Oregon State Route 218 ‘Shaniko-Fossil Highway’

Wikipedia has an excellent description of Oregon Route 218. OR 218 is a fairly short rural highway. Its western terminus is in Wasco County, in the “ghost town” of Shaniko at U.S. Route 97. The road is very windy and hilly over its entire 43-mile (69 km) length and is a popular destination for motorcyclists.… Continue reading Oregon State Route 218 ‘Shaniko-Fossil Highway’

Oregon State Route 207 (Ruggs – Mitchell)

Another fantastic Central Oregon route, here we have over 80 miles of nearly unbroken sweepers and hairpins in the Ruggs – Mitchell segment of Oregon Route 207. As this route does one of those strange Oregon multi-plexing things where it forms an ‘X’ across North Central oregon with Route 19, I’ll deal with this in… Continue reading Oregon State Route 207 (Ruggs – Mitchell)

Umatilla Forest Service Road 52 ‘Soap Hill Road’

This road starts on the south edge of Ukiah and gently wends it way uphill into the heart of the Blue Mountains. Once you’re about 15 minutes in, you’ll start to see signs for various OHV riding and snowmobile areas, and shortly afterwards the road starts to get interesting with much tighter and more frequent… Continue reading Umatilla Forest Service Road 52 ‘Soap Hill Road’

Oregon State Route 402 ‘Kimberly-Long Creek Highway’

Back in 2007, I wrote the following and I think that it bears some further discussion: Long known by its name, the newly minted Oregon State Route 402, is considered by some Portland sport-riders to be a destination road in its own right. It’s a mere 35 miles long and links the towns of Kimberly… Continue reading Oregon State Route 402 ‘Kimberly-Long Creek Highway’

Historic Columbia River Highway

Way back in the opening decades of the 20th Century, an amazing road was designed by the Oregon State Highway Department and highway engineer Samuel C. Lancaster. An fantastic routing full of viewpoints, waterfalls, tunnels, and curves of all shapes and sizes. It was described by John Arthur Elliot: The ideals sought were not the… Continue reading Historic Columbia River Highway