With five volcanoes, countless waterfalls, pristine rivers, vineyards and incredible wildlife — you’ll be stopping for photo-ops with every few pedal strokes in awe of the Columbia Gorge area.
This incredible 7‑day itinerary shows off an impressive gravel trail network that has been laid over the last 100-hundred years. From old logging roads, mining roads, double-track trails and paved trails there are endless opportunities to explore off-the-beaten track and learn about the incredible natural history and geologic formations of the Columbia Gorge. Plus, take in beautiful views of Mt. Adams and Mt. Saint Helens — the landscape is sure to impress.
To kick the adventure up a notch, we have also included a morning whitewater rafting experience on the White Salmon River near Hood River — the adventure hub of Oregon. Get ready to fill your lungs with pristine air, your bellies with amazing food and your camera with incredible memories. It’s time to let loose in the the beautiful Pacific Northwest!
Is This Ride For You?
You love getting off-the-beaten path and exploring the road less travelled. You crave car-free rides. You’re comfortable riding up to 75 miles in one day at a moderate pace with breaks on double track gravel trails, paved trails and roads. You usually ride up to three times per week in your hometown and have a good cardio fitness routine. You love exploring new places, and topping to day off with a delicious meal and comfy accommodations.
Itinerary
Day 1. Volcanoes to The Gorge
Welcome to Oregon! This morning, our guides will pick you up from any downtown Portland hotel and we’ll enjoy a 1.5 hour shuttle to the start of our first ride on the southern shoulders of Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens, the southern most active volcanos in Washington.
We’ll fit our bikes and ride to up a beautiful forest grade past Panther Falls before touching our first gravel. Gently climb through empty forest roads that have reclaimed extinct volcanos to a series of small lakes for our lunch.
After a delicious lunch, the route delivers the reward of the morning’s climbing as you descend for almost 30 miles back to the Columbia river. Hop back to the Oregon side of the river to the adventure forward town, Hood River, home for the next 3 nights.
Day 2. Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area
After breakfast, we’ll shuttle 5‑minutes to the Coyote Wall trailhead, where we’ll start our morning ride. This route offers up beautiful gorge views and stunning wildflowers.
The Coyote Wall trail will take us into the town of Lyle, Washington where we’ll hop off our bikes, enjoy a post-ride beverage and lunch, then shuttle to Hood River, Oregon.
Day 3. Rest Day in Hood River
Enjoy breakfast at the hotel and get your fill of premium Pacific Northwest coffee.
This morning, we have a different adventure planned. Grab your bathing suit and sense of adventure — we’re going whitewater rafting! A quick 20-minute shuttle will take us to the White Salmon River, we’ll meet our rafting guides and hit the river.
This afternoon is yours to explore. Walk around downtown Hood River, enjoy an ice cream and browse the shops, book a massage at the hotel or take a windsurfing lesson (not included) in the nation’s windsurfing capital!
Lunch and dinner are on your own and our guides can offer restaurant recommendations — there are many wonderful options to choose from.
Day 4. Hood River to The Dalles
Pack your bags. Suit up and pedal to breakfast. We’ll eat at one of our favorite breakfast restaurants near our hotel, and then get back on our bikes! By the end of the ride, we’ll end up in The Dalles at our next hotel. Door to door!
The Dalles is a french word for “rapids of a river through a narrow gorge” — and you will quickly see where the name comes from. There are a few different routes to choose from today, and no matter which way wem go, we will have incredible views and van support along the way.
We’ll enjoy lunch at Mosier Creek, before finishing our ride and checking into our hotel.
Tonight, we’ll dine together at the Baldwin Saloon, a historic restaurant that has been a gathering place for more than 100 years.
Day 5. Columbia Hills Loop
After breakfast this morning, we’ll shuttle to the Columbia Hills Historical State Park situated on the shoreline of the Columbia River.
We’ll enjoy a ride on the Dalles Mountain Loop. This ride starts with a challenging 10 miles climb with views every pedal stroke. Before you know it, we will crest the ridge line and find ourselves in a very different environment of open farm fields of south Central Washington. Enjoy the grid roads of the farm lands as we head for the windmills which will mark the entrance of a unique and fun descent.
The descent is of the locally famous Mary Hill Loops road. This playground was the test road bed for construction a style to manage car traffic of the early 20th century, out of the steep walls of the Columbia Gorge. This stretch was refurbished and resurfaced in 1998 and is a closed road now used for long board competitions, sport card rallies and bikes!
For lunch, we’ll stop in at Gunkel Orchards Fruit Stand for fresh, local hand-picked fruit and other goodies.
After our ride, we’ll shuttle back to downtown The Dalles for our second night in town.
Day 6. The Dalles to Timberline
After breakfast at the hotel, pack your bags and hop on the bike. No shuttles needed this morning.
Today’s ride will reveal a fantastic transformation as we climb away from the the Columbia river, pedal past orchards, through scrub oak forest with Mt. Hood in the distance.
Slowly the road will transition to tall pines and cooler mountain air as we approach the staggering Mt. Hood. The van will be wait after after a fast, fun descent for your shuttle up to the infamous Timberline Lodge best know as the hotel of Stanly Kubrick/ Stephen king’s The Shining.
If you want to test your legs, skipping the last shuttle turns this into an even 10,000 feet of climbing for the day.
We will have a great dinner at the lodge and enjoy the piece of sleeping above timberline.
Day 7. Cloudcap back to the Columbia River
Eat a big breakfast at the hotel, the last day has another big ride. We will start with a short shuttle before getting back in the saddle.
This ride is one you won’t soon forget. We start on a gentle grade of pristine tarmac for a couple miles of warmup before turning to a beautiful gravel climb high on the north face of Mt. Hood up to Cloud Cap. With the glaciers, pines, long lines of site to Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helen’s to the north, the climb will go by too fast. After photos and a walk around the historic, and out of service, lodge remaining on top of this ridge, we will descend the 10 miles of the gravel climb to tarmac where you will coast 25 miles of paved downhill out of the forest, through the orchards and back into Hood River.
Eat a great meal at Kickstand, shed the spandex and hop into the van for a scenic hour shuttle back to Portland.
The following data represents a typical itinerary, but adventure travel can be unpredictable and our Guides may need to make last-minute changes to ensure your enjoyment. Inclement weather, road closures, changes to the itinerary to accommodate requests, and other issues may affect the itinerary. The ride data represents an ‘average’ itinerary, and may differ when you actually show up to ride. Our guides make every effort to stick to the itinerary as posted, but your safety is our #1 priority.
Day | Hours of riding | Distance ridden | Elevation gained | Elevation lost | Highest elevation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | 51 | 4400 | 4750 | 3500 |
2 | 5 | 40 | 3800 | 3800 | 2500 |
3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
4 | 5 | 42 | 4000 | 4200 | 2000 |
5 | 5 | 54 | 3800 | 3700 | 2400 |
6 | 6 | 42 | 5500 | 2400 | 4600 |
7 | 5 | 48 | 3400 | 6000 | 5800 |
Totals | 31 HRS |