The Cascade Lakes Highway out past Mt. Bachelor doesn't get traffic jams so much as it has had cars jammed along the highway — parking where they aren't supposed to.
This year, because of the new U.S. Forest Service requirement to grab one of the limited permits to access the wilderness, it may not be as much of a problem. But parking at the trailheads has tended to fill up. What if you could ride the bus?
Cascades East Transit, with some help from Mt. Bachelor, is trying to make that happen. CET is working with the Deschutes National Forest to pilot a new summer shuttle service in June 2022 along the Cascades Highway.
Stops, frequency of the busses and so on have not been decided yet. But the goal CET told us is to stop at sno-parks and "stop at all major trailhead destinations to transport hikers, walkers, tourists, and mountain bikers and reduce single occupancy vehicles within the National Forest." CET got a grant to pilot the project. There may be three or four bus runs in the morning and three or four bus runs in the afternoon and evening.
Want less traffic? Ride the bus. It's not the best advice during the pandemic. But life will get back to more normal, and this program makes riding the bus a more potent option.
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