This state park in La Pine, which is south of Bend, it is one of the few that are not only free, no park pass required, but except for a couple of small areas, horses are allowed throughout the entire trail system, AND there is more than one parking area big enough for trailers.
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| The Deschutes River at La Pine State Park. |
The largest day use parking area is just as you enter the park on the left. There is another smaller one just before crossing over the bridge, but although I have parked there in the past, it's probably best to leave it for cars, and lastly there is a decent sized horse trailer area at McGregor Point.
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| Parking at the paved day use area. |
There are about 14 miles of easy designated trails, but there are also occasional dirt roads and other short detours off the beaten path to explore. These trails are shared with cyclists, but I haven't run in to very many when I have ridden there, at least during the week.
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| On the Deschutes River Loop. |
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| Junctions are marked and many of them have a map. |
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| The Deschutes River. |
One of the longest rides is the Fall River Loop, you start out riding beside the Deschutes, but then continue along the crystal clear spring fed Fall River, which also has a side trail to a small waterfall.
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| Fall River. |
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| Fall River. |
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| The waterfall at Fall River. |
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| McGregor Point. |
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| Views of Paulina Peak from McGregor Point, along the Deschutes River. |
One of the short trails that you are no longer allowed to ride on, (this changed in 2020) is the Big Tree Trail which features Oregon's largest Ponderosa, which is supposed to be over 500 years old.
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| The Big Tree. |
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| Crossing the bridge at La Pine State Park. |
The park is open all year, but it's a pretty snowy area in the winter, so spring and fall is when I usually visit. There is a people campground, with no horse camping, but luckily just 19 miles away, and a lot higher in elevation, is the Newberry National Volcanic Monument, that has a horse camp by the name of Chief Paulina.
Happy Trails!
GPS COORDINATES TO LA PINE STATE PARK
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