*Motorcycle Roads NorthWest

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

Download the Streets and Trips file for Oregon Route 214

Google Map:

View Larger Map

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

Overview Map:

Google Map:

View Larger Map

Nestled in a bend of the Columbia River is the Rock Island Dam. This dam and the eponymous nearby community sits in a little spot along the river that looks like the river channel used to flow though there.

Just a few miles east of Rock Island Grade and quite near the dam, is an unpaved road leading up to the northeast and eventually north up to Douglas on US Route 2. For those serious dirt riders, Rock Island Road meets Route 28 just across the Columbia (via the dam) from Coluckum Road.

Douglas County DOT says that this road can be used in dry weather by most vehicles, so unless it’s really crappy then it’s probably good enough for a V-Strom or GS.

• County: Douglas
• Length: 19
• Towns: Rock Island

Google Map:

View Larger Map

Are you looking for twisty? Yes? Well, we have that.

Are you looking for a spot to camp alongside the road next to an alpine stream? Yes, we have that too.

Are you looking for a tight, technical road with 25-30mph corners and little in the way of traffic and enforcement? Yes, we even have that too.

Alongside the road, on the way to FR52 proper

This fine little road operates under several different names throughout its route, depending on what county you are in. At the north end up in Pierce County it’s called Osborn Road. On the east end in Lewis County, it’s called Skate Creek Road for the lovely alpine stream that it follows down into Packwood. In the middle inside the National Forest, it’s what everyone else calls it, Forest Service Road 52.

Sunny Creekside. All sorts of backwoods camping going on through here. Major fly-fishing country.

And a Forest Service Road it is. It’s not terribly well-maintained but it is paved clear through from end to end and not a lot of kibble in the corners. The centerlines on that road are rather confusing, as the road is painted with both double-yellow and a dotted yellow going down the middle, both clearly visible yet equally faded.

The curves are definitely not rythmic either, they bounce around in various speeds and radii cutting between the forested hillsides and the rapids-filled mountain creek.”

Rapids-Filled Skate Creek

If you’re looking for camping, it’s very popular for that as well. While I was riding this road in mid-June, I saw about 20 creek-side campsites over the course of 23 miles. Pretty easy to spot in the morning, as most of them had a small cloud of woodsmoke hanging across the road.

Alas, every road has its problems. If you’re a rider of serious track-tuned motorcycles, you will not enjoy this road. I’ve heard complaints of bumpy road surface from owners of serious sport machines, such that they claim they can barely stay in the saddle. Being a rider with a marked preference towards sport-touring and adventure-touring motorcycles, I have had no such problems.

• Towns: National, Ashford, Packwood
• Length: 25
• Counties: Lewis, and a small bit of Pierce

Microsoft Streets & Trips file for Gifford-Pinchot Forest Service Road 52

Overview Map of Forest Service Road 52:

Google Map:

View Larger Map

I had an opportunity to ride this road in August of 2007. I’d heard all sorts of stories about how horrible the road condition is for this highway, and now I understand why.

This road has some truly great scenery. It’s built on Cape Meares, which like much of the Oregon Coast is simply one massive sand dune. The roads down here are pretty much built directly on top of the sand and the big trucks really tear up the pavement. Unsurprising really, since as one would expect, sand shifts around quite a bit.

If you’ve got an adventure-style bike, this whole area rocks. I have about 6 inches of travel both fore and aft on my V-Strom, and it got a workout. I was pretty loaded down, and this was one of the few areas where it was absolutely necessary to stand up on the Strom’s pegs.

All the criticism and cautionary tales aside, this road is a giggle. I was tearing up and down these roads in the rain and enjoying myself immensely. There was almost nobody else out there on that Monday afternoon, and I had the pavement pretty much all to myself.

• Road Name: BayOcean Road / Netarts Highway / Cape Meares Road
• Counties: Tillamook
• Length: 18
• Towns: Barnegat, Netarts, Tillamook, Oceanside,

Download the Streets and Trips file for BayOcean Road / Netarts Highway / Cape Meares Road

Google Maps for Netarts / Cape Meares:

View Larger Map