Days: 4
Level: Moderate
Mileage: 52 ave - 238 total
Start/Finish: Portland, OR
Price: $600

 

Meals: All included
Restaurants: none
Motels: none
Events & Activities:


The Cape Lookout Weekender is bit of a Reach the Beach ride in reverse with a bit of exploring along the beach mixed in.

Our route to the beach takes us across the Coast Range where we have a couple of 1000' climbs so this is not rated as an easy ride. The return ride takes us over much of the Reach the Beach route - the easiest route between the Willamette Valley and the Coast.

We start this tour with an early Thursday afternoon departure from Portland. This gives us enough time to get out of town and setup for a short evening ride out to our camp at the Flying M Ranch. In the late 1800's, weary travelers rested at Travelers Home, a hotel along the Trask Mountain Stagecoach route. The Mitchell family started up the Flying M Ranch on this site in 1970 to serve today's travelers. Today's emphasis is more on picnics and recreational activities including horseback rides but we will rest here for the night before continuing on out the stagecoach route.

Friday morning we start off our day with the climb of the weekend - a 1500' climb over 7 miles as we climb up Trask Mountain. The steepest section is an 8% grade so it is not too bad. It is downhill from there as we follow the Nestucca River to the small town of Beaver the the intersection with Highway 101. Continuing west towards Cape Lookout we climb two good hills before coming into Cape Lookout State Park where will stay for two nights.


On Saturday we will explore the local area with a ride to points north past Netarts Bay. Between the town of Netarts and Cape Meares we ride right along the coast so we will stop several times for those Kodak moments. We ride back inland past the Tillamook Bay to the town of Tillamook where we make a quick stop in at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Heading back now, we skirt around the outside of Tillamook as we head south past the blimp hangers and back to camp.

On Sunday we ride south to Pacific City where we pick up the Reach the Beach route. We follow the Little Nestucca River up into the hills climbing about 750 feet over 10 miles. We then have an easy downhill ride along the South Yamhill River into the town of Grande Ronde. We have to share the road for a bit as we ride along Highway 18 for a couple of mile and then we head south to our camp on Mill Creek.

On Monday we cut across the Willamette Valley to the Wheatland Ferry. We will be riding past a number of vineyards today as we ride through the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. Riding across the Willamette River on the old ferry puts a close on our weekend. We stop at Willamette Mission State Park to get cleaned up before our return to Portland.

 

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.