Copyright The Oregonian
Nature enthusiasts can have fun at any speed on Dollar Mountain, southern Oregon’s first year-round trail park designed and built from the ground up with paths optimized for hikers and cyclists, including those using pedal-assisted and adaptive bikes. The ambitious, years-long project by the city of Grants Pass was laid out by Oregon trail specialists and guided by locals with a lifetime of outdoor experience. Hikers can stroll under leafy tunnels formed by manzanita branches and daring mountain bikers can navigate curves and jumps on a double black diamond descent called “Debt Collector.” Dollar Mountain’s easy to rigorous trails have money-themed nicknames like “Cash Flow,” “Non Cents,” “Price Hike” and “Loose Change.” More important, trail signs indicate the length of each of the loops and whether people on foot or on a bike are allowed. Carefully created sight lines make it possible to see who’s approaching on shared trails. The rule is hikers yield to bikers. “This allows hikers to have their area and mountain bikers to share uphill trails with hikers before diving off onto their own trails,” said Josh Hopkins, Grants Pass parks superintendent. People attending Dollar Mountain’s free grand opening celebration — 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 1 — are encouraged to bring their gear and experience the completion of the park’s first 11 miles of new trails. After a ribbon cutting at the Hieglen Loop trailhead, there will be guided tours, scavenger hunts, a DJ playing music, and food, beverages and other giveaways. Winners of the costume contest will receive a pie. There will also be demonstrations of Class 1 e-bikes, which silently give riders a boost as they pedal. Not allowed in the trail park are horses, off-road vehicles and Class 2 or Class 3 electric-assist bikes with speeds of 20-28 miles per hour. The Dollar Mountain festivities are hosted by the city of Grants Pass and members of the Rogue Valley Mountain Bike Association who have been hands-on with the design and will donate 300 hours a year to help the city maintain the trails. More trails planned If all goes well, the Dollar Mountain Trail System could extend beyond the city’s planned 25 miles of trails by spreading into adjacent county-owned and federally managed land. The Rogue Valley already has well-used bike trails like Ashland’s respected network and the Mountain of the Rogue Trails near the city of Rogue River. Supporters said Dollar Mountain can enlarge the region’s cycling tourism and events. Money spent on mountain bike equipment and travel, part of Oregon’s $16 billion outdoor recreation market, boosts local economies, according to a 2024 Travel Oregon report. Chad Thorson, a lifelong mountain biker who was recruited seven years ago by Grants Pass to advise on the mountain’s recreational development, said the project is more than a new trail system. “It’s a path toward a healthier, happier and more connected community,” said Thorson, vice president of the Rogue Valley Mountain Bike Association. The new trail park, he continued, “will benefit both the health of our community and the health of our local economy.” Oregon trail experts The city worked early on with Chris Bernhardt of Portland-based C2 Recreation Consulting. Bernhardt surveyed the mountain, using a clinometer to measure slope and assess drainage and other factors before flagging potential trails. The new trails were designed by Port Orford-based Ptarmigan Ptrails, a licensed trail contractor that specializes in a newer style of flowing single-track trails as seen at Whiskey Run Trails in the Coos County Forest on the Oregon coast. Hopkins said trail designers were encouraged to use natural terrain and features like roots and rocks to provide extra mountain bike skill challenges that can be easily avoided by hikers. Trails built properly do not need the level of maintenance of older, less sustainably designed trails, according to the city. Hopkins said in the past, trails across the state were old irrigation or mining ditches, logging skid roads or deer paths. New trails are positioned and graded to “create that escape feeling,” he said. “Within a few turns from the parking lot, you’re in nature.” Trails to Dollar Mountain’s 1,862-foot summit lead past conifer trees, century-old black and white oak savannas, and manzanita and madrones alongside granite boulders. “Every spring, valleys touched by the sun have fawn lilies and other wildflowers,” said Hopkins. Dollar Mountain is not to be confused with the larger Eight Dollar Mountain, which has a botanical wayside and hiking trails about 30 miles southwest of Grants Pass on U.S. 99 South (the Redwood Highway). ‘Visionary mountain bike project’ Six years ago, Grants Pass paid $1 million for about 450 acres of Dollar Mountain land, a former goat farm where the owner sold $1 baskets of strawberries. The old goat paths were used illegally for decades by ATV and dirt bike riders, causing soil erosion and other environmental damage. Phase I of the project included land restoration. Phase II will add about a dozen more miles of trails. Supporters hope the Dollar Mountain Trail System can then expand into the adjoining 750 acres of public land owned by Josephine County as well as land managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that is designated for recreational use. Singletracks, a popular website for mountain bike news, reviews and trail information, told readers that Dollar Mountain, which “started as a rough, rutted, unofficial hiking trail to a cell tower is now being transformed into a visionary mountain bike project." Thorson, who is chair of the city’s Parks Advisory Committee, said, “Dollar Mountain stands out from the rest in that it rides great during the wet season. “It’s also fun to hike,” he added. “I hike it with my teenage daughters and they love it.” If you go: Dollar Mountain Trail System trailhead with a paved road, accessible parking and a bike repair station is at 353 Hieglen Loop in Grants Pass (grantspassoregon.gov/1668/Dollar-Mountain). The existing Dollar Mountain Crescent Loop trailhead at 16911 N.W. Crescent Drive also has parking. There is no admission or parking fee. Restrooms have not yet been built.
