All without any cars, trucks or motorcycles on the road with you. Your ride starts at nearly the 6,500-foot elevation mark and goes up and down from there.
This year Ride the Rim http://ridetherim2017.com events will happen on Saturday, Sept. 9 and Saturday September 16, 2017.
Cyclists love the idea of riding around the rim https://home.nps.gov/crla/planyourvisit/vehicle-free-days-on-east-rim-drive.htm in Crater Lake National Park https://www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm without worrying about motorized vehicles. Park officials tried the idea in 2013 and received a positive response from Oregon’s cycling community so they did it again in 2014 and 2015 and riders came from as far as Seattle and San Diego.
“I was up on the rim in September 2014 and I counted over 100 cyclists in a 10-minute span,” Superintendent Ackerman recalls, “and that was on one of the two days. We figure we easily had over 1,000 people. In 2016 estimates put the total of riders near 5,000!
Motorized vehicles will be prohibited on Rim Drive from Munson Valley Road on the lake’s south side to Crater Lake Highway on the north end. That’s about 24 miles and 3,300 feet in elevation gain. You can park vehicles at each end and stop after 24 miles.
Rim Drive on the west side of the lake will be open to all vehicles throughout the cycling days. Likewise, Munson Valley Road will be open so anyone can drive to Crater Lake Lodge. These roads will allow cyclists to position their own shuttle vehicles at each end of the route.
Walkers are encouraged to join in the event too. “For many years we’ve wanted a way to allow people to experience the park without the concerns of motor vehicles,” Superintendent Ackerman says. “We had a ton of people last year walking, pushing strollers. What better way to experience the park than to just walk?”
