*Motorcycle Roads NorthWest

Most of the road that you see below is only marginally a “motorcycle road”. In the summer, it’s hot and straight and not generally much fun throughout its length. Most riders could take it or leave and grudgingly acknowledge that it’s better than slogging up Interstate 5.

But I also said “most of the road”. Right smack in the middle of this highway, straddling the Washington / Oregon border you’ll find an amazing piece of pavement called the Rattlesnake Grade. When you mention this to any rider who’s done this twisty piece of paved paradise, their face will light up with an appropriately beatific smile.

If you’ve ever seen my review of the Spiral Highway, that’s pretty much what you can except to see out on the Rattlesnake Grade. It twists back and forth for miles to traverse the elevation change of the Rattlesnake Grade. The primary difference is that there’s no nearby town for this road. There’s nothing much else to do expect ride this road over and over until you get low on gas and have to slog back in to Joseph, OR (40 miles) or Asotin, WA (25 miles) to fill your tank.

View of Oregon 3 / Washington 129 near the border:

Up near Asotin, you get another great round of sweepers.

Right up on the Snake River is a moderately large community of Asotin. It’s backed by a steep ridge that provides for an excellent set of twisties that climbs 840 feet in under 4 miles. Quite nearly as steep as the Spiral Highway.

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The view from the top is pretty spectacular, but don’t let it distract you from the next corner. The corners are also quite nearly as good as the Spiral Highway.

• Road Name: Washington State Route 129/Oregon Route 3
• Counties: Asotin, Wallowa
• Length: 85
• Towns: Anatone (WA), Appleton (OR), Asotin (WA), Clarkston (WA), Enterprise (OR), Flora (OR)

Download the Streets and Trips file for Washington State Route 129 / Oregon State Route 3

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This road is a fun little stretch of highway that zips across the Deschutes River Valley (via Tygh Valley) south of Tygh Ridge. The road intersects with US 197 about 7-8 miles north of Maupin’s sweet twisties and heads back to the Deschutes River and its own set of twisties.

There’s fuel and food in Maupin, whose location down in the narrow river valley is really quite interesting. The speed limits are low in town, but that still doesn’t prevent you from scriping pegs on the south side of the valley or leaning over on the sharper curves going up the hill on the north side.

The twisty bits themselves in the Deschutes River Valley are like a mini-Rattlesnake Grade. Just like WA 129/Oregon Route 3, you go down from a ridgetop through an impressive set of twisties and cross a reiver before heading back up the other side.

Deschutes River Valley from atop the East side of the ridge:

Deschutes River just upstream from Sherar’s Bridge:

Photo by Glenn Williams (CC: Attribution)

• Road Name: Oregon Route 216 (Tygh Valley-Buckley)
• Counties: Wasco
• Length: 17
• Towns: Buckley, Fargher, Sherar Grabe, Tygh Valley

Download the Streets and Trips file for Oregon Route 216 (Tygh Valley-Buckley, OR)

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Google Map for Oregon Route 216:

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Long known by its name, the newly minted Oregon State Route 402, is considered by some Portland sport-riders to be a destination road in its own right.

It’s a mere 35 miles long and links the towns of Kimberly and Monument and the hamlet of Hamilton with US 395 on the east end and Oregon SR19 (aka John Day Hwy) on the other.

This road is reputed as the sport-bikers dream shortcut due to its low traffic volume and excellent curves. I’m sure it is enjoyable, although I’d hate to have to decide between the southwest route of the wondrous southern leg of SR19 and heavily-patrolled US26 and the northeastern route of SR402/Kimberly-Long Creek and the also-heavily-patrolled US Route 395.

I imagine this is a common sight along Oregon 402. Do keep an eye out for them.

Photo by Angie H. (Creative Commons: Attribution)

• County: Grant County, Oregon
• Length: 34.88 miles (per ODOT)
• Towns: Kimberly, Monument, Hamilton

Microsoft S&T file for Oregon State Route 402 ‘Kimberly-Long Creek Highway’

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A fine example of the Eastern Oregon highway-building, Oregon Route 19 does a little bit of a Jeckyl & Hyde routine. With this in mind, I’ll be covering this road in sections.

Viewing the road from south to north, it follows Eastern Oregon’s John Day River from the US Route 26 junction in the midst of the John Day fossil beds up to the Route 207 split at Service Creek. This southern third of the 120 mile route (43.9 miles) forms a wonderfully scenic stretch of roadway that hardly ever seems to be moving in a straight line. The riverine bends simply sway back and forth along the river, usually without any discernible rhythm or pattern except alternating lefts & rights.

Fuel & Services are kind of thin in this section of the roadway, but in the village of Spray, you can find gasoline, food, and even lodging can be found at a couple local bed & breakfasts.

Cathedral Rock along the John Day River:

Courtesy of the US Nat. Park Svc.

The upper two-thirds of this road between the OR207 and the Columbia is much less interesting than the lower third. While it’s definitely not perfectly straight, the road doesn’t necessarily curve as much as it changes heading slightly every mile or so. This part of the road does have much more in the way of services, with the larger towns of Fossil, Condon, and Arlington in the north half.

Amongst those services, is the Shelton Wayside(Wheeler) County Park. They offer three dozen campsites at very reasonable rates.and are located about 20 miles SE of Fossil and roughly 5 miles north of the OR207/19 split. Before you stop there, you may want to double-check if the park is open however, as I heard that a wildfire destroyed several buildings in the park in August of 2007.

One suggestion, if you’re actively hunting out twisties while you’re traveling in a north and westerly direction, I’d recommend taking OR 207 at the 207/19 split instead. You’ll enjoy the wild twisties of 207 far more than the gentle sweepers of the rest of Route 19.

• Counties: Grant, Wheeler
• Length: 40 miles
• Towns: Service Creek, Spray

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This little stretch of road is a welcome break if you’re droning along I-84. I’ve seen it mentioned in a number of different motorcycle forums as an alternative route to whatever other road they had originally planned to do.

Obvious from the responses of other motorcyclists, it’s not perceived as a destination road in its on right on the merit of its own twisties, but I rather like it from the aforementioned welcome break from droning and the historic merits of this road as past of the Oregon Trail and an old US-30 alignment.

While it often looked down upon by motorcyclists, it’s a very scenic route with rolling hills and the Umatilla River nearby. Indeed, it’s a notable favorite of long-distance bicyclists who are avoiding the trash-filled shoulders of nearby Interstate 84. The OPRR itself isn’t exactly race-track smooth as it’s a lightly-traveled County Road throughout its length. I think it’s one that you’ll enjoy if you’re not in a hurry.

Photo below: Glen Williams (Creative Commons: BY-SA)

• County: Umatilla
• Length: 23 miles
• Towns: Pendleton, Echo, Stanfield

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