This route is not an original creation. It’s one of Donnie Kolb’s, the grandpappy of Oregon Off-Road cycling (from approximately 2010-2015). I’ve looked at this track on VeloDirt for years, and now that VeloDirt is gone, OMTM is kind enough to still host it. But hold on, let’s start further back. Since becoming a Dad, I’ve had a newfound appreciation for the Oregon coast. It’s easy to get to, sand keeps kids entertained for hours, it’s often temperate in the winter, and once you’ve had your fill of the more popular locales, there are miles upon miles of coastline where you’ll be sharing the whole place with just a few other souls, which suits me well.

Since we’ve been going to the coast more, I’ve had it in the back of my mind that I’d like to ride out there solo and have my wife and daughter meet me. I had almost ridden to the coast once before, pre-fatherhood, on an incredibly ill-fated Black Friday ride in 2014 when I was still a part of the Ruckus Test Team. A large group of us headed to Astoria via Scappoose to Mist to Olney. It hammered rain from the start and barely let up all damn day long. After hours of miserable, freezing riding in perhaps the most god-forsaken corner of Oregon with some of most hostile drivers, we pulled into the Big O Saloon in Olney, a mere 8.5 miles from Astoria, but we were too defeated and fucked up to finish the job. We called in the loved ones who were to meet us in Astoria and had them pick us up.

Fortunately, no such problems on this ride. The morning started cast in deep blues as I was off before the sun and on my way to the Coava downtown. After coffee and a scone. I climbed over the West Hills via Montgomery and took the 26 bike path into Nike country. I truly neglected to plan the Beaverton-Hillsboro portions as carefully as I should have and spent plenty of time on some ugly roads, though they did have bike lanes. In the neverending suburbia out there. I realized that I’d forgotten to put on sunblock before leaving home, so I ran into a desolate Wal-Mart, bringing my bike with me, and grabbed some. Since I was feeling the corporate vibes, I soon stopped again for an Egg McMuffin and Hashbrown before finally getting out of the burbs and on my way to Gaston. Along the way, I spied several fine roofs.

I’d been to the little store in Gaston a couple times years ago, and was glad to know it was still kicking. It seemed like the Beaverton/Hillsboro slog had taken longer than it should’ve, and I was feeling behind schedule, but it turned out for the best as I arrived in Gaston just minutes before the market opened. The woman running the register was friendly and kindly cracked my coke bottle for me. I hung outside drinking up, and then it was on to the proper backwoods.

Right behind Gaston, I got onto the first unpaved road of the day and made a big Southwards dip on Mt. Richmond Road. I had originally routed this ride to take a more direct path on Roaring Creek road, but someone on the OMTM email list had mentioned that its highly posted timber land and not worth riding. Instead I climbed up Turner Creek road and got to share the steep gravel road with several logging trucks and a big group of dirt bikers. I don’t know why I routed this way, but just under halfway up, I turned on to a gated spur and while I had some respite from being buzzed by logging trucks, I was now dealing with some pretty awful grades where I was near my max. Probably still a better trade off though. From there, I actually clicked into the aforementioned Roaring Creek road, with no signage indicating I couldn’t be there, and had a nice quiet set of roads over to the Barney Reservoir.

From here on until I was at the end of the Coast Range, things got very, very quiet. There was no one at the reservoir and it was quite chilly up there. I filtered a bottle of water and took some pictures of the Skunk Lilies in the marshes. A bit further on, I came to some recent logging that had chewed up the road bed and I was nervous I’d intrude on an active scene, but no one was there and I continued on into classic coast range terrain for the next couple hours. Generally down but with several little up-rises as I followed the Trask River into Tillamook County. It was pleasant if not slightly boring riding, but it was nice to have a few hours of solitude.

At mile 73, I emerged from the woods and got onto the paved Trask River road. The sun was out now, the temperatures were pleasant. I opted not to go into Tillamook and stayed just south coming into the area surrounding the Tillamook Air Museum, I rode around and snapped a few photos. Then I popped onto 101 for a couple insanely busy miles, and finally took a great little dead quiet connector called Eckloff Road. On Eckloff, I passed by several farms and country homes before diving into some woods and then a mini clearcut climb. There were some people RV living in the pull-offs of this clearcut, and some little dogs gave chase but it wasn’t too concerning. Then I popped out onto the Netarts Highway where my Garmin died, before heading into Netarts proper to find my family and dip my feet in the ocean.

My wife was kind enough to bring me an Aeropress to make a cup of coffee and I played fetch with my dog and got changed. When I had originally created this route, I wanted to celebrate with a feast at Nevør Shellfish Farm, but unfortunately they’ve had to close their kitchen. I instead bought a dozen oysters on the cheap and took them home to enjoy later. I then settled for yet another McDonalds meal which made my daughter happy. I said this on strava, but overall I was not that impressed with this ride. It’s a big day, but there’s almost no pay off in views until literally the last 1/2 mile when you can see the ocean, and there’s plenty of parts with shitty traffic. I’m curious to try a route to the coast starting in Corvallis and incorporating Mary’s Peak in the future, but for now, if you wanna ride to the coast from Portland, while it’s not the most fun, this might still be the best way to do it. Thanks!

https://www.strava.com/activities/6882824033