Upper Breshears should get replaced this year.