Days: 8 - 7 days riding
Level: Moderate
Mileage: 58 ave - 322 total
Start/Finish: Portland, OR
Price: $1975

 

Meals: Some dinners not included
Restaurants: Some restaurant dinners
Motels: Motel/Inn/Lodge evey night
Events & Activities: Optional Shakespeare play or Britt Festival Concert


This tour is as much about the lodging as it is the ride. We spend each of the 7 nights on this tour in Inn's and old historic lodges. From the Wolf Creek Inn - the oldest continuously operating motel in Oregon to the famous Crater Lake Lodge, we stay in a variety of interesting accommodations.

The ride is pretty spectacular too. We ride through the beautiful Rogue and Applegate valleys, along the upper Rogue River, and the highlight of our ride is a ride around the Rim at Crater Lake National Park. We finish off the tour coasting down a 41 mile stretch along the Umpqua River.

With an early start on the day we travel south to Roseburg to the Galesville Reservoir where we have lunch and prepare for an easy afternoon ride. It is just 24 miles from the park on the reservoir to the town of Wolf Creek where we will spend the night in the old Wolf Creek Inn. The Wolf Creek Inn is the oldest continuous use hotel in the state of Oregon. Built in 1883 by pioneer merchant Henry Smith, the Inn was billed as a "first-class traveler's hotel" for folks traveling on the stagecoach. It is the closest thing you can find to what a hotel room looked like at the turn of the last century.

Early the next morning we ride out of Wolf Creek to the west to catch up with the Rogue River at Graves Creek. This is where the rafters put in for their trips through the Wild and Scenic stretch of the river. The river flows through a rugged valley along here and we follow it upstream to Indian Mary Campground where we stop for lunch. Our afternoon ride continues along the river and on into Grants Pass. Just outside of town we stop at the Weasku Inn for the night. This old log lodge was built on the shores of the scenic Rogue River back in 1924. For many years it was a favorite vacation spot for famous Hollywood personalities like Clark Gable, Carol Lombard, and Walt Disney. Restored in the late nineties, the lodge was named "one of the top 25 lodges in the US by Travel and Leisure Magazine.

On Monday we ride up through the Applegate Valley. This is an easy ride through the valley as we climb and easy 2% grade. As we ride along we pass by ranches and farms of every size and kind. It is a beautiful valley that is good for growing everything from hay to grapes. The Applegate Valley now boasts it's own AVA distinction and there are some truly fine vineyards in the hills along our route. To cross back over into the Rogue River Valley we must climb an 800 foot hill. It's a slow climb up the Jacksonville Highway so we cut off there and take the back way in to Jacksonville. We stop in Jacksonville for a break because it is such a neat "old" town. The shops and old Jacksonville Inn make you feel like you stepped back in time a 100 years.

We finish up the day with an easy ride on into Ashland where we stop for the night at the Inn at Lithia Springs. Tonight's stay is at a modern Inn, but one that was built in the style of old English Country Inn's. The Inn has a nice country ambiance with beautiful gardens. Our rooms have large soaking tubs in them so that you can soak in the spring fed mineral waters. Massage services are also available nearby. After a wine tasting at the Inn in the evening, our bus shuttles the group to dinner and a play in Ashland or dinner and a concert in Jacksonville.

The next morning we ride through Ashland and on into the hills to the northeast. We face a good 2500 vertical foot climb to get up to the top of the ridge that we will roll along the top of for the rest of the day. Another 25 - 30 miles and we come to the Lake of the Woods. Tonight's accommodations are the Cabins at the Lake of the Woods Resort. This high mountain historic lake resort sits beside one of the clearest natural lakes found in the Southern Oregon Cascades.

On Wednesday morning we ride down the hill to the Upper Klamath Lake. We rude through the flat lake bottom for most of the day. As we approach Crater Lake we start our biggest climb with a 2500 vertical foot climb over 15 miles to get to Crater Lake Lodge. This is one of the grand northwest mountain lodges with its spectacular views from the edge of the caldera overlooking Crater Lake. The historic 71-room Crater Lake Lodge originally opened in 1915. The lodge was renovated in 1995 and offers an atmosphere reminiscent of the 1920s and immerses visitors in its rustic charm.

Our next days ride is the highlight of our tour - the Rim ride around Crater Lake. We leave the old lodge early in the morning to beat the heat of the day... and the tourist drivers. The views of the lake in the early morning sunlight are simply stunning. We make our way around the rim and drop down out of the Park through the northern entrance. It is an easy ride from there to Diamond Lake where we will spend the night at the Diamond Lake Resort. Another mountain lake resort, the Diamond Lake Resort started out as a modest fishing lodge back in the 1920's and has grown into a full service, year round, family Resort.

We finish up our tour with an easy ride down along the Umpqua River through towering evergreen forests. We will stop for lunch at one of the many waterfall access stops and you will have time to hike in to see the falls. We continue down the river to the town of Steamboat where we will spend the night before heading back to Portland. Steamboat Inn is perched on a bluff above some of the best fishing water on the North Umpqua River, a river with a long and storied angling tradition. The upper stretches of the North Umpqua have been fished by fly anglers for more than half a century-and many of the best anglers of their day came here to test themselves against this formidable river.

Tour details may change without notice. Although you'll have an up-to-date itinerary prior to departure,
changes due to unforeseen circumstances may occur at any time.