Biking to Arch Cape? Routes? How's HWY 53?

[garlicmonster]

hello,
I need to ride to Arch Cape in a week and a half and was looking for a good route. Want to keep it short, so I think that I am stuck with HWY 26. But rather than riding it all the way to Seaside and then going down 101, I was looking at HWY 53. So I would ride 26, to 53 SOUTH, and then 101 North. Anyone have any experience biking 53? I never have. The Lower Nehalem RD is washed out, so that is out of the picture.

Any help would be great. I would be starting at the Hillsboro MAX TC.

Cheers,
Tim

[bikieboy]

gm, I haven't ridden Hwy 53 (always used the washed-out Lower Nehalem) but the 2006ODOT traffic volume map shows under 600 vehicles a day:
http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TDATA/...p_GIS_2006.pdf
that sounds pretty quiet to me - !

here's a route to get from Hillsboro MAX to 26 - (see detail section 1):
http://www.portlandonline.com/transp...x.cfm?c=39892&

[cyclotouriste]

Originally Posted by garlicmonster

hello,
I need to ride to Arch Cape in a week and a half and was looking for a good route. Want to keep it short, so I think that I am stuck with HWY 26. But rather than riding it all the way to Seaside and then going down 101, I was looking at HWY 53. So I would ride 26, to 53 SOUTH, and then 101 North. Anyone have any experience biking 53? I never have. The Lower Nehalem RD is washed out, so that is out of the picture.

Any help would be great. I would be starting at the Hillsboro MAX TC.

Cheers,
Tim

I've ridden OR 53. It's a fantastic road. About 3 miles of moderate climbing from Necanicum Junction, and then about 20 of downhill & rivergrade to the coast. Quiet road, with fun and twisty terrain. Very nice scenery, too.

If you're going north on 101 to Arch Cape, be advised that you'll be climbing over Neahkahnie Mountain. That's a non-trivial proposition. Going north on the coast, you'll probably have a pretty good headwind, too.