# Paved mountain climbs in WA/OR?



## rcnute

The only ones I know of are Cougar Mountain (tough, but not really a mountain) and Hurricane Ridge. What else is out there? Thanks!


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## lemonlime

*Mt Rainier/Orcas Island*

Don't forget about The Mountain. You can either go from Ashford to Paradise, or the eastern side of the mountain up to Sunrise is good too.

Go early on a weekday and you'll miss a huge amount of traffic. Not much of an issue going up 'cause even the cars go slow, but coming down you'll want a clear path ahead or you'll be passing cars in the corners. Recommend a jacket, too...it can get pretty chilly up at Paradise.

The road to Mt Constitution on Orcas Island is a great ride. Not so much in distance, though it's probably 40 something miles from the ferry terminal, but the elevation gain is good and the views are outstanding.


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## IcemanYVR

Don't forget Mount Baker. 24 miles uphill from the town of Glacier.


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## borregokid

There are about 30 major hill climbs associated with the different highways in Washington. About half of them are associated with either the Snake or Columbia Rivers. Gnarly probably knows a couple of them and probably some that arent highways that are pretty decent. As LL mentioned there are a couple of good climbs around Mt Rainier.

After the Washington State Hill Climb Championship which is 1620 feet over 6 miles off HWY 410 to Crystal a few riders took off and decided to tackle Cayuse pass and the road up to Paradise. Thats about 9000 more feet of climbing although some up and down, its over 80 miles from the entrance to Crystal. 

My favorite little hill climb which I used for training for the TT race was off Hwy 97 outside of Liberty. From Mineral Springs to the top of Blewett Pass its 7.7 miles and 1600 feet of elevation gain. From Cle Elum its 25 miles and a total of 2400 elevation gain. Another nice hill climb is Hwy 10 from the Columbia coming back to Ellensburg. Its about 8 miles long and a steady 5-6% grade which can be made worse by average 15mph wind in your face. 

There is a "secret" hill climb out here near Cle Elum on a paved road but since I havent ridden it I wont post on it yet,


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## wasfast

This seems like too large a topic. There are dozens and dozens of climbs in both states. Did you have some specific criteria (grade, length of climb, smaller geographic area, traffic level etc)? A couple that pop into mind: Larch Mountain in the Gorge, Mary's Peak west of Philomath, McKenzie pass at the end of spring. Just doing all the passes over the Cascades is a life's work.


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## Damon64

Another one to try is the climb up to Windy Ridge on Mt. St. Helen's east side. You could start from Randle or farther along near Iron creek campground. I did it a few weeks ago, and it has spectacular views of the mountain and winds through the blast zone.
I also second the Sunrise and Paradise on Rainier. I loved them both. Baker is a great ride too. Did 'em all this summer.:thumbsup:


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## borregokid

*Heres one RC*

RC probably just wants to get a sample of some decent popular hill climbs and maybe some obscure ones running on paved roads. From downtown Ellensburg running up the NW part of the Kittitas Valley this hill climb covers 25 miles one way and about 4100 feet of elevation gain. Its not a real popular bike climb because unless you drive to the base you have about 12 miles of 1000 feet gain. The climb starts on Road 35 up Reecer Creek Canyon. Its mostly used by hunters and snowmobiles. I quit my ride where it broke out on to the ridge at 5400 feet. It continues on another five miles and Lion Rock is listed at 6200 feet on Table Mountain. If the pavement runs all the way that gives you a pretty decent climb of 3700 feet from start of the single land road-13 miles or 4700 and 25 miles from Eburg. 




















Watch out of the cattle guards coming down!









Breaking out on the Ridge


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## bleckb

*mt. spokane*

I haven't ridden this, just driven it to go skiing. Depending upon the starting point, it's at least 8 miles with about 2500 feet of climbing on a twisty road. No one has mentioned the North Cascades Hiway and Washington Pass I think it is. That'll get the heart rate up!


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## Gnarly 928

*Dozens around the Hood River/White Salmon/The Dalles area.*

The east side of the Cascades, out of the Gorge, there are dozens of great climbs that you can ride starting right from Hood River or the Washington side of the Columbia. The river is at about 50' of elevation..just about 20 miles south(as the crow flies is Mt. Hood which it pretty tall..20 miles north is Mt Adams, also pretty tall. Each of these rather large Volcanoes spawn some major rivers from their glaciers and these rivers need to get into the Columbia...makes for some spectatular gorges and canyons, many 'connectable'..like my very own century starting right at my door just west of Lyle, Washington (8miles east of Hood River) I go up the Klickitat river (starts at Mt Adams east side and joins the Columbia in Lyle) I usually go up Canyon road, which adds about 2300' over the top of the Appleton plateau then drops back into the Klickitat river canyon. Then the road turns to single lane paved, reminds me of euro roads with no guard rail no line but best, no traffic..This road again climbs out towards Goldendale, Wa. at about 3500' but you bear left towards Glenwood, a small town near Mt. Adams..Another drop back to the Klickitat and a climb back out to Glenwood..Then from Glenwood to Trout Lake (there are some spectacular roads out of Trout lake, too) over another divide..Then from Trout lake to White salmon, down the White Salmon river drainage..to the Columbia and back east 8 miles to home..The little loop has about 10k' of climbing and is 100 miles..
The "3 Summits Road Race" course from the Mt Hood Classic stage race is also a spectacular very low traffic set of climbs on small forest service single lane paved logging roads...You can find more about that by Googleing the Mt. Hood Classic stage race website..
And for general info, the Discover Bike shop in Hood River is a good source of ride info..BTW, they are putting on their annual Dufer Century..Dufer, Oregon is a town, not a description of some cyclist..The ride is the 16th of Sept, saturday after this one, supported, goes east up the Gorge on the old highway 30, then towards Bend, then swings west into an 18 mile long climb up to the shoulder of Mt. Hood. You return to the start down the Hood River drainage..This is a spectacular scenic loop, again without much vehicle traffic except for a short stretch of H-35 near the start finish, and a few miles of 197 near Dufer..
So, there are a few from around here..literally hundreds more within 45 minutes by car from my house in Lyle, Wa.

Don Hanson aka Gnarly 928


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## Spinnerman

The last approximately, two miles of this road, are gravel. A friend uses this road about once a month when the skies are clear to go do some star gazing.

There is a very hard climb on the stage race in Wenatchee. Near Wenatchee, there is the Orondo Grade and a great climb near Chelan up to the Plateau. I don't know the road names, sorry, but I have been up the later two in a car and I was salivating.

Another unknown logging road is near Greenwater. FS Road 70. It is about 10 miles of paved road and has two very steep, but shortish, climbs. Look for the fire station in Greenwater and the road is just past the station when driving in the direction of Cayuse. 

I liike White Pass a lot. Even when there is a little traffic, it is smooth, nice shoulder and you don't have to touch the brakes when you come back down. The Cayuse/Chinook climb from the south is a great climb.

I would like to do some of the climbs off the Columbia River in and around Mt. Adams and Hood on the logging roads. I am sure they are great roads with little traffic.

If you are looking for a little bit of a climb in the Orting area, try Camp 1 road on the north end of Lake Kapowsin up into the hills south of the lake.



borregokid said:


> RC probably just wants to get a sample of some decent popular hill climbs and maybe some obscure ones running on paved roads. From downtown Ellensburg running up the NW part of the Kittitas Valley this hill climb covers 25 miles one way and about 4100 feet of elevation gain. Its not a real popular bike climb because unless you drive to the base you have about 12 miles of 1000 feet gain. The climb starts on Road 35 up Reecer Creek Canyon. Its mostly used by hunters and snowmobiles. I quit my ride where it broke out on to the ridge at 5400 feet. It continues on another five miles and Lion Rock is listed at 6200 feet on Table Mountain. If the pavement runs all the way that gives you a pretty decent climb of 3700 feet from start of the single land road-13 miles or 4700 and 25 miles from Eburg.
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> Breaking out on the Ridge


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## terzo rene

That's sure a nice job of painting lines on the road. Do you suppose they were drunk like the rest of the rural drivers?

It would help if you defined "paved". Do you only want to ride on a good surface or is just the color of pavement sufficient? There are a lot of forest service roads that haven't been repaved in 25 years. They are definitely paved but you would never guess it with your eyes closed.


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## srf

If you want climbs, do the SIR mountain populaire: http://www.seattlerandonneur.org/rides.html

Also check out http://www.bicycleclimbs.com/


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