*Motorcycle Roads NorthWest

Northwestern Oregon is a treasure trove of fantastic motorcycle roads. Many of the roads are very mountainous in nature with lots of fir trees and log trucks. This one, on the river side of US30 is a bit different. This one runs through a still hilly but far more agricultural and bucolic settings than the more mountainous setting between US26 and US30.

One key difference for me was that the curves were probably a fair bit safer. Less likely to 1) come across an oncoming log truck in my lane or 2) come across an oncoming bull elk in my lane.

There’s some pretty views on this road too. I rather like the little view down to the Columbia from the top of this bluff.

View of the Columbia near Mayger

A few hours further into that day and you probably could’ve seen Mt. Adams and maybe even Mt. St. Helens.

The roadway itself is a little rough after Quincy, and indeed after the Quincy turnoff I didn’t see any more sportbikes. Not a thorough-going V-Strom road, but one that requires a bit of care rather than encouragement of peg-scraping angles.

Friendly folks along the road too. I stopped the take the picture above, and the farmer stopped to make sure I didn’t need some assistance.

One really convenient part of that road is that it’s just a dozen or so blocks east of where Oregon 47 comes down out the hills. Just enough distance to stop at the handy gas station and fill up before heading across the river and off towards Quincy.

Note: the photo above was taken near the ‘B’ on the Google Map.

• Counties:
• Length:
• Towns: Quincy, Mayger, Alston

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This road is one of the favorites of the local Portland riders. Rather easy to tell really, since I saw a half-dozen riders on this road in 10 minutes and that was more than I’d seen in the previous 3 hours.

This road starts up at the top near the quasi-hamlet of Pittsburg and comes down out of the Northwestern Oregon evergreen forests. It’s chilly up there in the trees, but if the sun is out you’ll warm up on the way down.

While this road seems to be mostly sweepers, they’re rather nice sweepers that just keep coming for mile after mile. Just keep an eye out for traffic on this road, as its proximity to Portland makes it a little busier than comparable roads.

If you’re careful, you can maintain a really nice pace on S-V Highway. I was passed by a couple riders on sportbikes who were running a somewhat more imprudent pace, but the curves are still quite enjoyable around 40-50 mph.

• Road Name: Scappoose-Vernonia Highway
• Counties: Columbia(OR)
• Length: 20 miles
• Towns: Pittsburg, Scappoose, Spitzenburg

Streets and Trips file for Scappoose-Vernonia Rd

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One thing that is immediately apparent about Apiary Road is that it’s rural. If you’re coming in from the north end around Rainier or Clatskanie, you have to climb up out of the river valley to get there, and then you go up a set of wonderful uphill esses that take you up onto the plateau.

If there’s no traffic, you can have a significantly fun trip up through those curves and still not be in serious hoodlum territory. Those are some good sweepers.

Unfortunately, that also means that the bicyclists like them too. I had to wait at intersections several times for the bicycle race that was running that weeked that went up through Fern Hill Road and then down Apiary back to US 30.

The south end of this road is more timer country than rural. The trees are thicker and taller, and evergreen instead of deciduous, and the farms don’t have lovely manicured lawns out in front of the house once you’re a few miles past the wide spot in the road that is the hamlet of Apiary itself.

One thing to keep in mind. Get gas in Clatskanie or Rainier before you head Apiary Road. There’s no services along the roadside and services are very scant even further south on the roads this one connects to.

Note: On the Streets & Trips map below, the leg east of the yellow #2 marker is technically not Apiary Road. It is however a section of Old US 30 that I enjoy and leads you right up to Apiary Road.

• Road Name: Apiary Road
• Counties: Columbia(OR)
• Length: 23
• Towns: Apiary, Hudson, Rainier, West Rainier

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Oregon Route 214 may not be the sportbike-haven that you get in the mountains on side of the Willamette Valley, but there’s enough curves to go around and plenty to see and do along this highway.

In Mount Angel, you can visit a Germanic-style Benedictine monastery and stop for comestibles at the Mt. Angel Brewing Company while on your way to or from the 8,700 acre Silver Falls State Park. In Silverton, you can visit the extensive Oregon Gardens and you can see Frank Lloyd Wright’s Gordon House and when you’re done there you can visit the shops and art galleries of downtown Silverton.

If you’re more interested in vehicles that roll on rails, be sure to visit the Oregon Railway Historical Society. They should be easy to find with the restored engine out in front near Cleveland Street.

Here are some photos of Silver Falls State Park:

Photo by Martin Bravenboer (Creative Commons: Attribution)

Photo by Sellwood Street (Creative Commons: Attribution)

Photo by Christopher Chen (Creative Commons: Attribution, CopyLeft)

Photo by Christopher Thomas (Creative Commons: Attribution, Copyleft)

• Road Name: Oregon Route 214
• Counties: Marion
• Length: 43
• Towns: Downs, Drake Crossing, Mount Angel, Silver Falls City, Silverton, Woodburn

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Out along the Oregon Coast, on the tidewater side of US101, the intrepid motorcyclist can find the Cape Arago Highway.

This highly scenic roadway begins at the west end of Newmark Avenue in Charleston, Oregon at Empire Boulevard and follows the edge of Coos Bay out to the South Slough Bridge after which 7 Devils Road branches off and Cape Arago Highway heads out towards the rather famous lighthouse that bears the same name as this roadway.

View from Cape Arago

Photo by Clinton Steeds (Creative Commons: Attribution)

If you follow the Cape Arago Highway out past the lighthouse, you’ll arrive at the end of the line at a trio of State Parks: Sunset Bay State Park, Shore Acres State Park, and Cape Arago State Park in that order.

This is another one of those roads that attracts tourists, as the lighthouse and the state parks are quite a destination. I haven’t ridden this road on a weekend so I can’t say for sure, but as always, the weekdays will probably be much less busy.

• County: Coos
• Length: 11 miles
• Towns: Charleston, Barview, Shore Acres

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I had a lovely opportunity to ride this road recently. While the weather wasn’t anywhere near perfect, it’s probably what you can also expect along the Oregon Coast most of the year.

This road does lack a bit in engineering with its frequent bumps and dips, but it’s a fine weekday cruise. Weekday, you ask? Yes, just about every report that I’ve received from other riders mentions that this road has a fair bit of traffic on it. I rolled through on a damp Monday and saw no one else at all, but apparently this is definitely not the case on the weekends.

This road, like OR SR53, has a tendency to run through existing small creek drainages systems and is thus often below grade level. No big deal until you start coming across deer in the sometimes tight shrubbery-lined corners. I saw several while I was on this road: at 10am in the morning, in the rain. Must’ve been some hungry deer.

Back to the road itself, it’s really a rather enjoyable road, but like many of these coastal roads, are perhaps better enjoyed on something with a bit of suspension travel or dirt competency. These roads are mostly built on what are very large, permanent sand dunes and any road that gets large trucks will start to deform quickly.

If you can catch this one, I do still recommend it. It beats the hell out of sitting on 101 behind dozens of RVs puttering through the corners at 35, but don’t expect perfectly track-smooth surfaces and clear lines of sight either.

The scenery on this route is rather mediocre, so I’ve included a nice shot of Nehalem Bay at the north end of Miami River Road, just a few miles or so west of the OR 53 junction.

Photo by Michael Cornelius (Creative Commons: AT-SA)

• Road Name: Miami River Road / Foley Creek Road
• Counties: Tillamook
• Length: 13
• Towns: Garibaldi, Wheeler

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Oh Frabjous Joy!

Or something to that effect. This road is a real kick in the pants, hidden in the Oregon Coast Range.

Yes, it’s a bit short and is the shortest-distance route between Oregon Route 202 and US 26, but it’s still a gas. When I rode it this past summer, it was also freshly-paved and as smooth as the south end of a north-bound infant. Seriously. I think I could’ve rolled a quarter from on edge from the 202 intersection all the way to US26.

Now, there’s no services on this route except for a towing yard, and nobody wants to have to use their services. And there’s plenty of logging trucks too, so no guarantees that the road is going to stay that nice either.

The only thing that was seriously wrong with this road is that it was too short, only 9 miles. Were it not raining, I would’ve turned around and done this one a few more times.

But for the meantime, you can enjoy some seriously Coastal Range-style twisties. Even in the rain, this one was a kick.

• Counties:
• Length:
• Towns: Jewell, Vinemaple, Jewell Junction

And keep an eye out for Sasquatch. He’s reputed to live in those hills.

Microsoft Streets & Trips file for Oregon Route 103 ‘Fishhawk Falls Highway’

Garmin GPX file for Oregon Route 103 ‘Fishhawk Falls Highway’

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Editor’s Note: I keep wanting to call this Fishkill Falls Highway. Guess I spent too many years Out East.

Editor’s Note: Garmin GPX file added at the bottom

The first time that I rode through in August of 2007, the western stretch of this road was a wondrous piece of pavement with fresh, racetrack-smooth pavement that was to die for even in the wet.

Then the paving stopped. And it became an adventure road. It was wet, gnarly, bumpy, frost-heavy, and oh yes, highly twisty.

With either a fresh coat of pavement or dry weather, Oregon 202 would’ve been highly enjoyable. As it was, between the damp weather and the logging trucks on Monday morning, it was very nerve-wracking.

Riding out of the south end of Astoria Oregon, one easily finds oneself on this old forest highway. It starts on the south side of Astoria where US101 splits off to the right and crosses the Youngs Bay Bridge. Once you get out of the Astoria area, there’s little to nothing for services. Make sure that you’re fed, fueled, and hydrated before leaving town.

It’s not rather unexpected in this particular damp part of Oregon, but this road has a couple of nice waterfalls.

The small waterfalls along the roadway are rather pretty and a nice spot to rest and stretch. This one, Barth Falls, along the Klatskanie River is only a drop of a few feet but has an interesting little fish ladder to the left.

Much to my surprise and even though it looms large on my maps, the town of Jewell isn’t really a town but rather a spot where the farmhouses are a little closer together. It’s very easy to miss the turn down Fishhawk Falls Highway, that is if you’re heading back to 101. There’s also no services there, so you’re out of luck until you get to Mist or back to 101.

If you’re heading back to Portland, you might was well stay on 202 until you meet Oregon 47. From there you can pick any number of excellent backroads that will take you back to the big city.

• Towns: Astoria, Jewell, Mist
• Length: 43
• Counties: Clatsop, Columbia

Microsoft Streets & Trips file for Oregon Route 202 (Available soon)

Garmin GPX format file for Oregon Route 202

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Another rural highway, this one runs along the Siletz River in the Central Oregon Coast.

As you can see from the map below, this road doesn’t lack for curves. There’s many lovely corners on this roadway, and I very much enjoyed following a souped-up Ford Mustang piloted by a local chap who really knew the road’s corners.

Three things that my ride log forRoute 229 makes note of are the sunken grades, abundance of 50-80 degree curves and pavement quality.

This is another one of those roads where there is an overhanging tree canopy that can make visibility of the local fauna challenging. Whenever the sun is out, the run as numerous section of 20-100′ where the sun is completely obscured by the tree canopy. Obviously, this can be highly hazardous when moving through these curves with gusto and you can’t see what’s in the middle of the next curve.

Second, these are really awesome curves. Unlike Washington roads, the roads in Oregon always seem to have a rhythm. Engineers in Washington seem to just drop the road wherever they can manage to, but even though Oregon might have far worse pavement (not this particular road though), they ride is almost always far more relaxing and useful in honing one’s skills.

Third, this road has a very good pavement quality. Perhaps it’s just relative to the truly horrendous roads such as 202 in Clatsop and Tillamook Counties, but this road is very nice. Unlike 202 and 180 (Eddyville-Blodgett), I had absolutely no problems maintaining a good cornering line on this road even while following that well-piloted green Mustang.

Last, and certainly not least, it has some neat old bridges too.

• Road Name: Oregon Route 229 (Toledo-Kernville)
• Counties: Lincoln(OR)
• Length: 32 miles
• Towns: Bellamy, Kernville, Mack Landing, Martin Eddy, Melco Landing, Morgan Landing, Roots, Siletz, Toledo

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I rode Oregon Route 22 out of Hebo with part of our group returning to Beaverton (outside Portland) from Beaver (along 101). Oregon 22 is a very picturesque road with lots of trees and interesting geology lining it. While most of the road was 40-50mph sweepers, some of the corners were surprisingly abrupt 90-degree right angles more frequently seen on back-country ‘farm-to-market’ roads.

OR22 has a decent road surface, but very few long straights for passing. I distinctly recall having difficulty finding a spot to pass the preceding rider in a safe and legal manner. This is not to say that Oregon DoT was over-liberal in their use of double yellows, but rather that the straights were often far too short to pass other motorcyclists who crawl through corners and pin the throttle on the straights.

OR22 (together with OR18) is the easy road between US101 and points east for this area. A more-challenging road is to be found in the Nestucca Valley Road.

One point of particular interest to aeronautic and aircraft enthusiasts, The Evergreen Flight Musuem located in McMinnville, Oregon is just off Highway 18 along this route east. An immense glass and brick building with many WW2 and early-Cold War aircraft, it’s certainly a site worth visiting.

• Towns: Cloverdale, Dolph, Grande Ronde
• Length: 25
• Counties: Tillamook, Yamhill

Microsoft Streets & Trips file for Oregon Route 22

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