Could be called homeless trail. Very unnerving with so many people coming out of the bushes and actually laying on the trail. Nicely paved a bit hard to follow with so many entrances and exits.

Our experience was great. Beautiful and safe and in Ashland we had lunch in a nice outdoor cafe before we returned to Central Point.

I needed to grab a 12 mile run on my vacation and was looking for a relatively flat route. This was it! I picked up the path at S. Stage Rd and ran to the end in Ashland. The path is well-maintained with any cracks or bumps marked with bright spray paint. The path passes several parks and parking areas with restrooms and water fountains. I think I passed a total of three point to point. The trail was well marked except for the final turn into the neighborhood in Ashland where it picks up a different trail to conclude.

We started the bike ride at MP27 in Central Point at the newly-built Southern Oregon RV Park at the fairgrounds. We turned around at MP16.

Except for a couple of areas with root heaves which were marked with paint, the asphalt trail was in very good condition. The trail is relatively flat and runs along Bear Creek. This section of the trail is not particularly scenic and parts of the trail parallel I-5. At some points, the trail even runs underneath freeway overpasses. There are a couple of nice parks along the way – Hawthorne Park, Bear Creek Park and the very large US Cellular Sports Park. Most of the parks mentioned have water and restrooms.

The sad part of this section of the trail is the number of homeless and transient encampments on the trail. People are living under the underpasses and along the river. No one bothered us and I heard that the cities along the trail sweep through the area on a regular basis and cleanup all the garbage left behind and try to break up the encampments.

Overall, I would recommend this ride if you are in the area.

Walked all but .5 miles of this trail yesterday, starting at the Rogue River Rest Stop (where you can park for four hours for free). The beginning of the trail (starting at the rest stop) is shaded and the paved trail runs alongside the camp grounds. There is a secondary gravel trail that runs right along the bank of the river for about 2 miles. It is not accessible for bikes but is easy to walk and has a lot of access to the river. At just about the 2 mile mark (again starting from the rest stop) the shade ends! We did not encounter any shaded areas for the last half of the trail which is why we turned back before finishing. It got way to hot with the sun directly on us and heat radiating up from the asphalt. It was still a great walk, lots of cyclists were out and it was beautiful. Would do it again, only this time I will be prepared for shade only on the first half.

We started in Ashland (had trouble finding the start of the trail and where to park at first) and rode to Medford and back. I would say about 85% was very enjoyable and nice scenery. The other 15% was a little sketchy, but not enough to recommend against it.

Rode this section today and found it very pleasant. The first two miles have some repair going on and more root heave than the North half. The trail detours at Fern Valley Rd. due to construction but is easily navigated. After the detour, the asphalt is in good to excellent condition with a stretch of new concrete between mile nine and ten. There is much less traffic noise on this half. I would recommend riding southward first when doing an out and back, due to the gradual uphill grade traveling south.

Rode this today and enjoyed it thoroughly. The asphalt is in excellent condition and the scenery is great considering it's urban setting. The trail is completely paved now contrary to what their brochures say.

I would have rated it higher if not for the large amount of traffic noise in certain areas.

If you like coffee, stop at Bad *** Coffee Company. They have 100% Kona which is very hard to find.

Even though there was a little rain, I enjoyed this very scenic ride along the Rogue River very much. I'm looking forward to riding it again in the summer.