*Motorcycle Roads NorthWest

This a classic forest road in the rural backwoods of Western Washington. Nestled within the glacial river valleys that once drained Puget Sound down to Grays Harbor, this road is bracketed throughout its entire 24 mile length by ridges, ponds and hillsides.

Just as you would expect from geography and location, the road is tree-lined pretty much from end to end. And just as you would expect from such a rural thoroughfare, you have the spectre of the dreaded hooved rat.

I had one very-close encounter of the antlered-kind, and two wherein deer were fleeing up the hillside by the time I got there. One of those deer in the middle section of the road was so confident that it stood in ground in the middle of the road until I was almost to a full stop.

This road is one of the older routes between Shelton and Elma. It’s been superseded by newer roads, and its state of maintenance is apparent. It still has mileage markers telling you where you are on the road, but it no longer has the smooth surface of a modern highway.

Much of the road on the extreme ends are still made up of the original concrete slab roadway as well. Obviously, the surface is extremely bumpy and rides much like Interstate 5 South near Tukwila. In between, where the deer are, is a much more enjoyable smooth asphalt surface with excellently-radiused curves.

I really like this road. While it definitely has a high deer quotient, it’s rather rewarding of smaller motors like the V-Strom where keeping the motor perking is the answer rather than monster torque.

• Counties: Mason, Grays Harbor
• Length: 24 miles
• Towns: Elma, Shelton

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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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Google Map:

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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

Overview Map of Oregon Highway 22, Hebo to Valley Junction:

Google Map:

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My July 2007 update:

7 Devils Road is situation right on the coast south of Coos Bay at Charleston, Oregon. This road has been highly recommended by many people I’ve met and it’s conveniently situation near the western terminus of OR42 and OR42S at US101.

Well, now I know why. This road, 7 Devils Road, is a great local road and one that I plan to do again next time I go through Charleston.

On the north end of this road is the very steep end of a large sand dune. Much like Cape Meares, it climbs right up from sea level onto a rather steep dune and has a twisty curvy ascent much like the north end of Oregon 47 south of Clatskanie.

It’s extremely easy to miss the curve however. If you’re heading to this road from downtown Charleston, you’ll go for quite a ways out into the country making several turns. You’ll get to the South Slough bridge and once you’re back on land you’re right on top of that left-hand turn you’ll need to make.

Once the incline levels out, this road settles down into a very good set of 25-35 corners for a few miles before you reach the top of the bluff.

Once you get up top, you’re rewarded with a very nice view across the countryside and a wonderful group of about a dozen or so 50mph sweepers and nearly zero traffic to speak of, at least on the Tuesday morning I was up there.

The south end of this roadway is perhaps less spectacular with a continuation of the sweepers that you first saw at the top. It is, however, much easier to find this road from that end as it’s well-marked on US101.

The pavement on this road isn’t bad. It’s much better than the pavement out on Cape Meares, but it is built on sand so there will be some occasional bumps. The rain from the previous days had cleaned off nicely, so the traction was very nice. Unless you’re riding all but the most focused sporting machinery, you should find this road enjoyable.

Just be a little careful for any federal ranges though, as there is a fishery research station at the far north end of the road.

• Road Name: 7 Devils Road (Charleston OR area)
• Counties: Coos
• Length: 17
• Towns: Barview, Bullards, Charleston

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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:

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