# Need some help on a route



## eddiecut (Jul 21, 2013)

So we have a ride mapped out, Bend to Portland... trying to do it in one day. Its going to be a long epic day. But, one of my buddies brought up the idea of going over Mt Hood, instead of santiam pass... Anybody know of any great back roads, so we can avoid the highway? thats the goal, stay off the highway as long as possible. Looks like you can avoid most until Goverment Camp. 

Any help is appreciated!


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## CliffordK (Jun 6, 2014)

The McKenzie pass would be a much nicer pass than the Santiam pass. However, it will drop you off in the Eugene Area which will push your mileage up a little bit.


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## shiggy (Mar 18, 2005)

CliffordK said:


> The McKenzie pass would be a much nicer pass than the Santiam pass. However, it will drop you off in the Eugene Area which will push your mileage up a little bit.


142 (old McKenzie) drops onto 126 well east of Eugene (60+ miles). Turn right and you get back to the Satiam hwy. Lots of back roads heading north from there on the western slopes and eastern Willamette Valley.


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## eddiecut (Jul 21, 2013)

the routes going toward eugene will end up being 200 ish miles, some more... thats why I was thinking maybe over Mt Hood. I mean, driving over the views are awesome. Should be some great back road, one would think...


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## CliffordK (Jun 6, 2014)

HWY 26 is a good road, but it gets hammered with traffic at times. It has been a while since I've done the whole drive from Portland to Bend on 26. I think it had wide shoulders. Of course, the traffic picks up near Portland.

There aren't a lot of roads that cross the mountains, at least of sufficient quality for road/touring bikes. 

Another option might be to head straight north, then come down the Columbia, perhaps on the Washington side.


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## bahueh (May 11, 2004)

eddiecut said:


> the routes going toward eugene will end up being 200 ish miles, some more... thats why I was thinking maybe over Mt Hood. I mean, driving over the views are awesome. Should be some great back road, one would think...


there are no other back roads besides 26 in that area over hood....Sisters to Breitenbush out of Detroit to Clackamas highway would probably be your best bet...and lowest car volume by far. LOTS of climbing...riding on Santiam pass might suck...might not be too bad if its early enough.


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## matfam (Jul 13, 2012)

Having driven all of these passes several times, the only two I would be interested in riding are Detroit and Mt Hood. Of the two I think Mt Hood has better roads and sight lines than Detroit.


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## eddiecut (Jul 21, 2013)

we ended up trying over mckenzie and into springfiled.... mckenzie was awesome, I will do that ride more often, after that it was horrible. The traffic on that highway going into springfiled, at times left less than a foot of a bike lane, and log trucks.


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## CliffordK (Jun 6, 2014)

Oops, Sorry, Duplicate


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## CliffordK (Jun 6, 2014)

Glad you enjoyed the ride. 
I was just out on HWY 126 this evening :yikes:

One thing I try to do is take all the side-roads, most of which do short loops, often taking off from the South side of the road (east-bound). But, you can get off the main road from time to time. Of course, it does add some distance, and takes some planning to figure out which roads are loops, and which take you off somewhere else.

From Walterville, you can take Camp Creek Road to Marcola Road, from which you can head to Marcola, or Coburg and bypass Eugene, or head into Springfield, and get off from 126 5 or 10 miles before Springfield.


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