Great thread, I'll add a few that are top of mind.

Family Man at Post Canyon in Hood River was just rebuilt with lots of options for all skill levels.

Golden Eagle Bike Park - Also in Hood River has a great paved pump track and some dirt pump tracks and jump lines.

Gateway Green in Portland is excellent and offers simple trails, rollers, paved pump tracks, and progressive jump lines.

Newell Creek Canyon Nature Park in Oregon City has some nice simple green and blue trails. No skills features, but roots and small berms to practice on. NWTA held a beginner bike skills course here. Does require some climbing to get back to the top, but it's pretty towable.

Castle Rock Bike Park - Castle Rock Washington. An hour north of Vancouver, has a few mellow pump tracks, some progressive jump lines, and lots of wood features and skinnies. Not meticulously maintained, but it was great for my young kids before they could pedal very far.

 

Thanks @Strattoa - great suggestions! I'm just bumping this thread here for more visibility. If other people know of any total-beginner-specific learning trails, please post them up! I'm getting motivated to create some sort of online resource to compile these all in one place.

And remember—I'm not interested in "throw 'em into the deep end and let 'em learn via crashing and burning" trails. (Some people might prefer that style but honestly, most don't.) I'm talking easy green trails with and without specific skill-building features like short, easy rock gardens, low berms and ramps, boardwalks that are at least 2-feet wide and close to the ground, maybe a few easy switchbacks, etc.

 

In the Eugene area, Elijah Bristow State Park off highway 58 near Dexter has a really nice trail system for beginning MTBers and kids. The trails are all relatively flat and easy with a few roots here and there and some rocky bits here and there amidst nice scenery along the Middle Fork Willamette River. The only possible downside to these trails is that they are somewhat popular with equestrians (so you just have to be aware they're out there and not race around blind corners).

 

Okay! Here's a start on a Google Map with all the locations mentioned above. I'll work on adding links to more information, trail maps, etc. over time.

Beginner and Kid-Friendly MTB Trails - Google My Maps

This is the start of a resource for people to find mountain biking trails that are ideal for beginners and kids. These include basic green trails as well as special "skills building trails" that may or may not be part of a larger trail system.

www.google.com

 

There are lots more beginner-friendly trails in the Sisters/Redmond Bend triangle. I'll try to get some of those added. Ones I'm thinking of include:
Suttle Tie Trail - nice green trail
Sisters Tie Trail - another nice green trail through ponderosa pine forest
Peterson Ridge Trail System - much of this trail system is beginner-friendly, but it does have some difficult sections. I'd like to identify specific routes for beginners that avoid some of the steep climbs and rock gardens.
Maston Trail System - beautiful, mostly green trails just outside Redmond. Like Peterson Ridge, there are a few difficult spots, so it would be good to map out a beginner-friendly loop that avoids the more difficult parts.

There are probably some easy beginner trails at Phil's in Bend? I don't know since I never ride there—maybe someone else can chime in with some beginner options there.

 

Another thought: there might be something like this out there already I'm not aware of...but it seems to me that MTB trails could really benefit from some "sub-ratings" for green trails...like "Green 1, Green 2, and Green 3" (like the climbing rating system) - the point being to distinguish between trails that someone could easily ride their very first time off-pavement on a mountain bike (Green 1) that are basically flat with no obstacles of any kind...versus (Green 3) trails that are still easy, but do have few short steep climbs, or perhaps a really short (like 3-4 feet) but dicey rock garden to get through, or other somewhat challenging obstacles for beginners.

My personal philosophy is that when learning, there is NO reason for people to crash or have to stop and/or walk anything. The point is to smoothly build confidence in one's abilities by very gradually increasing the difficulty a bit at a time. 😀

 

MODS: Any chance we could pin this thread? I know you want to limit pinned threads, but my hope is that this could become a really valuable resource for beginners and parents!

 

Chiloquin in Klamath county has a little skills park that is exactly this. The spot is definitely geared towards kids and or total beginner riders. We volunteered during the construction of it..

 

Thanks @SouthernOregonArea - added Chiloquin Bike Park to the map!

 

Bumping this thread for visibility. I really want to get my 12-year-old son more into MTBing, so always looking for good, beginner-friendly trails for him to ride—specifically trails that will build his confidence and not wreck it by crashing on some hard section or rocky tech.

 

Cascade Locks has expanded their system.

(We are not referring to the newer portions up in the hills, which sounds closer to intermediate. And we haven't ridden yet.)

On the river is the easy climb trails. Trails are newb friendly without being TOO easy for em. Some lite chunk, switchbacks, and berms. Vert is measured in dozens of feet rather than hundreds. Minutes off the interstate and picturesque. Trails spider web a bit. And have disc golf tees. So the south side can be a bit tough to navigate. But not much chance of getting truly lost.

Tis our preferred spot to introduce peeps to dirt. Sucks it's 9 hours from us. Lol.

 

Cascade Locks has expanded their system.

(We are not referring to the newer portions up in the hills, which sounds closer to intermediate. And we haven't ridden yet.)

On the river is the easy climb trails. Trails are newb friendly without being TOO easy for em. Some lite chunk, switchbacks, and berms. Vert is measured in dozens of feet rather than hundreds. Minutes off the interstate and picturesque. Trails spider web a bit. And have disc golf tees. So the south side can be a bit tough to navigate. But not much chance of getting truly lost.

Tis our preferred spot to introduce peeps to dirt. Sucks it's 9 hours from us. Lol.
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Nice! I had no clue any of those trails were there in Cascade Locks—thanks for posting!
Scott