Oregon trails · Main Trail South
Main Trail South
A 27.1-mile point-to-point in Oregon, with 791 ft of climbing. Reaches Sage Spring and other lake/pass/spring destinations. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the first third: 49% of the ascent falls between mile 0.0 and mile 9.0. It gives back about 1,409 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Sage Spring (spring)
- White Spring (spring)
- Kitty Spring (spring)
- Petes Puddle (lake)
- Tule Pond (lake)
- Hunter Spring (spring)
- Quartz Mountain Pass (pass)
- Lower Pitt Lake (lake)
- Spatterdock Lake (lake)
Getting there
Main Trail South access — parking nearby. 42.08519, -120.70688 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:58 a.m., the sun rises at 6:27 a.m. and sets at 7:38 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:07 p.m. (PDT) — 13 h 11 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 27.1-mile route takes roughly 10 h 27 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 4:54 p.m. — 2 h 44 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Main Trail South + Aspen Ridge Nordic Trail + Aspen Ridge Nordic Spur 107a — 3.0 mi loop, 376 ft gain
- Aspen Ridge Nordic Trail + Main Trail South — 5.5 mi loop, 659 ft gain
- Quartz Mtn. Nordic Trail + South Trail Side Loop + Main Trail South — 9.2 mi loop, 932 ft gain