bittereditor

Hi

I’m flying in and out of either Portland or Seattle between 31 August and 10 September and I’m looking for a road bike route, with an emphasis on great scenery (mountains especially) and (secondarily) cool towns.

I’ve got a few routes in mind:

• Seattle to Portland or vice-versa via mount rainier
  
• Vancouver to Seattle or vice-versa via San Juan islands
  
• The Oregon coast (either all or part of it)
  
• A different part of Oregon (particularly Crater Lake?)
  
• Glacier national park and surroundings
  

Or some combination of some of the above. Happy (in fact keen) to take the train to/from any places (e.g. Glacier NP) to maximise my time in the more impressive areas, or to make it a point to point trip rather than a circuit (e.g. train to Vancouver from Portland then cycle back).

Which do you recommend, bearing in mind my preferences? I’d class myself as an fit, averagely strong cyclist.

Roughstuff

If youu fly into Portland to start: the Portland airport is qite a ways east of town, and I took a taxi ride to some trucker type motel further east from there. I started my trip by going south thru Boring to Sandy, over to Estacada (I like to wander and zigzag). Anyway from there you can take 224 southeast through forested country and small other roads over to Detroit. (Oregon...not Michigan)

From there I'd cpntinue south to SAntiam pass.

After that I think you'd have your own ideas about where to go....over the Cascades into the high desert country, or further south through the Cascades and the foothills. Plus it is a good idea to talk to locals about fantastic roads (paved and unpaved) in this section. Local information about a few fires in this region will be helpful as well.

I went all the way south in Oregon to Ashland and into California on these roads. So you have a lot of choices.

The Oregon coast is beautiful and popular with cyclists, and the wind will push you along.

Calsun

For trips suchs as this I start by looking at what routes and night stopping points are used by the tour companies. It is particularly helpful in planning where to spend each night and where to get ones meals. They also avoid dangerous sections of roadway. Eastern Oregon gets very very hot so I would stick to the coast highway.

mev

Your preference for mountains throws me for a bit of a loop but let me have a few thoughts from Portland-centric rides I've done:
- Astoria down the Oregon coast are some of my favorite areas along the coast. so you can't go wrong there even though there aren't as many mountains. You have to work out logistics on a return e.g. rental car from Eureka.
- I've done the direct routes from Vancouver to Eugene. Amtrak makes logistics easy but I wouldn't prefer that over other choices (unless you wanted cool town times in Vancouver, Seattle, Portland and Eugene).
- Headed east from Portland, I've done a one-way to Boise. One does ride through the coastal range but there is also dry desert riding.
- Headed east from Portland, I've also ridden to Glacier Park and then taken Amtrak back from Whitefish. There is some train time there and you could concentrate more on eastern areas by taking the train to Spokane and doing either a one-way to Whitefish or a loop from either Spokane or Whitefish (alternately crossing from Seattle to Spokane on wandering route and taking the train back to Seattle - I haven't done that).
- Also done parts of Southern Oregon. Not Klamath Falls but not yet Crater Lake (I kept going to sparsely populated areas in Nevada). Crater Lake looks like a cool area by itself but not sure I'd tie a lot to it.

So overall - the mountain preference has me think most of Seattle or Portland to get to Spokane on a roundabout way and then back from there via train/car... and without a mountain preference the Oregon coast is a great ride ...

bittereditor

those are some great tips. It'd be great to do a bit of coast and a bit of mountains - the whole Glacier NP bit looks amazing, but I guess wouldn't leave me much time for the Oregon coast. Have you done Olympic NP and would that compare to the Oregon coast? Also, how would Rainier be as an easy alternative to mountains vs the Glacier NP? It looks stunning but haven't seen too many routes that include it, so was wondering how it was for cycling.

mev

I can't help much here. I've seen Mt Rainier, Mt Adams, Mt Hood as I've cycled roads more distant from them but not specifically gone close, US 26 past Hood. So you can get closer including some hiking if you want. All things equal I would find Going to the Sun and Glacier more dramatic. However that is what I meant by crossing the Cascades from Seattle to the dry rain shadow and going to Spokane.

I haven't done Olympic Park. I've heard there can be far distances between stops but also some pretty spots to climb into the park. Others can better describe this.

I have done the Oregon Coast three times and it is spectacular, with more places to stop. It can be busy but you are coming Labor Day weekend and slightly later so busiest season should be past.

indyfabz

First of all, I believe Portland to Glacier (Whitefish) still requires you to box your bike. (Seattle to Whitefish does not, but you would need a bike reservation.) Also, unless you can detrain with a bike at W. Glacier, you’d have to ride a few miles of unpaved roads to get to the west entrance of the park from Whitefish unless you were to brave the section of U.S. 2 through Hungry Horse that has no shoulder.

All that aside, I don’t understand the plan. You say road bike routes. Are you planning to do day rides or tour with gear? If the latter, are you planning to camp or sleep indoors? Will you have a rental car?

Doug64

It may pay to check the wildfire fire situation. Right now we have several fires burning in Oregon. Also check the air quality reports. There is a lot of smoke in the air. The Weather Channel has a good app for air quality index. The State of Oregon has good fire information at: Fire Dashboard

We just had a lightning storm move through about 30 minutes ago. A lot of lightning, but we are getting a little rain with it. Washington also has a lot of wildfire activity going on.

darrellc

Are you touring self supported? Have a car and just looking for day rides? Road bike only on paved roads or do you have the flexibility to do gravel. I live in Seattle and if you are riding a hardtail or gravel bike you open up all kinds of options. Look at Our Mother the Mountain (omtm.cc) for a bunch of amazing well documented rides that are primarily gravel (some are paved or mixed) in Oregon and Washington.

bittereditor

I'm planning on bringing gear and riding the whole way - probably a mix of camping and hotels or airbnbs. No rental car, was planning on using the trains and buses to cover long stretches if required.

bittereditor

I guess you're suggesting doing some of section 2 of this: adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/adventure-cycling-route-network/sierra-cascades/

Looks great, I guess I could combine it with some of the oregon coast? Maybe go down from Seattle to Crater Lake, then bus over to Brookings on the coast and back up?

staehpj1

The Oregon Coast (and northern California coast if you get that far) is real nice. Southbound is preferred for a few reasons. I started in Seattle and used the Bremmerton Ferry. The ferry ride was nice and scenic, but fogged in more often than not. The ride to Astoria was not that great IMO. I'd rather just start there and ride more of the coast. I can't say about Crater Lake as I have not been there. Given the amount of time you have I'd just start there and ride south as far on the coast as your 10 days took me. That is a good time of year for the coast. 10 days would likely get you into California and you'd be able to visit Redwood National and State Parks.

bittereditor

Thanks a lot for your advice - this is the approach I'm leaning towards now. Do you have any thoughts on the best route? I was considering starting in waldport rather than astoria because I heard the scenery is better in the southern part, so thought I could get more of California in by doing this (including redwood) - what do you think?

andrewclaus

I've cycled through Crater Lake NP. The park itself is amazing, but the roads to get there are just okay.

The southbound coast route is amazing, mostly from Astoria south. It's been almost 40 years since that ride though.

Most recently I rode the ACA Northern Tier route east from Anacortes. Ten days should get a strong cyclist to East Glacier or Whitefish. Crossing the five passes in the North Cascades as well as the Rockies is pretty spectacular.

I lived in Seattle for four years and spent many idyllic weekends in the San Juan Islands. That's heaven on earth, but you'd quickly run out of roads to cycle.

Good points above about air quality and heat.

staehpj1

I enjoyed the whole Oregon coast. Starting further south might be worth it if you need to do that to make it to the Redwood Park which is pretty much right away as you get to California if memory serves.

Some of the best seafood meals I had were in the section you are considering skipping if that is a factor. Tony's Crab Shack in Bandon was worth a stop.

indyfabz

Having done the Bay View (a bit east of Anacortes). Actually started in Seattle) to Glacier twice, I'd love to see that daily itinerary in 10 days.

pdlamb

I'd rather see that itinerary than have to ride it. Nearly 750 miles with a whole lot of climbing!

andrewclaus

Here's my journal index. Day 2 start at Padilla Bay, just over the bridge from Anacortes, day 11 past Whitefish, day 12 past East Glacier. I was only 55 and in good climbing shape.

Roughstuff

I think it it a reasonable comment. To me the best scenery is near Cape Perpetua, but in any case the whole coast road is a feast of scenery, nice restaurants and cafes, campgrounds, and some ferocious climbs and descents. I really think ANY trip you took through parts of Oregon/Washington/Northern California would be awesome.

jamawani 

Except for the fires ... and the smoke ... and the closed roads.

Tourist in MSN

If you are focused on Pacific Coast in Oregon and North California, I did that in 2014. I am sure my notes and observations from nine years ago are quite dated and may no longer apply, but a quick summary of my thoughts are here:
https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/9...l#post16933424

I just skimmed through it, some if it clearly is dated, but some is likely pertinent. A lot of fires have occured since and there may have been changes where state parks had hiker biker sites. I put all the state park hiker biker sites on my tablet on a mapping app so we could plan our itinerary day to day based on where there were hiker biker sites. I used the state park service web sites for where there were hiker biker sites to try to get the most recent data. Several of my photos at that link appear to have been removed. I have seen some of my other posts that i occasionally list as a reference to others are also missing photos too, maybe whomever runs this forum is deleting photos to save memory?

Do not forget to bring a cork screw.

staehpj1

On the route I met an impromptu group of nice folks and talked to them in camp every evening most of the way. I took their lead for where to stop and so on. They studied the maps that I only glanced at ahead of the way, called ahead, and so on. I figured it was easier and in some ways more fun than doing much planning. Where I wasn't with them I tended to plan a bit more, but still not much more than a day two or so ahead. I did check for the general condition of the route ahead of time for major road closures and so on. Beyond that I kind of enjoy winging it a bit. Also the group I wound up camping with was a fun bunch and we all got along well. Hanging with them was more fun than sticking with and itinerary.

The group was kind of fluid with folks joining and leaving as we went down the coast.

Tourist in MSN

We did a mix, had the data in my tablet on a mapping app on which state park campgrounds had hiker biker sites, but day by day we would decide how far we wanted to go that day based on distances to different hiker biker sites, but also looking ahead to make sure we were well positioned for any long distance gaps between hiker biker sites.

I think it took only a few hours to use the state park websites to figure out which state parks had hiker biker sites and to put those into my mapping app. That way we could look at the tablet and see where the options are for the next day, how far did we want to travel that day, etc.

That said, we were retired, did not have an end point to the trip that we had to make for transportation home or a job to return too, we used Amtrak to get home and could make a reservation on short notice for that. The OP has a fixed start day and end date for his schedule. The OP might need to schedule things tighter.

staehpj1

Yes, that is a much preferred way to travel IME. It is so nice to not have a fixed schedule. I always tried to have an open ended flexible schedule on my trips as much as possible. The same for budgets btw.

Yes people often do, sometimes by necessity and sometimes by their own choices. I have found myself in that situation now and then, but usually avoid it. More often for me it is when something back home has called me home early, but that has been rare.

bittereditor

Thanks all for the help - sorry i can't reply to everything!

Do you know if this is an issue everywhere? I was thinking it'd be more of an issue inland for some reason but is it happening on the coast?