# Touring Question: Route from Portland to Oregon Coast



## Scott B (Dec 1, 2004)

Hey,

I am looking to do a quick four day tour in a bit and am thinking of riding to the oregon coast from portland, doing two days along the coast and then coming back to Portland. I've found the maps of the coast route but am wondering if people have any input on a good route from Portland out (and back too). I don't really care about being too direct, I just want to avoid some of the traffic and hopefully see a nice section of the coast range.

-Scott


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## wasfast (Feb 3, 2004)

Scott B said:


> Hey,
> 
> I am looking to do a quick four day tour in a bit and am thinking of riding to the oregon coast from portland, doing two days along the coast and then coming back to Portland. I've found the maps of the coast route but am wondering if people have any input on a good route from Portland out (and back too). I don't really care about being too direct, I just want to avoid some of the traffic and hopefully see a nice section of the coast range.
> 
> -Scott


You really only get a couple choices in reality. You either go out Sunset Hwy towards Seaside, with the split option to go to Tillamook, or through McMinnville to Lincoln City. The road from Tillamook south is fine but it's in the trees the entire time with no Ocean views. Once you're in Lincoln City, you get to ride along the ocean most of the way south. 

You don't mention how many miles you're willing to tackle. The most scenic route would be Portland>Lincoln City>Newport>Corvallis> Portland. The road from Newport to Corvallis is pretty tight for bikes though. From Corvallis, you have a host of nice routes back to Portland.


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

*Take 26 out to the coast...*

Ride down the coast to Lincoln City. Then take 18 back to Portland


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## PdxMark (Feb 3, 2004)

*18 and 26 are for cars - there are much better road for bikes*

There are much better routes to the coast than the main highways (18 or 26). It would be a sad waste to ride either of those roads.

If you want to go as far north as Astoria, you can have a lovely ride through Vernonia and Mist to little Hwy 202, which might take you in to Astoria past the Fort Clatsop/Lewis & Clark National Historic Park. There are several decent-to-nice ways to get to Vernonia. Astoria is my favorite town on the Oregon coast in part because it's not actually on the coast and second because the big state park at the mouth of the Columbia is a treat.

Further south there's a great route through Carlton to Beaver via Blaine. There might be a short stretch of gravel on this road (100 yards?), but almost no cars at all. There might even be a gate across the road at one point, but the road on both sides of the gate is public... go figure.

For either route you can take Max to Hillsboro to start near the edge of the urban boundary. That way you'll avoid 10-20 miles of routefinding through roads that can be marginal if you chose your route poorly.

Those two roads would make a nice basis for your westward and eastward legs. A trip down to Arch Cape and you'd have a very nice trip.

But for Gawd's Sake don't use 18 or 26... Blech...


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## Scott B (Dec 1, 2004)

*Carlton to Beaver via blaine?*

Thanks for the route advice, I am really hoping to avoid 18 and 26 so I think I'll try the Hwy 202 towards Astoria.

" Further south there's a great route through Carlton to Beaver via Blaine. There might be a short stretch of gravel on this road (100 yards?), but almost no cars at all. There might even be a gate across the road at one point, but the road on both sides of the gate is public... go figure"

PdxMark, do you know the names of these roads by any chance?

I am figuring it will be somewhere around 90miles from central portland to Astoria. does that sound accurate to people who have do the ride before?

Also do people have any suggestions on places to camp between portland and the coast? I'm riding with some friends who aren't as strong of riders so it might be nice to have an option to bail out early if they are too tired.

Thanks,
Scott


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## asterisk (Oct 21, 2003)

Good call on the 18 / 26 aviodance... they are going to be zoos during the next month as various schools go on spring break (if this is a near goal).

If you ever get the chance you should throw your stuff in the car, drive down south and take a route from like Eugene over to the middle/southern coast areas. Much less traffic and maybe stuff you haven't seen before.


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## bcm119 (May 22, 2002)

You could follow the Reach The Beach Century route. I did this ride last year and it seemed like about the best route from Portland to the coast. It avoids large roads as much as possible, and it winds along a river valley in the coast range that really kicks as*. It comes out at Pacific City. 

http://www.reachthebeach.org/

Click on Event Information on the left.


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## PdxMark (Feb 3, 2004)

Scott B said:


> " Further south there's a great route through Carlton to Beaver via Blaine. There might be a short stretch of gravel on this road (100 yards?), but almost no cars at all. There might even be a gate across the road at one point, but the road on both sides of the gate is public... go figure"
> 
> PdxMark, do you know the names of these roads by any chance?
> 
> I am figuring it will be somewhere around 90miles from central portland to Astoria. does that sound accurate to people who have do the ride before?


I don't know the names of the roads, but here's a link to a mapquest page (zoom in one step to see the westward road):

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.ad...=home&address=&city=carlton&state=or&zipcode=

For a westward leg, follow the road heading west out of Carlton. If you keep scrolling westward on the mapquest page you'll see a road that runs along the Nestucca River. That's where you'll want to be. There is a turn along the way, but you'll probably need one of the topo/road map books that are available for Oregon to be sure to make that turn. There are two of the road/topo map books, one of which includes road names... You can get it at Powells or maybe other bookstores, too.

The eastward route finding for the Beaver route is easier. Once you head east from Beaver, you can pretty much just follow your nose to Carlton. There are turns along the way, but just stay on the main (bigger) looking roads that bear east. That's how I did it last time.

I bet it's more than 90 miles from central Portland to Astoria via 202, but probably less than 120. I'd still consider taking MAX to Hillsboro to start. Otherwise I bet you could have a century+ ride with about 4000' of climbing. That's not huge, but would be a bit of work if you're lugging camping stuff along the way.


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## Scott B (Dec 1, 2004)

Mark,

Thanks for the additional info. I think will take the max to start things out faster and not have to do a bunch of weaving through town. We are traveling pretty light so 100+ miles with climbing hopefully won't be too brutal. I figure is we are tired we can always change plans and camp in one of the state forests along the way.

-Scott


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