Photo Gallery: Mountain Biking Ashland, Oregon

With nearly 6,000 vertical feet of high-velocity trails out its back door and a nearly year-round season, Ashland has added itself to the PNW pantheon of mountain bike destinations.

In four miles and 2500 vertical feet, the Time Warp trail descends from alpine meadows to raw volcanic rock and dry pine and fir forest, where the loam allows for eye-watering velocities.

Ashland mountain bikers revived a disused historic trail off the shoulder of Mt. Ashland, turning it into Time Warp. Doc Brown would be pleased.

Ashland's "parallel play" philosophy even pairs intermediate and advanced trails, with the black-diamond Lizard trail (shown here) running alongside the blue flow trail of Caterpillar.

Locals call it "bizarro dirt": Ashland's unique mix of decomposed granite and clay both solidifies and drains quickly when wet, which means come winter, builders love to sculpt it and riders love to schralp it.

Inland from the southern Oregon coast and tucked in the rainshadow of the Siskiyou Mountains, Ashland receives about half the annual rainfall of Portland--perfect for growing wine grapes and farming fast trails.

A little early-season snow on the summit of Mt. Ashland doesn't stop--or even slow down--Nathan Riddle and Gilad Gozlan from a lap on Time Warp.

"There are enough trails here that there’s always a trail for your mood," says Handlebar Ashland co-owner Gilad Gozlan. "You don’t always feel like breaking the sound barrier." Ashland rider Katie Guest finds the smooth line on the Caterpillar trail.

The Ashland Municipal Watershed trail system rides well year-round, from the packed-and-fast tracks of winter to the foliage of fall. “Almost every day here, there’s a window to go riding,” says Gilad Gozlan, co-owner of the Handlebar Ashland.

“We have the weather that allows us to be outdoors all the time,”says Gozlan. “Having this much access, it’s hard not to use it.” Shadowed by Mt. Shasta, Gozland and Handlebar Ashland co-owner Nathan Riddle find the weather window after overnight mid-autumn snow on the Time Warp trail on Mt. Ashland.

Related: Next Up - Bike Destination: Ashland, Oregon