Washington/Oregon road trip advice?

So my girlfriend and I decided last minute to do a little mountain biking road trip down south to Washington or Oregon this long weekend.

We explored much of Utah/Colorado on a long road trip last summer but ended up skipping WA/Oregon in favor of more desert and rocky mountain riding. So this time we're hoping to fill in the gaps as it were.

Taking the shorter travel bikes and looking to do some good XC/AM rides. As far as trail preferences go, I love nice long singletrack rides like 7 Summits, Comfortably Numb, etc. I've heard about the McKenzie River trail, Hood River, and North Umpqua trails so thinking maybe we'll do those.

Any recommendations?

Thx!

Actually come to think of it, in general I'm open to any good 3-4 day road trip ideas, BC included. Ridden much of the immediate local stuff around here, Squamish, Whistler, etc. Would love to go to Rossland or Nelson but most of those trails are probably still under a bunch of snow?

devil's backbone in chelan, wa looks pretty rad. haven't ridden it tough

Have you ridden the Island yet? All the trails are clear and in good shape. Good riding from Prevost (south of Nanaimo) to Campbell River. Hornby is awesome too.

Ps. My main riding partner/fiancee is no more so if anyone fancies a road trip and wants to split gas let me know. I now have a lot more riding time :)

:eek: wot did you do to her?!?!? Bury her under the patio? :-)

Devil's Backbone will possibly still be under snow. In fact, most of the good Washington xc epics will probably still be under snow. I'd check the snow situation before doing anything else…

Mt St Helens in pretty unique, not sure what the snow conditions would be like

I'd be very surprised if any alpine is open in the Kootenays and thats the best part IMO.

If you head down to Oregon hit up blackrock, mt st helens, Mackenzie River trail…so much good stuff down in the oakridge area and eastern Oregon. I would go to the Oregon forums on mtbr and ask there…see if you can hook up with some of the DoD crew.

Have you ridden the Island yet? All the trails are clear and in good shape. Good riding from Prevost (south of Nanaimo) to Campbell River. Hornby is awesome too.

Yeah, thinking about the potential huge line ups at the border the island does seem very appealing. Also looks like many of the good Washington XC epics are still under a blanket of snow…

I've ridden many of the Hornby Island trails (awesome singletrack!) and spent a day riding Cumberland last summer but that's about it. Any specific trail recommendations? I'd love to find some nice long point to point or loop trails that you can really immerse in for a full day of riding.

Yeah, thinking about the potential huge line ups at the border the island does seem very appealing. Also looks like many of the good Washington XC epics are still under a blanket of snow…

border will be bad this weekend but the ferries will likely be worse!

border will be bad this weekend but the ferries will likely be worse!

Agreed, but only if you're taking a car on the ferry. We're gonna go on just with our bikes ;)

border will be bad this weekend but the ferries will likely be worse!

Agreed, but only if you're taking a car on the ferry. We're gonna go on just with our bikes ;)

I was riding in Oregon 2 weeks ago.Bend is awesome flowy singletrack fast but snow higher up.Rode the Mckenzie River trail in snow but you want to shuttle it,Really scenic by the river and volcano.But I had to ride the the road back for 25 miles and bonked at the top of the climb.My favorite riding is in Hood River
super fast singletrack, some fun hits even on the xc bike.What I like is you climb up and get fun downhills.
Hit Oregon for sure.

It's by no means epic, but once you get across the border, Galbraith in Bellingham has some really fun all mountain riding, and now features a machine built jump trail. There are also the chuckanuts right south of Bellingham, with Blanchard and Chuckanut both offering some great AM rides. Pretty rad for a spot to break up a long drive. There's a few great rides around Mt. Rainer (Ranger Creek, Suntop, etc), and I rode Mt St Helens prob 5-6 years ago and remember that being pretty great.

Never ridden AM in Oregon, but I've heard there is some great stuff. Bend and the Mackenzie River trail always get mentioned.

If you head down to Oregon hit up blackrock, mt st helens, Mackenzie River trail…so much good stuff down in the oakridge area and eastern Oregon. I would go to the Oregon forums on mtbr and ask there…see if you can hook up with some of the DoD crew.

2nd the Oakridge area, that is where the Mtn Bike Oregon fests are held.

Also Bend [HTML_REMOVED] Hood River.

BTW, Mt. St. Helens is actually in SW Washington.