mtnbud

I am looking at ways to get from Eugene to Florence while avoiding the tunnel on Hwy 126. The current route idea has day 1 riding from Eugene to Florence, Day 2 riding to the Smith River, and Day 3 riding back via Crow on the Smith River Byway.

I know I could take the Hwy 36 the whole way to avoid the tunnel, but was wondering if anyone has ever cut across to Hwy 36 from around Walton on Hwy 126 (Nelson Mountain Road)? I was also wondering if anyone has ever cut across Hwy 36 to north Fork Rd. via Minerva (North Suislaw Rd)?

Any other suggestions or thoughts?

Thanks all!

Jeff Wills

It's been a while, but Cycle Oregon 15 rode through Eugene on their way to the finish in Florence. I think they took Hwy 36 and other small roads. My memory is fuzzy, but I think this is the route:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/3069728?lang=en

fietsbob

Rode over the hill from Eugene to Reedsport a few times , But I haven't been there for decades..

Ask the locals in the Bike shops.

126 is rather busy 36 goes around a bunch . then joins 126 in Mapleton, not far from Florence

CliffordK

You might look at the Tour de Lane.

https://tourdelane.com/
https://tourdelane.com/routes.html
https://tourdelane.com/saturday.html

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/19038904

For some reason they somewhat stopped doing the ride. And, this year won't be much of a "comeback year". Maybe next year.

But they do publish the route.

It looks like they're ending up a few miles south of Florence in Reedsport.

CliffordK

Oh...

Smith River is the Reedsport ride.

mtnbud

Thanks Jeff, Cliff, and Bob for your input!

mtnbud

I found another possible cut across from Hwy 126 to Hwy 36 a little further past Walton called (Old) Stagecoach Road. It's about the same length, but has less elevation gain. It follows the Suislaw River the whole way so it should be good.
We're bringing our converted mtbs so the gravel shouldn’t be an issue.

CliffordK

126 gets a lot wider and flatter in Mapleton.

Looking at the map. What about 34 from Corvallis?

The Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeroute will get you between Eugene/Corvallis/Albany/Salem, more or less.

mtnbud

Thanks for the suggestion Ciff! If I had more time, hwy 34 would be nice. The plan is to leave a car in Elmira. If I talked my wife into dropping my buddy and I off and picking us up, it could maybe work. We want to meet my friends brother in law at their family cabin near Heceta Beach the first night.

Talking about 34, have you ever ridden Lobster Valley Road? I used it to get from Alsea Falls to 34 one summer and it was real neat route. I could see starting from my house in Salem and spending the first night at Alsea Falls and the take the Lobster Valley route... It's too bad my buddy can't get more days off!

CliffordK

COVID is the answer to everything!!!

mtnbud

Unfortunately my buddies wife works at an administrator position at a nursing home and she gets a bit put out when he's gone for too long.
I'm thinking 5 days to a week could make for a better trip, but I'm not in optimal cycling shape right now so I'm not too adverse to our shorter trip...

It'll be a nice break just the same.

CliffordK

Ahhh... friends wife at the nursing home. You should be able to justify at least 2 weeks of "self quarantine"

I was out driving today... unfortunately.

My travels took me from Monroe (Eugene Side) to Alsea (HWY 34) via Alpine Road. Much of that hop was unmarked paved, 1 1/2 lanes wide (enough for two cars to squeeze by without being too uncomfortable).

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/33800498

There was a campground 9 miles before Alsea, I think Alsea Falls.

mtnbud

Thanks for the route Cliff! That climb out of Alpine is a bear. I've camped at that campground. There's also a spot a little further down that's owned by a timber company that allows camping. (There's a small swimming hole there)

Is that route between Yachats to Florence paved? That looks like an interesting way to ride. I've heard of riding the Yachats River Road, but have never heard of a route that goes all the way to Florence.

CliffordK

Sorry, I don't know. I was doodling a circle, and RWGPS wanted to push one off of 101 on the northern end. I extended the mountain route southward towards Florence. I would imagine at least part of it is gravel.

If you have a local Forest Service office, they may be able to help with the answer between paved and gravel, although it becomes complex with multiple Forest Service Districts.

With some luck, at least the initial climb would be paved.

CliffordK

It actually has been years since I've ridden over the mountain to the coast. I did a day-trip on 101 near Florence a couple of years ago. A fair amount of traffic, but in most places good shoulders. Perhaps they occasionally vanish. The Florence bridge was long. I don't remember if I stayed on the road, or managed to get off the road onto the sidewalk.

CliffordK

One of my EPIC coast trips was the American Lung Association Reach the Beach ride in the early 1990's.

Monroe to Amity to Lincoln City (for the Official ride). I did it as a loaded RT ride starting from Springfield, very early in the morning. Officially about 150 miles, I think I did around 180 miles the first day, and somewhat less the second.

Does anybody have the old Monroe route? I think I lost the map years ago. All I remember is a major hill or mountain to climb between every rest stop every 30 to 50 miles or so. I was beat by the time I rolled into Amity, then those last few miles to Lincoln City, I was just trying to turn the pedals. And, I just had to lay down at the finish line. The second day I took a few shortcuts.

Anyway, I'm betting the reason the route started in Monroe was the quick turn onto the Alpine Road cutoff. But, then it must have wandered back northeast towards Corvallis and Amity, hitting at least a second hill climb north of Alsea before Amity, and the final climb over to Lincoln City. Maybe even another hill in there.

mtnbud

Cliff - I remember Hwy 99 is supper narrow from Junction City to Monroe, but Belfountain Rd from Alpine to Philomath is wonderful. Maybe they took Belfountain? The King's Valley Highway just west of Philomath might have come next. It follows the foothills west of the coast range from Wren to Dallas. It has very little traffic.

CliffordK

Did you do your ride yet?

I was down in the Roseburg area, and I think the route from Roseburg to Coquille would be good.

Years ago we rode from Eugene to Roseburg. Somewhere along Cottage Grove Lake, and then over a hill to Elkhead. I think this was the general route. The hill between CG Lake and Elkhead was groomed gravel at the time.

Whew, I need to do some exploring.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/34033932

mtnbud

Thanks for asking Cliff,
The ride went very smoothly. Old Stagecoach Rd was great. The first 3 miles or so and the last 2 or so were paved. The middle section is gravel. It had very little washboard and the gravel wasn't too thick, but the rock was on the large side. There was virtually no traffic and no climbing. There's a really nice spot someone could camp or swim a little past the halfway mark. The campsite would make for a nice s24o from Eugene.

We camped the first night at my buddies cabin and the second night at Vincent Creek on the Smith River Byway. The Smith River is such a fantastic road to ride. It's a little rough, but very low traffic and great scenery. Our daily mileage was low enough that we never had any issues with fatigue or time.

Here's a few pictures

routes: Day 1. Day 2. Day 3.

(I remember riding from Eugene to Roseburg years ago by riding the Warehouser Rd in Cottage Grove to Cottage Grove Reservoir to Shoestring Rd. I remember there was a little gravel on our route somewhere before or after Elkhead. Shifty from BF gave us some good route advice on how to get from Eugene to Cottage Grove. I remember really liking the route. I might have pictures somewhere. The ride might have been before I started doing everything digital. I do have some experience with the Roseburg area - I lived there for a year ages ago...)

Found this - the pictures link doesn't work anymore, but the route links still work:https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/7...ve-oregon.html

kevmcd

I like the information in this thread. I have encountered serious logistical obstacles at my last 2 attempts to put together a short autumn covid bike camping trip. But with the information provided in this thread looks like I could put together a pleasant ride. I just wish I was younger and stronger and could make it a 3 day ride instead of a 5 day ride.

One question I have is on Old Stagecoach Rd. I ride an old touring bike with 1 1/8" tires. I am assuming that this would not be a good route with a loaded bicycle in the uphill direction?
There wasn't much discussion in the thread of Hwy 34 out of Alsea. I used to occasionally drive this road 30 years ago when I lived in Bend and wanted an alternate way to go to Yachats. It looks pretty flat on google maps. Is the traffic OK?

My preliminary itinerary is
Day 1 - Amtrak PDX to Albany and bicycle to Alsea and camp. (good campsite in Alsea)?
Day 2 - bicycle Alsea to Cape Perpetua with stops to eat in Waldport and Yachats
Day 3 - bicycle Cape Perpetua to Honeyman State Park. Stop in old town Florence to eat and drink coffee. Go swimming at Honeyman. (requires riding across bridge at Florence)
Day 4 - take a morning swim at Honeyman. bicycle Honeyman to Triangle Lake and camp (another trip across the bridge in Florence and maybe another cup of coffee in old town)
Day 5 - bicycle Triangle Lake to Eugene. Amtrak back to PDX.

I drove past Triangle Lake for the first time 2 weeks ago when I went down to camp at Carter Lake in the dunes. There was no shoulder on the road but there was also very little traffic and what traffic I saw was well behaved. (Not sure about the presence of farm dogs and whether they are well behaved.) I liked the scenery and there should be somewhere to camp there. Maybe it would even be OK for swimming but my guess is that any given time there are 3 to 5 cabins on the lake shore with septic failures and swimming might not be a good idea.

If anyone revisits this thread I would appreciate any suggestions on my questions in the 2nd paragraph.

mtnbud

Old Stagecoach Rd. gains very little elevation. It'd be possible to ride on 1 1/8" tires. I've ridden gravel on 28mm tires and it's not all together awful. I did eventually ruin a rim riding narrow tires on gravel though. As long as your rims are up to the task, you should be fine. As a bonus that possible campsite next to the river where the railroad bridge is would be pretty sweet. You'd either have to bring lots of water or have a way to treat the water out of the river.

From Albany to Alsea, you have a few options for camping. Alsea Falls is pretty cool, but it's as bit out off your route unless you chose to take Bellfountain Rd to Alpine and ride up Alpine Rd. The climb up Alpine Rd is extremely steep, but it is safer than Hwy 34. The positive is the corners slow down the cars. There's a BLM campground and a timber company campground a little downriver from the falls. The BLM campground has water and a restroom. The timber company campground has a decent swimming hole, but no potable water. (The sketchy section of Hwy 34 is 3 or so miles long, narrow with a series of 30mph corners.) West from Alsea on Hwy 34 there's a county campground called Salmonberry. It has showers . (Hwy 34 is fine once you pass the climb with the 30 mph corners btw). If you want an adventure, ride Lobster Valley Rd. out of the town of Alsea and instead of Hwy 34. It's has very little traffic and is paved, but is longer with much more elevation gain..

The road to Triangle Lake is almost completely fine and is definitely better than taking the tunnel in the uphill direction on Hwy 126. There is an uncomfortably narrow stretch just before the lake that has a railing tight along the right hand shoulder. I've had a time or two with frustrated motorists behind me in that section and it is nerve wracking if it happens. I've never camped at Triangle Lake. I've stealth camped nearby or camped down below at Richardson Park Campground on Fern Ridge Reservoir. The campground at Triangle Lake fills up fast if the weather is hot.

Once you get to Honeyman, you could change plans and take the Smith River Byway if you feel up to it. Be aware there's more climbing, but it such a treat. It's worth it if you're able...

kevmcd

Thanks for the reply and the information. I think I will stick to the route I listed if for no other reason than I like to pass a store every 10 or 20 miles. But when I plugged Salmonberry campground into google maps the Yachats river road came up as an alternative to get to Yachats. Maybe the Oregon state highway website will show whether it is paved.

With regard to bad traffic on highway 34 I assume that that is going over Mary's Peak? It looks fairly steep and I assume the 3 problem miles are going up not going down?

I'm probably 3 weeks away from being able to do the ride. Probably a better time to go with lower traffic anyway. I noticed that Salmonberry campground is $10 cheaper after labor day.

mtnbud

Yep. The last climb before the turn off to Mary's Peak. Occasionally a rogue vehicle won't wait to overtake you when there's oncoming traffic, but the majority of vehicles will be respectful.

Shifty

Hi Bud, I guess I'll put in my two cents here. I'm not a fan of highway 36, mostly no shoulder and can be lots of traffic, an unpleasant combination IMHO. Since you are returning on Smith River, that leaves 126. Mornings on highway 126 are ideal times to ride to Florence, cool and less traffic. There is a good to excellent shoulder and they have made many improvements to keep traffic moving. Going west in the tunnel is downhill, set the flashing warning lights before going in and you'll get out the other side very quickly. IMHO this is the best route from Eugene to Florence. Where do you start your ride? You can take country backroads from Eugene to Noti, then get on 126 there, and cut that much off of the ride. If highway 36 had a shoulder that would be best, it's a beautiful way to go, but it is scary the way it is. There are no services in Crow now, the store there closed a couple years ago. Have a great time, let me know if I can help in any way.
Nelson mountain road is mostly gravel surface.