Days: 4
Level: Moderate
Mileage: 40 ave - 158 total
Start/Finish: Portland, OR
Price: $600

 

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


The Columbia Gorge ride is another of Oregon’s classic multi‐day rides. The spectacular scenery and beautiful waterfalls of the Columbia Gorge makes for an unforgettable ride. Portions of this ride are on the Historic Columbia River Highway which was built between 1913 and 1922 and was the first highway in the country to be designated a “scenic highway”. Some portions of the highway that were abandoned when Interstate 80 was built have been restored and dedicated to bicycle and pedestrian traffic only.

The Columbia Gorge is 80 miles long and up to 4,000 feet deep and extends from Troutdale in the west to the vicinity of Biggs Junction in the east. Our route encompasses that whole stretch of the Gorge along with a day spent riding through the orchards of the Hood River Valley.

The challenge associated with the Columbia Gorge ride is dealing with Interstate 80. This freeway is often times routed between the river and rock walls with little room for anything else besides the railroad tracks. Therefore, sometimes it is necessary to ride on the shoulder of Interstate 80 while riding this route.

With an early afternoon departure from Portland we make the short drive to Troutdale where we start our ride on the Old Columbia River Highway. We make a 900' climb up to Corbett where we get the classic postcard view of the Gorge as we ride out to Crown Point. From there it is nice downhill ride as we continue on the Old Highway past several waterfalls including Multnomah Falls. We continue out the Old Highway to Ainsworth State Park where we camp for the night.

This stretch of the Old Highway ends just past Ainsworth State Park and we are forced to choose between riding along one of the narrowest stretches of I84 or jumping on the bus for a short ride to Eagle Creek where we would mount up and continue our ride.

Riding past Eagle Creek there are a few miles where the route is bike/ped only so we don't want to miss them. After we ride through the town of Cascade Locks we ride the frontage roads along I84 until we get to the town of Wyeth. The ride from Wyeth to Hood River is on the I84 shoulder - either that or you can jump on the bus again.

After our stop in Hood River we ride out along the longest bike/ped only stretch of the Old Highway and it's the section that includes the restored Mosier Tunnels. We continue on past the Memaloose Overlook to our camp on the shore of the Columbia River.

On Saturday we ride side roads into The Dallas. In the Dalles we choose to climb up on top of the ridge and leave I84 for a while. This stretch will give the rider a good feel for what the rest of Central Oregon is like. We drop back down to river level as we ride past the mouth of the Deschutes River. We continue riding on the county road that parallels I84 until we get to Biggs Junction. There we cross the Columbia River to stay in the Maryhill Campground.

On Sunday we head back west along the Washington side of the Columbia River gaining a whole different perspective on the Gorge. The highway on the Washington is much less traveled so we have bit quieter ride for the day. We cross back over the Columbia at Hood River where we ride up through town to our camp.

On Monday morning we top off our weekend with a loop ride through the Hood River Valley. The apple, pear and cherry orchards of the Hood River Valley are as much of a part of "The Gorge" as the huge cliffs and waterfalls that we saw earlier. And if you are so lucky to time your tour with the harvests this might just be your favorite day of the whole trip. The ride climbs up the Valley to Parkdale and then loops around and comes back down the other side of the Valley. Back at camp we get cleaned up before our ride back in 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.