Spence Mountain

On a warm weekend day, you can often hear laughter and joyful conversations as the Jackalopes, a community-run youth mountain biking team, zoom down the trails of Spence Mountain. The Jackalopes, whose members range in age from 12 to 18 years old, are just one of many community groups who enjoy over 47 miles of trails tracing up and over Spence Mountain. Just 10 miles outside the city of Klamath Falls, Spence Mountain rises 5,800 feet over Upper Klamath Lake in southern Oregon. It serves as a popular recreational destination for community members and visitors alike.

For years, volunteers have developed and maintained miles of trails on Spence Mountain, creating local trails for residents and a recreation destination for visitors. But because the area was privately owned, and zoning would allow for development of this landscape, public access to these beloved trails wasn’t guaranteed. With help from local partners, Trust for Public Land permanently preserved Spence Mountain and its trails by transferring ownership from private hands to the county. Now that the mountain is a public park, its preservation ensures access for community members, recreationalists, and youth groups such as the Jackalopes.