Union Station to Newberg

[Go Canucks]

Fellow cyclists,

I'm organizing a bike tour for the Vancouver Bicycle Club located in Canada. We plan to take our fully loaded touring bikes on the Cascades Amtrak to Portland then follow the Nestucca River Route to the Coast then head north along hwy 101 back home. The cycling distance is about 1,000km (loaded with 50lbs of camping gear!).

Since we don't arrive at the Union Station until 3 pm, I'm looking for a route that gets us out of downtown and heads south west towards our evenings destination. Hwy 99 seems to be the most direct route but I wonder how busy and unpleasant it is. Depending on the weather and our energy level after a 6hr. train ride, our destination would either be camping at Champeog State Park or moteling it in Newberg.

Any suggestions on a preferred route out of town towards Newberg would be greatly appreciated. A cue sheet using Bikely.com would be beneficial for navigation.

Take care,
Dan

[bikieboy]

'nucks, 99W has a bike lane/decent shoulder for almost the entire stretch to Newberg, but it's really ugly: high traffic with a lot of auto-oriented commercial crap. Guaranteed bad 1st impression of Oregon.

I have some other possibilities in mind, but first let me ask: where's your second night destination? On the coast, or at one of the BLM campgrounds along the Nestucca? Let me know before I float suggestions that are moot...

also, if you haven't already found it:

http://www.portlandonline.com/transp...ex.cfm?c=dggdi

has good info (well i better say it's good, since i created it on touring around Portland and NW Oregon. There's some pdf maps of the Nestucca route, too.

[lynnef]

As you may have noted from the map, there is a LOT of Portland between you and Newberg. You could head west, then out to Hillsboro-Forest Grove and then south - that's the prettiest and least traveled, once you get west of Glencoe in Hillsboro, and what is in between isn't bad. I'm working on something with Bikely, but it isn't ready yet. You can also go south from southern Beaverton (Scholls Ferry and Murray), and pick up the Reach the Beach route, which will take you right into Newberg. Not as nice as the route I'm working on, though. Stay tuned.

[Go Canucks]

I have some other possibilities in mind, but first let me ask: where's your second night destination? On the coast, or at one of the BLM campgrounds along the Nestucca? Let me know before I float suggestions that are moot...

Second night's destination is Cape Lookout State Park. That's about 125 kms (75mi) from Champoeg State Park. That will be a full day. Our problem is we don't get to Union Station in Portland until 3pm. We want to chew off some miles on the first day to shorten the distance to the coast on the second. Champoeg State Park or Newberg seemed a good compromise distance.

Thanks for your help!

[cyclotouriste]

If you're interested in Champoeg, here's how I'd go:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=683716

Avoids all of the 99W damage. Nice route out of town (Oaks Bottom path and River Road). Low traffic, scenic roads south of Oregon City. Potential snack stops at Oregon City and Canby. Bike path from Butteville into the park. Only 36 miles to Champoeg and 43 to Newberg. And avoids all the awful suburban sprawl on the west side (Beavertron, Hillsboro, Tigard, Tualatin, etc.)

I agree with the poster above that the area to the south of Hillsboro-Forest Grove is very nice, but the stretch from downtown Portland out to Hillsboro sucks any way you slice it. This route has good riding the whole way. Have a great tour, and enjoy your stay in Oregon!

[NA_CA]

If you should decide to come through Hillsboro please stop by my shop for refreshments. If I have an ETA I can have the coffee, tea or OJ ready and some pastries- I hear we have a new bakery-and this will be reason to try it.
Good luck and have a great trip. This goes for any other riders...just let me know how many to expect and when. Nancy @ Pedestrian & Safety Products, 131 SE 3rd AVE., Hillsboro, OR. 503.648.5300

[bikieboy]

here's a somewhat different route to Champoeg than c-t's:

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...oeg-State-Park

it's a couple miles longer, and involves a fairly hellacious 2 mile climb up Pete's Mt. - but you get to ride the Canby Ferry. Given that time is a consideration, you're probably better off with c-t's route.

Another completely different option is to hop the MAX train in downtown & take it out to the end of the line in Hillsboro, and go from there. Getting a whole crew of cyclists on around 4pm on a weekday can be a little daunting, it does get crowded. From Hillsboro, the ride is really pretty nice - but the nearest campground i know of is 40+ miles away on the Nestucca road. It would be a real scramble to make it before dark, as the last 10 miles or so are a pretty steady climb into the coast range. The may be some B & B options in the Carlton / Yamhill vicinity,as it is wine country.
anyone know of any public campgrounds in this vicinity? Does Chehalem Mt. State Park have camping?

I'll search a little to see if i can come up with any ideas....

[bikieboy]

Yamhill Valley visitor's association has some info - you may need to call to see if there are any camping options in the area.

http://www.yamhillvalley.org/lodging.cfm

[lynnef]

If you wanted to follow cyclotouriste's route, how about taking Amtrak one more stop, and getting off in Oregon City?

[bikieboy]

Lynnef, excellent insight. I completely forgot that there's now an Oregon City stop! Of course, they'll miss that fabulous ride down the Springwater trail... but I think this is the way to do it, as 35 loaded miles from downtown PDX to Champoeg could have you pulling in after dark...that's no fun.