MTB Paulina Lakes Newberry Crater

This past Sunday, Trevor and I decided to ride Paulina Lakes/Newberry Crater.  It was new territory for me so it was great to get out somewhere new and ride something different.  The ride starts with a 1,500 ft gravel grinder climb to the peak/lookout area.  If you are in all business mode, you can skip the upper 500 ft of elevation gain and catch the trail that spurs off lower on the road prior to the lookout area.

The extra 500 feet are well worth the time and energy to check out the nice 360 views overlooking the lakes, the rim, and the lava flow.

The trail was generally pretty fun.  The ride went quickly enough as actual ride time was just under 2 1/2 hours.  With stopping for a few pictures here and there, our total time was just under 3 hrs but was well worth the moments to gawk and snap.

Some sections of the trail were a little loose but all things considered, it was a great day to be out on the bike.  We came across a couple of people on horseback but generally, there were very few people on the trails.  By the time we finished our ride, the heat was starting to rise and we started to realize how happy we were that we started the ride relatively early (as opposed to in the heat of the day).

This will be a great ride to add to the quiver of local options.