The Golden Ticket
- Shiloh
- Jul 18
- 2 min read

McKenzie River Trail is one of our all time favorite mountain bike rides. This year, we made it a destination and then almost didn't get to ride. Why? They, meaning the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) closed the trail for a restoration project. Fortunately though and amazingly, they decided to issue "golden tickets" to people who had made shuttle reservations for the ride before the trail closure was announced. Phew! It was a beautiful ride AND we learned about EWEB's restoration project. I've included some pics and captions to tell a little about the project.
One of the most amazing facts: They are helicoptering in 2,100 tons of gravel to create fish habitat. To learn more about the project, I've included some links. Scroll through the pics to learn what we learned while chatting up EWEB staff.

When we got to Tamolitch Falls/Blue Pool, there were two EWEB staff stationed to monitor who was going in and out. We showed them our golden ticket and were told that once we got to this guy, he would radio the helicopter, at which point we would need to book-it for about 800 feet while the 'copter stalled their gravel deliveries.
Also, kudos to EWEB! I mean, we were seriously bummed when we found out that one of the main reasons we decided to visit Oregon, specifically to ride this trail, was going to be cut short. They proactively provided the permit and went to the great trouble of figuring out some pretty complicated logistics, namely stopping the helicopter flights while riders went through. What amazing public servants to not just go the easy route of shutting down the trail. Instead they figured out how to balance many competing needs successfully - fish, bikers, safety and more.


Tamolitch Falls, commonly known as the Blue Pool, is a famous and beautiful place where water from snowmelt further up the mountains seeps through the porous lava and then bubbles up here. The temperature is 38 degrees, which doesn't stop some adventurers from jumping into it from the surrounding high cliffs. Our shuttle driver (Gary from Horse Creek Lodge) cautioned us that they average one fatality a year here in addition to many people getting in over their heads in a variety of ways. Sure enough, while driving back home, we were stopped on the road in order for someone to get helivaced out. Be careful out there folks.



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