When we rode Brown Mountain last month we passed the trailhead for Rye Spur and a sign for Four Mile Lake and were intrigued. So, the other day we put together a ride that encompassed both! Our loop was about 18.5 miles with 1700′ of climbing.
This ride starts at the Rye Spur trailhead and we rode along the powerline dirt road for a short distance to connect with the gravel Four Mile Lake Road. We rode this on a weekday so there wasn’t much traffic but it is dusty so it could be annoying on a weekend. The ride along this road isn’t very long before we turned off on Cascade Canal Trail.
Cascade Canal Trail is a 7 mile easy trail that meanders alongside the canal through the forest. It’s a double track that is a bit rough in spots but we were on mountain bikes so it was easy. Why is it here? In 1898, the Fish Lake Water Company was established to help irrigate the Rogue Valley and the canal was built to take water from Four Mile Lake to Fish Lake.
The Cascade Canal Trail ends at Four Mile Lake. The area all around the lake is HEAVILY damaged by beetle kill and the forest service website even claimed the road to the lake was closed but we saw a few cars. The lake and campground was empty and we rode right up to the waterline and took a break. As you can see in the pics, Mount McLoughlin, stands 9,495′ above the lake and provides a striking backdrop.
After our break we hit the singletrack Rye Spur Trail. This trail starts a bit rocky and pretty narrow but opens up a bit as it climbs about 600′ in the first couple miles. It’s a gentle climb up through the forest which gets deep into the beetle kill. The trail is pretty thick duff which makes the going a bit slow. We took a short detour up to the Rye Horse Camp and then a fun twisty descent back to our main trail.
Unexpectedly we popped out at a sweet craggy rock outcropping with views all the way down into Klamath. This was pretty much the highpoint at around 6150′ and from here the trail dives downhill fast! The downhill switchbacks a few times and there are some long traverses and fast riding. We crossed over the canal and kept going, entering a couple rocky sections and back into green forest. It’s over too fast.
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