Cyrus Horse Camp
Location: Cyrus Horse Camp, Prineville, OR 97754
Facilities: Vault toilets, manure bin, fire pits and picnic tables at each site Camp Site Amenities: picnic table, fire pit, horse corrals larger than typical Site Type: back-in and pull-through Water: Stock tank, may not be working or full Footing: Rocky, hoof boots recommended Cell Signal: 2 bars with ATT!! Dogs: Dogs allowed Other: Weed-free hay required Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/mthood/recarea/?recid=53400 Reservations: first come first serve Any complaints: Please call the Crooked River National Grasslands Office (541) 416-6640 or Ochoco National Forest Office (541) 416-6500 |
Getting There
The drive to Cyrus Horse Camp from SE Gresham was relatively easy. It is always nice to head east. It means you don't have to go around or through Portland and Hwy 26 is paved, has a nice grade and is beautiful!
After we passed the fork to Timothy Lake there was 20 minutes of "rough road" that was marked with highway signs and chalk. We made this trip in May of 2023 and I am hoping that this section of Hwy 26 will soon be repaired. Edit as of April of 2024 this section has been patched. It is not perfect but it is a smoother ride. On the way east I still noticed a rough section after Timothy Lake but going west I didn't notice at all. Coming home the grade of Hwy 26 through Mt. Hood is so wonderful! It is a nice gentle slope. I don't have to tap the breaks or put my truck in 2nd gear. My bias is years of driving truck and trailer through the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Read about it here. The toughest part of the drive was the 4 miles of washboard gravel road from Hwy 26 to the horse camp. These 4 miles may have taken 20 minutes to drive. |
Must Brings
1) A friend/spouse or rider with a short horse, you will need them to get the gates.
2) Shade. There is not a lot of shade here. Make sure your awning works or bring a way to hang a tarp. The corrals do not have arches over the gate so there is no obvious way to attach a tarp.
3) A bucket to pick up trash, there is a lot of trash on the side of the trail due to some homeless campers.
4) Water, for you and your horse. There is a stock tank but it may or may not be full.
5) A map and GPS tracks, I followed a GPS track made by others and I still got lost.
6) An air-tag for your horse or a Tractive GPS collar tag. You can track them with the cell reception and GPS. Sam wore my air-tag, a Tractive GPS and ID bracelets. There is no excuse to lose your horse when there is a cell signal and many gates.
2) Shade. There is not a lot of shade here. Make sure your awning works or bring a way to hang a tarp. The corrals do not have arches over the gate so there is no obvious way to attach a tarp.
3) A bucket to pick up trash, there is a lot of trash on the side of the trail due to some homeless campers.
4) Water, for you and your horse. There is a stock tank but it may or may not be full.
5) A map and GPS tracks, I followed a GPS track made by others and I still got lost.
6) An air-tag for your horse or a Tractive GPS collar tag. You can track them with the cell reception and GPS. Sam wore my air-tag, a Tractive GPS and ID bracelets. There is no excuse to lose your horse when there is a cell signal and many gates.
Horse Campsites
The layout for Cyrus Horse Camp is a little funky. Not completely in a bad way but in an unorganized free-for all way. I will try to give you a little guidance. I could not find a map for the camp so I made my own. There are scattered parking areas that may or may not be close to specific horse corrals. It looks like a great set up for large groups. Most sites would share horse corrals. I labeled the parking areas as P* with the odd numbers on the inside of the loop and the even numbers on the outside of the loop except for P9. There are no site numbers at camp. I am describing the loop driving down SE Hagman Ln and pulling into the camp loop driving counter-clockwise. All of the corrals are metal, larger than 12 x 12s, have metal gates but no way to secure the gate closed. A lead rope would do the job but a chain and carabiner would be more convenient to open and close. All of the sites are in the sun and this would be a very hot camp in the summer.
- P1: You can pull into this area arched to make it a pull-through or straight in nose first and then back out. There is a 4 horse corral that is shared with Parking area 3.
- P2: This is a back-in site with a 2 horse corral
- P3: Large area to either arch into as a pull-through or back into. Share 4 horse corral with P1.
- P4: Back in site, 4 horse corral
- P5: Back-in space, 1 horse corral.
- P6: Possible pull-through or back in sharing large parking area, 2 horse corral
- P7: This is a funky site. There are rocks bordering the camp loop so you can't pull in closer to the horse corral. The parking area is a ways from the 3 in line and 1 behind 4 horse corral. Weird site layout, almost an after-thought.
- P8: Large area to pull-through if no-one is parked in P9 you can exit by pulling through around the picnic tables
- P9: Back in site, 2 horse corral
- P10: Large area to pull-through depending on if anyone is parked in P8 or P6, can back-in, 4 horse corral
Campsite Pictures
P4 - 4 horse corral
Site Video
Site Video
P5 - 1 horse corral
Site Video
Site Video
P7 - 4 horse corral, 3 in-line. There is no parking space close to this set of corrals because there is a line of rocks bordering the grass. The parking area I labeled as P7 is a ways away from the corral. P9 has a small back-in but you could also park in spot P7 and use the corrals of P9.
Site Video
Site Video
P8 - 2 horse corral, one gate opens in front, the other in back which may make it awkward to access your horse.
P8 Site Video
P8 Site Video
P10 - 4 horse corral
P10 Site Video
P10 Site Video
Trail Map
Haul-Out Option
You can haul out to Smith Rock State Park and ride the trails marked where horses are allowed. The main large parking lot is in a circle and has 5 trailer parking spots. Hauling out does mean navigating the 4 mile gravel washboard road from Hwy 30 to camp. If you ride at Smith Rock State Park make sure you know how high the river level is. The horse trail requires crossing the river and this is best done later in the summer with lower water levels.
Riding Challenges
Cyrus is a wonderful horse camp but the trails present a few challenges. First, the gates, at least 14 total. The gates are not swing-gates or chain gates, most of them are big, gnarly, barbed-wire, heavy and tightly wound gates! The good news is according to OET PNER endurance riders donated funds to replace some of the horrendous gates with less terrible people gates. This work may happen the summer of 2023. My advice would be to wait to camp here until some of the gates have been replaced. If you are adventurous then read on and I will tell you about the horror of the gates. Update, April 2024. There are still big, barbed-wire terrible gates you need to open and close around this horse camp. The best time to ride these trails is during a hosted endurance ride or poker ride. These events usually have volunteers to open and close the gates for you.
The second challenge is the presence of homeless campers. They did not bother me but there is a lot of trash on the side of the trail. Cleaning the trash up is an endless job if the homeless continue to disperse trash. Another challenge is shooting on the land. I was not aware this was a problem when I was riding. The managing body has been trying to limit the shooting to a specific area. And finally, there are dirt-bikes. We had two encounters with dirt-bikes during our ride. The first rider was kind and turned off his bike without me having to ask. The second group of 3-4 bikers were not as courteous. We met the dirt bikes around the Grey-Butte Trailhead.
During my trip I was riding with the Still Prineville endurance ride. This ride provided gate openers (for some gates), and someone checked on me throughout the trail to make sure I got home. If I had to go back, I would camp at Cyrus, but haul out to Smith Rock State Park and do my riding in the State Park. Even better, an AirBnB close to Smith Rock might be my first choice. I personally will not be doing any other riding around Cyrus.
The second challenge is the presence of homeless campers. They did not bother me but there is a lot of trash on the side of the trail. Cleaning the trash up is an endless job if the homeless continue to disperse trash. Another challenge is shooting on the land. I was not aware this was a problem when I was riding. The managing body has been trying to limit the shooting to a specific area. And finally, there are dirt-bikes. We had two encounters with dirt-bikes during our ride. The first rider was kind and turned off his bike without me having to ask. The second group of 3-4 bikers were not as courteous. We met the dirt bikes around the Grey-Butte Trailhead.
During my trip I was riding with the Still Prineville endurance ride. This ride provided gate openers (for some gates), and someone checked on me throughout the trail to make sure I got home. If I had to go back, I would camp at Cyrus, but haul out to Smith Rock State Park and do my riding in the State Park. Even better, an AirBnB close to Smith Rock might be my first choice. I personally will not be doing any other riding around Cyrus.
Less than 8 mile Rides
Warm up Loop around Cyrus Horse Camp
Our last day of the endurance ride I was pretty pooped. I just wanted to ride from the endurance ride camp off SE Hagman Lane to Cyrus Horse Camp and then back to our ride camp to head home. There are no gates on this route. You could also ride trail 854 instead of the road and enjoy a single-track for most of the loop. When we rode, the single-track had turned into a bog from a heavy rain-storm the night before. I was pretty happy with more solid footing on the gravel road.
The worst of the bog is marked by the red circle. If you dig around in the mud and find a scoot boot, congratulations, it's yours. At about the green x location there is an abandoned van. This trail is not well marked and I saw a fence-line but stayed parallel to it and did not have any gates to open. The elevation profile above and to the left is from the endurance ride camp to Cyrus Horse Camp and to its right is from Cyrus Horse Camp to the endurance ride camp. |
Cyrus Horse Camp to Endurance Ride Camp
I started the longer rides described in this chapter from an endurance ride camp a mile away from Cyrus Horse Camp. You can follow any of my GPS tracks by following this route from Cyrus to the beginning of my trail.
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Longer Loops > 8 Miles
Cole-Warner Loop Trail
The first day of our endurance weekend we did a lovely, short warm up loop. We had volunteers open the gates and we had obstacles to do along the way. The blue lines indicate rough gate locations. Most of the trail was an overgrown, unused gravel road and the rest was single-track. The section between the two gates on the left side of the picture, on the west, gates we did not cross, was a really lovely single-track for long-trotting. We flew along that section. Part of the trail-ride was to ride past a biker riding toward us, (piece of cake) and go past a filled black garbage bag (more scary). I made the mistake of not putting on hoof boots and Sam was pretty ginger-footed along the single-track. It looks like soft footing but has a lot if small rocks mixed in. The next day I booted Sam on all 4s and he was much happier and faster.
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The landscape was pretty barren and dry. I much prefer riding through our typical PNW rainforest and this was a stark change in climate.
One of the big perks of organized endurance rides is the professional photographer that hangs out on the trail. In this picture we had just walked by a biker riding toward us. Sam is so completely used to bikers I didn't think it was a planned obstacle.
Tribby Loop
There was a lot of swearing and double checking my GPS map on this route. It was not my favorite route and I would not ride it again. It was absolutely beautiful but the crossing of Hwy 26 twice and Lone Pine Road and having 2 gates to open made me want to go home and never come back.
I rode this route during the Grizzly Mountain Endurance Ride of 2024. Sam and I can handle a lot. However when my GPS told me to "prepare to cross the highway" I got a little stressed. Sam did just fine and once I knew that it was the route, I was ok too. The trail on the west side of Hwy 26 was beautiful but definitely not worth the stress of possibly dying on a highway crossing. This was the route for "trail-riders" at the endurance ride. I would not have asked trail-riders to do this loop and even experienced endurance riders with amazing Arabs commented about the hazard of crossing the highway. |
Longer Warner-Cole Loop Trail
I went back to Cyrus Horse Camp during the Grizzly Mountain Endurance Ride of 2024. I swore I would not ride here again unless I had gate-keepers. We started from ride camp located east of Hwy 26. I recommend starting this ride from Cyrus Horse Camp or from the Just Prineville Endurance Ride Camp that is typically west of Hwy 26. Endurance riders are tough but crossing Hwy 26 was a little stressful. This is not a good place to have an "Arab Moment." Since I ride with lots of amazingly calm Arabs, insert your stereotypically hot breed and imagine your horse at its worse then cross a highway with a trucker and big rig coming at you.
We rode the map in the top right picture counter-clockwise. The initial section that paralleled Hwy 26 was right under the power lines and was not a great section to ride. If I had to ride this again I would have started from Cyrus and ridden the map on the lower right. This trail cuts away from Laurel Lane and stays west of Hwy 26 but if you are not at an official event then bring your friends to get the gnarly gates. The pink map shows a 12.1 mile Cole-Warner Loop that stays west of Hwy 26 and can be ridden from Cyrus Horse Camp. There are a lot of gates around Scales Corral and they are big and gnarly with barbed-wire. Wear leather gloves and bring twine to handle the guide wires. |
The prettiest part of the trail is the zig-zagging up the butte between forest road 260 and 240. This is the section with the most elevation gain. I was not able to stop for pictures. I was passed by "Bob" a amazing gaited horse working on his last loop during his 75 mile endurance race. Bob on his 3-4th loop knocked our socks off and Sam charged up the hill behind him. I love riding endurance because even though I am a beginner and LD rider I get to ride with amazing horses like Bob that ride 50-75 miles and are still full of themselves.
Coming from Portland the scenery around Cyrus Horse Camp is pretty dry, barren and desert-like. Of course the day was overcast and cold and stormy. There are supposed to be great views of the mountains around the horse camp but every time I ride here it is cold and overcast.
The mostly flat trails do make endurance riders hearts sing. You can book it down these trails really fast! Sam wore hoof boots on all 4 which quickly turned into 3. We have been struggling with hoof boot fit and our left rear hoof boot twisted and had to be removed mid-ride. There are absolutely no stumps to stand on so Sam was very tolerant of me trying my best to pull myself back on top after wrestling his twisted boot off his hoof.
Sam did even better with just 3 boots and he can long-trot at 14 mph.
Cole Loop Trail
During the Still Prineville Endurance ride of 2023 I chose to ride the orange 17 mile loop. This was the longest mileage I have ever ridden all in one go. We made it more like 18 miles since I am very good at getting lost, even when I have a GPS track to follow! The blue is the GPS track I created as I was trying to follow the orange. The gates are marked with red dashes and the mother *** of all gates are two thick red lines close together.
The hardest part of the trail was the gates. I learned that they typically come in twos and usually when we cross a gravel road. So, when you dismount for 1 gate it is best to walk on the ground for a while until you see a 2nd gate. In the picture gates are noted as a dashed line. The doubled dashed line was a very terrible and scary gate. |
The landscape was pretty stunning, although barren. The footing was rockier than you would think and Sam did better with hoof protection. It was overcast during our ride so we did not enjoy any pretty mountain views.
Passing Scales Corral were the first set of 2 gates. The first gate we opened is not pictured. The gate posts would get twisted and it is a lot to handle while holding onto your horse. I did better when I found a place to tie Sam while I wrangled the gate. Leather gloves would have been good to protect my hands from barbed wire. Other OETers use twine to help pull the posts back into the wire loops.
This is a nicer gate we passed through. There was a small strand of wire that goosed Sam as he walked through. This is where I learned to have Sam go through the gate first in front of me.
We met many cows on this stretch and had a good long trot uphill.
After passing the Skull Hollow there were more gates. This one was happily left open when I reached it.
I was not able to take a picture of the horrible, terrible, barbed-wire, scary gate, that sprung back at us. It was at about mile 15. After 15 miles I saw it and cursed and wanted to be home. After 15 miles of being alone and talking to your horse like they are a person, I felt a small fraction of the profound depth of loneliness true endurance riders talk about. The feeling of being ALONE with your horse. Of relying on your horse and your horse relying on you. It is beautiful and magical, and utterly terrifying all at the same time.
I was SO happy to see the photographer and other human beings that were associated with the endurance ride. We got another wind and enjoyed the next 3 miles headed back to camp. In this picture we are approaching the ride photographer and I am so happy to see her after about 16 miles of seeing no other riders! We just passed two groups of dirt bikes and I am about to tell her all about it! Sam is keeping his cool and despite everything, I am really happy to be out riding my amazing horse Sam!
Endurance Riding Lessons - Still Prineville 2023
I am by no means an "Endurance" rider. I like to go fast, in a straight line, on a loose rein with someone supervising my progress. This was my 2nd organized ride with Sam and I did learn a lot.
1) How Much Clothes do I Wear?
This is a big deal. During our first experience in Roy, WA I erred on the side of wearing too much clothing. This made for a sweaty ride, even in the 40's.
This trip I wore too little, not terrible as we trotted to keep warm. The smart riders carry light pull-overs in their bag.
2) Boot or Not Boot?
In WA we booted and then lost all 4 boots. This trip I booted and we kept on all 4 boots! If you look at the boot and in your gut think it might rub or look loose, then you are right. Now I have a chart for which boot to use on each hoof depending on where we are in Sam's trim cycle. My newest idea is to try an Easyboot Fury Heart. If that fails, maybe glue-ons.
1) How Much Clothes do I Wear?
This is a big deal. During our first experience in Roy, WA I erred on the side of wearing too much clothing. This made for a sweaty ride, even in the 40's.
This trip I wore too little, not terrible as we trotted to keep warm. The smart riders carry light pull-overs in their bag.
2) Boot or Not Boot?
In WA we booted and then lost all 4 boots. This trip I booted and we kept on all 4 boots! If you look at the boot and in your gut think it might rub or look loose, then you are right. Now I have a chart for which boot to use on each hoof depending on where we are in Sam's trim cycle. My newest idea is to try an Easyboot Fury Heart. If that fails, maybe glue-ons.
3) Horse Containment. Sam crushed it on the Hi-Tie! He acted like he has hi-tied his whole life. I did bring extra bungee safety releases. I want to be able to release it at his halter and also an arm's length away from him. This obstacle conquered, we could camp anywhere!! I am saying goodbye to claustrophobic 12 x 12 corrals.
4) I Ride Alone. I am ok with this. Sam and I have a better time by ourselves and we get to relax and just focus on each other. It is nice to see horses in camp or ahead or behind us but we do not want to get stuck directly behind another horse. I could work on slowing down Sam but I just don't enjoy it, and he doesn't either. Make friends at camp but ride alone. 5) Send your horse through a gate in front of you. Don't walk in front of your horse going through a gate. I learned this the hard way and have the scars to prove it. We had A LOT of practice with me opening scary gate and then sending Sam through the space before I followed him through. I also learned that Sam will step over my body and stare me in the face as I lay on the ground. After a gate mishap, Sam stood patiently while I pulled myself out from between his front legs and stood up to grab his reins. Another side-note: my inflatable vest does not work when I fall when I am already on the ground. Actually, maybe it would if I bungee myself to my horse while I hand-walk him.... 6) Adjust your stirrups for the riding speed you plan on. I like them shorter if we trot more and longer if we only walk. I didn't know the terrain so I chose the wrong length. I like my left longer than my right, I am not interested in fixing my body asymmetry, I just know what I want. 7) Clip and Un-clip your Air-Vest as soon as you mount and before you dismount. This sounds silly, but you may need a mantra in your head. I have already had one unintended deployment. I just wish it would protect me when I am walking on the ground. |
Endurance Lessons April 2024 Grizzly Mountain
1) Weather and Gates. It was cold and I would have been better with one more layer. I could have also trotted more to stay warm. I had a bit of anxiety from crossing the highway and opening gates so we mostly walked. We did better going through the terrible barbed-wire scary gates. I sent Sam through before me and he was less spooky about the gates.
2) Boots. We had some pretty terrible boot rubs from our Cavallos. Sam has huge feet and they get too tight at the end of his 5 week trim cycle. My next thing to try is glue-one shoes. I had to withdrawal from the 25 mile race and trail-rode instead with 3 boots due to the severity of the boot rub.
3) Camping, hi-tying and staying warm. We are pretty good at camping, the hi-tie and packing lists. I did use all 6 of my Roybi batteries powering my electric blanket on high all night long. We are looking for better early season heat options to keep from freezing.
4) Sam Race Recovery. Sam did great in his 150g blanket with some LED lights so I could see him from inside the trailer at night. He ate well, drank well and recovered well. I used a heart-rate monitor and he never got above 120 bpm the whole weekend.
2) Boots. We had some pretty terrible boot rubs from our Cavallos. Sam has huge feet and they get too tight at the end of his 5 week trim cycle. My next thing to try is glue-one shoes. I had to withdrawal from the 25 mile race and trail-rode instead with 3 boots due to the severity of the boot rub.
3) Camping, hi-tying and staying warm. We are pretty good at camping, the hi-tie and packing lists. I did use all 6 of my Roybi batteries powering my electric blanket on high all night long. We are looking for better early season heat options to keep from freezing.
4) Sam Race Recovery. Sam did great in his 150g blanket with some LED lights so I could see him from inside the trailer at night. He ate well, drank well and recovered well. I used a heart-rate monitor and he never got above 120 bpm the whole weekend.
Rating
The horse camp itself is in good shape. The corrals are metal and they are large. That is about all the good things I can say. The views can be amazing. During my trip it was overcast, which Sam and I prefer. If you go too early it could be snowy or cold and rainy, but if you go later, it is going to be extremely hot!
I did enjoy riding the trails during an endurance ride. There was some help to open gates and the trails were beautiful and vaguely reminiscent of every trail I had ever ridden in Colorado. The best time to ride these trails is during an organized event. The trails are marked and the gates are opened for you. I did talk to a rider that said she rode right next to people shooting at targets that kept shooting their guns even though they saw her on her horse!
If management addressed the gates, shooting, homeless and trash, and dirt bike problem, this could be a very special place. I would love to alternate days for motorized vs. non-motorized use. Bikers would benefit from bike pass-throughs in the gates. If we could create more user traffic then we could create more pressure to move on the homeless. Even better, get funding to give them jobs or inspire them to be camp hosts. It is frustrating to see public land misused when it has so much potential.
I did enjoy riding the trails during an endurance ride. There was some help to open gates and the trails were beautiful and vaguely reminiscent of every trail I had ever ridden in Colorado. The best time to ride these trails is during an organized event. The trails are marked and the gates are opened for you. I did talk to a rider that said she rode right next to people shooting at targets that kept shooting their guns even though they saw her on her horse!
If management addressed the gates, shooting, homeless and trash, and dirt bike problem, this could be a very special place. I would love to alternate days for motorized vs. non-motorized use. Bikers would benefit from bike pass-throughs in the gates. If we could create more user traffic then we could create more pressure to move on the homeless. Even better, get funding to give them jobs or inspire them to be camp hosts. It is frustrating to see public land misused when it has so much potential.