Cultus Mountain and Lake Loop Trail is a 11.9 mile moderately trafficked loop trail located near Bend, Oregon that features a lake and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from July until October. Dogs are also able to use this trail.
dog friendly
backpacking
camping
mountain biking
trail running
walking
forest
lake
views
wildlife
It was a great experience. I did about a 13 mile loop and the majority of the trail was shaded so it was nice and cool. The only downside is that you have to run up the road back up where you came from. If there was a way to connect it from another trail this would be a 5 star trail.
I hiked about one half the 'trail', and ran the other half. After doing so, I agree 100% with the trail's classification as a bicycling route. From Cultus Lake Lodge, approximately 1 mile consists of paved road, and another 3 miles of relatively high-volume gravel road puts you right at Little Cultus Lake. Once you get through that, you're left with about 1 mile of rough, old Forest Service road to Deer Lake, and then about 8 miles of nice, shaded single track roughly paralleling the lake.
A better choice for runners and hikers (of similar length) would be to head from Cultus Lake Lodge north and then west along the northern bank, all the way to a nice gravel beach at the western edge of the lake, then back the same way. If you're looking for more of a challenge, throw in another couple miles to the top of Cultus Mountain.
The two-star rating is from a hiking/running perspective, but I think even from a cycling perspective, the traffic volume on the roads, and several miles of gravel washboard on the actual loop, wouldn't allow for a rating above 3 stars. Beautiful area though--just need to get some more of the numerous trails on the map.