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Liked Oregon so much last year that I'm going again this year - with company!


Kevin R

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Been up to the pac NW a couple of times now solo and this time the wife will join me. It's been years since we did a longer trip together on the bike. But since our 3-day Memorial Day weekend romp through the Trinity Alps went well we decided to give it a go!

Plan is to zip up in two days from the Bay Area, stay in Portland for three days, then 4 day dawdle back down the coast. Two-up this time so won't be able to do any of those killer 400+mi corner carving days.  Already planning a day to Mt St Helens. Other two days are up in the air but will probably spend time in the Columbia River gorge on one of them.

Any other suggestions from the OR/WA crew?

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1 hour ago, Kevin R said:

Plan is to zip up in two days from the Bay Area, stay in Portland for three days, then 4 day dawdle back down the coast.

Any other suggestions from the OR/WA crew?

Don't just stay on 101 the whole way down the coast, there are many very nice scenic coastal highways that zig-zag inland between I-5 and 101 that are worth exploring.

Google Maps Link

I am taking a 3-day ride very similar to this in August, I will continue down to Crescent City, Ca and then take 199 as I head back North.

I'm not sure why the forum isn't embedding the Google Maps link with just copy and paste like it used to. 

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The nicest stretch of the coast IMO is between Yachats and Florence. At Cape Perpetua, take the short side trip up to the scenic overlook. It only takes a few minutes and the view at the top is stunning. The Strawberry Hill wayside is a good place to check out tidepools.

In North Bend, take the road out through Charleston to Cape Arago. Shore Acres has a nice botanical garden, and Cape Arago has some more excellent coastal views. After Cape Arago backtrack to Charleston and take Seven Devils Road down towards Bandon.

For the run north, seriously consider US-97 instead of I-5. They both have the same speed limit most of the way. US-97 goes through some towns but I-5 can be a parking lot any day of the week. US-97 will probably take about the same amount of time to Portland but be more scenic.

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Great suggestions @betoneyand @keithu. Previously, I've stayed on 101 but with a slower pace this time will be looking forward to some of the side stuff. Especially the one near Coos Bay. I'd intended to do that one last time I was there. But I forgot to turn off until I was down the road a bit and then didn't want to turn around. 

We'll likely stay in Pacific City the first night out of Portlandia so will be checking out the Cape Meares area and the coast down from there, too.

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7 hours ago, keithu said:

The nicest stretch of the coast IMO is between Yachats and Florence. At Cape Perpetua, take the short side trip up to the scenic overlook. It only takes a few minutes and the view at the top is stunning.

In North Bend, take the road out through Charleston to Cape Arago. Shore Acres has a nice botanical garden, and Cape Arago has some more excellent coastal views. After Cape Arago backtrack to Charleston and take Seven Devils Road down towards Bandon.

 

Thanks for the suggestions.  I'm going to implement these suggestions to my route in August.  😎👍

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My brother and I just did this.. he's from Walla Walla (we both own 2020 Tracer's) and I'm from Southern OR. We met up in Bend, rode down and around Crater Lake Highway and over to my parents house in Crescent City for the night, then up to Lincoln City the next day (choose Newport over Lincoln City if that is ever considered a coastal stopping point), and then up to a friend's place in Vancouver, WA the next. It was a fun trip. I agree with the other comments, we ventured off of 101 in a few places to stay "closer" to the coast and found some amazing roads. What a memory we made. Our goal was to avoid the Interstate at all costs and did except for about 10 miles the last day. It was a blast!

 

As far as the 97 comment, definitely beats I-5, and on a motorcycle, is just as fast. I live about 15 miles from 97, all I'll say is be mindful as it's mostly a two-lane autobahn style highway and crashes on it are horrific. It's mostly 65mph but people regularly go 75-80+ and like I mentioned, it's a two-lane highway for the most part.

 

If you hit the gorge, if you stay on the OR side take the Hwy 30 gorge tour route. It starts/ends in Troutdale and closer to the east end will hook into I-80 a few times, just always follow the 30 route off the highway, well worth it..

Edited by JeffersonRider
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On 7/10/2021 at 2:29 PM, betoney said:

Don't just stay on 101 the whole way down the coast, there are many very nice scenic coastal highways that zig-zag inland between I-5 and 101 that are worth exploring.

Google Maps Link

I am taking a 3-day ride very similar to this in August, I will continue down to Crescent City, Ca and then take 199 as I head back North.

I'm not sure why the forum isn't embedding the Google Maps link with just copy and paste like it used to. 

I wish I was better at checking this forum, would have loved to meetup if at all possible. I grew up off of 199 in Hiouchi (near Crescent City) and one of my favorite riding places..

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3 minutes ago, JeffersonRider said:

I grew up off of 199 in Hiouchi (near Crescent City) and one of my favorite riding places..

My trip down the Oregon Coast in August was very nice, I went as far South as Crescent City and then headed back North, I have to say that 199 was the highlight of the trip, what an amazing road. 👍

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