Share your ride ideas....

[Mr. Fisherman]

There are many routes in the Northwest to enjoy everything from dirt to twisties.
This is a place to share your favorites or those you have been wanting to make.
So far I have really enjoyed Bald peak, Cornilious Pass, the ride through Timber, and the ride through Vernonia.
How about it, who is next?

[Open Range]

Some of my favorite rides:

Mt. St. Helens Loop

Head E on Hwy 14 to Carson. N on Wind River Rd to 25. N on 25 to the Windy Ridge lookout at the mountain. 25 and Windy Ridge road is nice and twisty, and the scenery is amazing. Return back S to Swift Reservoir and head W on 503 to Woodland. S on I5 back home. Loop from I-5 bridge - I-5 bridge is about 220 miles. GREAT ride!

http://vrcc.photostash.com/vrcc_6631/sthelensloop.jpg

Trout Lake / Columbia River Scenic Highway Loop

Head E on Hwy 14 to Carson. N on Wind River Rd about 9 miles from stoplight in Carson, to Carson-Guler road. Take windy, gravel Carson-Guler forest service road to Trout Lake (about 25 miles of gravel). S from Trout Lake to White Salmon, then back W on Hwy 14. Just W of Stevenson, take Bridge of the Gods to Oregon side, then head W on I-84. AT Exit 35, take the Historic Columbia River Highway, seeing the sights. Return through Gresham, and go home from there. Loop distance from I-5 bridge is about 180 miles.

http://vrcc.photostash.com/vrcc_6631/Troutlakeloop.jpg

Timothy Lake Loop

Head E off I-205 at Estacada exit. Take 224 S through Estacada, then branch off E onto Timothy Lake Rd. Just before Timothy Lake, take FS road 5810 N, then FS road 5890 NE to Abbott Rd. These are gravel roads with BEAUTIFUL scenery! Take Abbott Rd S to Skyline Rd, then head E to Hwy 26. Take Hwy 26 back to Portland. Loop distance from I-205 Estacada exit is about 130 miles. Not too much is gravel (maybe 10 miles).

http://vrcc.photostash.com/vrcc_6631/timothylake.jpg

These are nice rides, and none of the loops require a fill-up. There are also lots of good gravel forest service roads, and some paved, in the woodlands behind Beacon Rock and Stevenson, Washington.

I say, let's ride! :D

Doug

[Mr. Fisherman]

Wow, great input. Lets ger~R~Done!
I am looking forward to these and more...

[Nighthawk22]

Now that's what we're talkin' 'bout! Great info. Where did you get the maps?

[Open Range]

Now that's what we're talkin' 'bout! Great info. Where did you get the maps?

Thanks. I made them using .MS Streets & Trips. I'm thinking of doing the St. Helens loop this Saturday (28th), as long as it isn't a total dowpour! Don't mind a bit of rain, though. I'll post more details later this week.

[Mr. Fisherman]

Crap, I have inlaws coming the weekend of the 28th.
It will be another 2 weeks before I can ride on a Saturday but I have Thursdays and Fridays free :D .
I hope you post up a good report and some pics...

[Mr. Fisherman]

With Spring getting closer all the time I went looking for this thread.
Thanks again to Open Range for putting this valuable information together.
I haven't heard much from him lately. Hope he sounds off soon.

[mrltt]

Hi all - just replying to this thread to see if it gets it to 'reappear' on the NW Troopers thread...

[stevewz]

Here's a route I intend to take this spring/summer:

1. Depart home (Sandy, Ore.) and head east on Hwy. 26, over Government Camp, then north on Hwy. 35 toward Hood River.

2. Where 35 crosses the White River, head east on Forest Road 48 toward Rock Creek/Wamic.

3. In Wamic, head east on 216 to the junction with Hwy. 97, then south to Shaniko.

4. Follow this ride on Hwy. 218 from Shaniko to Fossil: http://oregonmotorcyclist.com/ridepage.php?page=hwy218

5. From Fossil, head south and east on Hwy. 19 to Spray.

6. Head north on Hwy. 207 to Heppner as per this ride: http://oregonmotorcyclist.com/ridepage.php?page=hwy207

7. From Heppner, head to Nye Junction as per this ride: http://oregonmotorcyclist.com/ridepage.php?page=hwy74

8. From Nye Junction, head north on Hwy. 395 to Pendleton, then west on I-84 to Hermiston.

9. Cross the Columbia River at Hermiston into Washington state, then head west on SR14 to Roosevelt.

10. From Roosevelt, head north to Bickleton and into Goldendale.

11. From Goldendale, follow SR142 to Lyle as per this ride: http://www.sundaymorningrides.com/road/641890/

12. Follow SR14 west along the Columbia River to Stevenson Washington and cross over to Oregon into Cascade Locks.

13. Follow I-84 east from Cascade Locks into Hood River, then head south up the Hood River Valley to Parkdale.

14. Turn west from Parkdale past Lost Lake, heading up forest service roads to Lolo Pass, then down the other side emerging into Zig Zag on the western foothills of Mt. Hood.

15. Just before crossing the Sandy River into Zig Zag, turn west on Barlow Trail road and follow it until it comes to Marmot Rd. Follow Marmot Rd. west until it comes to Ten Eyke Rd. Turn left/south and follow Ten Eyke into Sandy and home.

[Mountaintime]

I've done that route. I didn't care for 74 from Heppner to 395. I was on my FJ1200 tho. Maybe it would be better on the Strom.

Last year ODOT was reaggragating long sections of 207. Ick. Oily, gravel strewn tedium.

Shaniko to Fossil is so good I hit it twice. :)

[Mr. Fisherman]

Lets RIDE!
Any more good routes known or planned?
Post them up...

[stevewz]

I might ride to Goldendale, via SR14 on the Washington side of the Columbia, for my first over-night ride. I just installed Givi luggage (V46 top case and E21 side cases) on my '07 650 and feel the need to try it out. :-)

I'd cross over I-205 and head east on SR14, then do the Klickitat run into Goldendale (where my sister lives). The route home would probably be the same route; I have no desire to ride I-84.

Either that or I'd visit my in-laws in Springfield via Molalla / Silverton / Stayton / Lebanon / Sweet Home / Marcola.

The ride I choose would probably depend on the presence or absence of wind in the Columbia River Gorge. I'd rather ride in pouring rain than that wind.

[Mr. Fisherman]

What ever happened to Open Range?

[Doug-in-Skamania]

Hey :) I'm here. I forgot my password and decided to change my handle to my name. Should be at the breakfast on the 17th.

[Mr. Fisherman]

Well kewl Doug, hope to see you Saturday.

[Berserker]

Goldendale..beautiful scenery!

[stevewz]

My sister and her husband have a horse ranch about 30 minutes east of Goldendale, and the last two miles will be on gravel and dirt roads. We'll see how well the V-Strom does with stock tires.

[Mr. Fisherman]

Just take it slow... Don't be afraid to stand on the pegs...
I have heard that it helps to let a little air out ot the tires but I haven't done it yet. Of course if you do, make sure you can put air back in them when you get to pavement.

My first taste of gravel on the Wee was riding 2 up. Decided to tour a bit of the wine country on the way home. It was fine until I turned to the uphill section that was inclined and sloped (compound angle) with the deeper gravel on the down hill side of course. Well it was ok riding on the uphill side until a tracktor decided to come down hill. Got a little interesting but er prevailed. Just go slow and you will be fine.

[stevewz]

The trip to Goldendale was amazing. I crossed from Oregon to Washington on I-205. Driving through town is never any fun but it's over quick. SR14 east to Lyle was great. There wasn't very much traffic and the river was calm, a rare thing in the Columbia River Gorge. The sun was shining (Friday was a gorgeous Spring day.) Once at Lyle, I veered north away from the Columbia and headed up the Klickitat River on road 142.

Here's a picture of 142 in the narrower section, looking from east to west, with the river at the bottom to the left.
http://www.ruckerworks.com/hwy_142.jpg

My 650 Strom performed amazingly, eating the curves with ease. I had to pass a slow local chugging along in a ratty diesel pickup truck and was able to do so quickly and safely. I love this bike!

Once I left the river the road narrowed to about one and half lanes wide, with no center stripe. It started to climb out of the river valley and wound its way up the broad and grassy hillside. The scenery was amazing and the road was in great shape (no gravel to speak of and hardly a pothole to be found anywhere). I got into Goldendale and fueled up, going 158.2 miles on exactly 3 gallons of gas.

The next and last leg of the journey was east on the Bickleton Highway. Just before the highway winds down into the Rock Creek canyon, I hung a left and headed north on Old Mountain Road. It sounds ominous, but isn't. I did have to take it slowly, however, because there was still several stretches as well as curves that had sanding gravel remaining from previous freezes. I took my time and finally made it to Ownby Road.

What a pain. The road is packed dirt on top of solid but very bumpy bedrock. I poked along in first gear and felt like my spine was going to get jarred into next week. The bike did great but the road itself was impossible to ride smoothly.

I stayed the night at my sister's place, then came home on practically the same route. Unfortunately the Gorge wind had kicked up and I had a head wind all the way to the Stevenson, where I had lunch at the Big River Grill. The food was great but the place was filled with a cruiser "black leather" crowd and I felt like Spaceman Spiff walking in with my light gray Aerostich Darien jacket and Thor textile pants.

I crossed into Oregon via Bridge of the Gods, then beat feet up I-84 to the Lewis and Clark state park exit (the hill from I-84 up to Corbett is closed). I followed the Sandy River highway into Springdale, then cut a right onto Gordon Creek Road. For those in the east metro area, this is a great run ...

Follow Gordon Creek Road all the way through Aimes and descend to a dramatic crossing of the Sandy River at the Bull Run power station, soon to be decommissioned by PGE. After a few quick switchbacks up the hill on the other side of the river you come to a T intersection. Hang a left to go on to Sandy or hang a right to descend back down to the Sandy River at Dodge Park. Cross the river at Dodge, then climb back up to Lusted Road. You can follow Lusted Road all the way back to east Gresham (Powell Valley Road).

[riderofthestrom]

I live in Canada and my first major trip this year with my new V-Strome is to Hyder Alaska. I was up to White Horse NWT last year wanted to get to Alaska but problems with my riding buddies bike shortened the trip. I have registered with Ayres Adventures for the rally at the end of May in Hyder.