Take Skyliners Road westbound out of Bend , past Forest Road 220 (to Phil’s Trail) on the left.  At the end of the paved road, near milepost 10, you’ll see the paved pullout and a sign for the Skyliners Trail Head on the left, which is the starting point of the trail.   You’ll need a forest park permit to park here.  However, the fee area is only the pullout, so you can park down the road a little ways without a permit.

When you pull into the parking lot, you’ll see a trail going up the hill straight ahead, and another, less visible trail off to the right.  Take the gravel trail to the right past the trailhead sign.  The singletrack trail was dusty and sandy, but very rideable, as it snaked its way through the woods, climbing slightly.  The first half-mile of the trail was the best, with sharp curves, one after another, on the narrow, root-laden path. 

 The trail dumps you out of the woods to an intersection after crossing through a gate.  Take off downhill to the right.  The trail now is rocky, as it descends out to an overlook of Tumalo Canyon .  The path narrows, as you zip through manzanita and go through numerous short ups and downs before coming to a small bridge over a creek.  The trail follows the creek for a short ways, coming out into a gravel road with a vehicle bridge over the creek.  You can see some rapids in the creek below, with a sign to Swampy Lakes .  Take the gravel road to the left, and follow it around to the Tumalo Falls viewpoint.  The falls is very picturesque, and you can drive to it if you want to. 

 From here, you can take a short jaunt up to the top of the falls, or branch out to numerous other trails.  There is a map posted to show you where the trails are.  I had dinner plans, so I decided to turn back at this point.   Just follow the path back to the trailhead.  Don’t let the 200-foot elevation gain number fool you.  Although there may only be that much gain from end to end, there are some pretty good (although fairly short) climbs, but no real hike-a-bike areas, except perhaps where you approach the intersection to go back into the woods.  This trail is heavily used by hikers as well, so ride carefully.