Advice for a West Coast Motorcycle Trip

Advice for a USA West Coast Motorcycle Trip
through Northern California, Oregon, Washington State & British Columbia to Alaska

I wrote an impassioned essay full of touring ideas when I thought, for The Long Way Up, Charlie Boorman and Ewan McGregor (& Russ Malkin & David Alexanian) would be coming up from the Southern tip of South America all the way up to Alaska in 2019.

It turns out they ended their trip in Los Angeles - thereby not seeing any of the places I recommended.

I'm keeping my suggestions up for all those other motorcyclists who want a scenic, beautiful ride from Southern California to Alaska - or vice versa - through British Columbia. I have seen all of these places myself, though not on one trip - it's taken a few years. The recommendations below are South to North but, of course, are adaptable North to South.

First off, I'm not recommending much of the actual coast for a motorcycle ride - there are just way, way too many stoplights and way too many times you aren't on the coast at all if you try to ride Highway 101 - it is more traffic and houses than coast, and often, you can't even stop to LOOK at the coast. I think the only part of the West coast worth riding in the USA is from San Luis Obispo, on Highway 1, to Castroville. It's 150 miles and it is absolutely the BEST that the entire West Coast has to offer for a motorcycle ride. It passes San Simeon (Hearst Castle).

The rest of the route I'm suggesting gives you beautiful scenic drives, access to some of the most amazing geographic sites anywhere, tribal history, Wild West history, and many fewer tourists than the coasts. There are options to hook up to BDRs in these suggestions (I don't offer actual suggestions about those, however).

Then take 152 East, then 59 North, to Merced - about 100 miles, not scenic, but gets you where you need to go. From Merced, take 140 through Yosemite Valley, following it to 120, then go East through the pass and Yosemite National Park to Lee Vining. There is an amazing restaurant at the gas station in Lee Vining. I'm not kidding. The Whoa Nellie Deli in a Mobil gas station, last time I was there, I had lobster taquitos while experiencing an earthquake. Good times.

If you go South to the nearest ranger station, you can stop and ask for a map of the petroglyphs and pictographs to the East. These are accessed by easy to navigate dirt and gravel roads - you don't need a dual sport to see them.

Continuing North on US Highway 395, you will pass Mono Lake, which looks like the moon - no kidding, it really does. I think it's worth stopping, to get a closer look at the absolutely surreal landscape - you have never seen anything like this anywhere else, trust me. Then you can go on to Bodie, California. This is the largest Western-style historic ghost town in the USA. No one lives there - there are no Wild West recreations, there's no place to eat, there's no where to stay. Instead, it's a huge, historic area of more than 100 historic buildings in a state of arrested decay. Bodie is also off US Highway 395, via a gravel road. I suggest, if you are looking for a hotel, that you can stay in Lee Vining, California the night before or after your tour of these sites. Give yourself HOURS to tour Bodie.

From Bodie, take 395 North and either take the pass from Bridgeport East or the pass that takes you to Tahoe. Your goal is to get to state road 49 and take it North through Auburn, Coloma, Grass Valley, Camptonville and the oh-so-charming Downieville. It's some of the most beautiful riding in California - forested, remote, gorgeous. Keep heading north on various state roads to Lassen Volcanic National Park. This is a great place to drive through and some boiling pots in the ground are right along the road side.

From there, any state road you take North is worth it. Your goal is to get to Crater Lake National Park. Even if you just ride along it on one side, rather than going all the way around it, it's worth it to make this trip. No photo you have seen does it justice.

From Crater Lake, get over to US Highway 97, head North, and after about 50 miles, take state road 48 to Oakridge, Oregon. There are beautiful camp grounds with lake and mountain views once you get to the summit and on the left all the way down to the town of Oakridge, another place you can stop for lunch or for the night (it has at least one hotel).

Great place to eat breakfast is in Eugene - GJ's Diner. It's legendary. You won't be disappointed. They serve breakfast until 2, I think. Yes, I know Eugene is a big city, but GJ's is awesome!

There is fantastic riding in Eastern Oregon. It would take many days for you to see all that's worth seeing there - like Steens Mountain in Oregon and the Alvord Desert and Fort Rock and Antelope, Oregon amid the ghosts of the Rajneesh colony, the Painted Desert, etc. If you have a lot of time on your way to Alaska, it's absolutely worth doing. In fact, you should keep going and go to Idaho, particularly Silver City, Idaho - one of the most amazing historic towns I've ever seen (and you absolutely need a dual sport or dirt bike to get there).

But, if you just don't have time, then keep heading North from Eugene. Oregon state highway 99 and 99W, going North from Eugene to Corvalis, is WAY more interesting than Interstate 5 and really isn't going to set you back much time. In fact, you could take 99W, going North, all the way to McMinnville, and then take Highway 47, through Carlton and Yamhill, and then through Forest Grove (let us know you're coming and we'll buy you lunch or supper). Take the 6 and then the side road through the amazing winding road through Timber. You're taking the Forest Grove through Vernonia and Birkenfeld to Jewell, Oregon route.

From Jewell, take 202 to Astoria - gorgeous, beautiful ride. There are county, state forest and BLM campgrounds all around this area, FYI. But there's no hotels I know of between Forest Grove and Astoria (but plenty in both towns).

After this, just go how you want to go. But it's absurd to visit the Pacific Northwest and not drive up and see the crater of Mount Saint Helen's. You can go via the main drive with everyone else, and as an added bonus, you can go the back way, taking state road 503 through Yale and Cougar and see it from the backside. These routes do not connect, so this is an all-day adventure.

From Mount Saint Helen's... honestly, I don't have much to recommend. In terms of absolutely not-to-be-missed scenic rides in Washington state... I really don't have something to say. In 2017, we traveled for 10 days in Washington State, including over the Northern Cascades on state road 20, and it was a terrific ride, but nothing worth going out of your way for from North to South or vice versa. Olympic National Park is nice to drive through, but it's really best experienced hiking, which so many motorcycle riders don't have time for. Also, the cities around the park are dodgy.

For British Colombia, Canada:

I find the Cassiar Highway / BC 37 up to Yukon way much more interesting than the Alaska Highway. My husband and I took the Cassiar Highway on our motorcycle trip back in 2015, me on my KLR and him on his vintage Honda Africa Twin. What's great about that route is not only will you be doing a route most travelers miss, you will have the perfect excuse to go to Steward, British Columbia and Hydar Alaska, which are right next to each other and would be the same town except... well, they have a country border between them. Hydar is the only Southern Alaska city that is reachable by car, truck or motorcycle - and only from Canada. Steward looks like the TV show Northern Exposure and Hydar has an amazing bear viewing platform and a sweet, easy gravel road ride up to Salmon Glacier, which you have to see to believe. Oh, the photo possibilities!

There are plenty of stops on the Yellowhead Highway 16, taking you to the Cassiar Highway. On the highway itself, most of it is paved, but there are stretches of gravel. You are truly in the middle of NO WHERE on this road. And it's wonderful. Yes, we saw a bear along the road, standing up to have a look at us. I'm surprised we didn't see more along the road.

There's is a gas, convenience and restaurant at the turnoff for the Cassiar Highway from 16, and a very nice sign.

Then comes Meziadin Junction. It has a little convenience store and bunk houses. This is at the junction of Dease Lake Highway 37/the Cassiar Highway, and 37A, which goes West to Steward and Hyder. Nearby is Meziadin Lake Provincial Park, which is a good place to camp if you need to.

And Meziadin Junction, heading north on Cassiar Highway, there are just three places to stay with a roof over your head on the next 587 miles to Watson Lake, Yukon - and you had best call ahead, because if there are a bunch of road workers near a town, every room in that town will be booked. Those places are:

Bell II resort
Just 60 miles (94 kilometres) from Meziadin Junction. Has gas, a café, and several luxury places to stay. It's very high-end but friendly. Even if you don't need a stop, do stop and say hi - they are very excited to see off-season visitors.

Tatogga Lake Resort
150 miles from Bell II. It's not really a resort. It has a restaurant, a gas pump and little cabins. It's open in summer only, into September - check to make sure it's open when you will be going by. We ate there - good food, poster of Loretta Lynn outside (she stopped there a million years ago).

Dease Lake
84 miles from Tatogga, it has a few hotels, but the night we were there, ALL of them were full of road workers. It also has a camp site and a grocery store. We lucked out and found, 10 miles or so North of Dease Lake, an RV park with one cabin, no plumbing and just one bed. But on a rainy miserable night, it is heaven...

Upper Liard, Yukon
246 miles from Dease Lake, it has gas and a convenience store. Supposedly, it has a motel, but we never saw it when we went by. We went on to Watson Lake, which has the famous License Plate / Sign Post Forest.

A map might show towns other towns, but I think they are all abandoned, or have a population of less than 40 people. I have no memory of any places other than what I've written above along the Cassiar Highway. There ARE rest stops, which are surprisingly plentiful, and while it says no camping at each one, the reality is, people camp at these, in RVs. There are pit toilets at them. A tent might be iffy - there are bears.

I have lots more advice on scenic routes in California, Oregon, Nevada, and on and on, but I think the aforementioned suggestions are the absolutely most scenic, the most interesting, and the ones you absolutely should do. And if you do your trip after March 2020, I'll have advice for Baja, California as well because, by then, I will have done it!

If you are looking for advice regarding Central and South America - Sherri Jo Wilkins did the trip by motorcycle in 2012, in reverse of how you are doing so.

follow me on Twitter Follow me! @jayne_a_broad (coyotebroad)
My tweets here are about travel, motorcycling, tent camping, bicycling (mostly as a commuter), and things I find amusing. I tweet maybe up to half a dozen times a day, on a really good day - usually much less.

In case you are interested, here are my travelogues for my motorcycle trips:

Our 2020 Motorcycle Adventure in Baja, Calfornia, Mexico: 19 days, 3,706 miles/5964 km. March 2020. Missing the madness of the start of COVID19 (& then driving right back into it).

2019 Motorcycle Tour of Northern California & Southwestern Oregon: 11 days, 10 nights, 2095 miles, September 2019. Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, McArthur Burney Falls State Park, Salmon River Road between Somes Bar and Cecilville, California, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, California state road 36, Empire Mine State Historic Park and Grass Valley, Downieville, Modoc National Forest, Bear Camp Coastal Route in Josephine County, Oregon & my first water crossing!

Oregon Volcanic Rock Huggers Motorcycle Ride: 4 days, 3 nights, 580 miles, July 2019. Deschutes National Forest, Newberry National Volcanic Monument, Big Obsidion Flow, McKay Butte Fire, Fort Rock

Steens Mountain, Oregon, Great Basin National Park and Rachel, Nevada. We spent 13 days, going over 2657 miles / 4276 kilometers, mostly in Nevada in 2018. It was a terrific, but incredibly hot and smokey, trip. Also see all of our 2018 motorcycle adventures.

In 2017, we traveled for 10 days in Washington State on a Smokey Motorcycle Adventure in August. Yes, it was ridiculously hot. But it was still a terrific trip. 2382 km / 1489 miles.

In 2016, we went to the exotic land of Idaho for two weeks. 4280 km / 2675 miles. Included at least 120 miles of gravel. Hells Canyon, Silver City, Idaho, Bruneau Dunes State Park, City of Rocks National Reserve, Sawtooth Scenic Byway, Salmon River Scenic Byway, Custer, Idaho, Ft. Missoula, Montana, historic Wallace, Idaho, Lake Coeur d'Alene, White Pine Scenic Byway, Hell's Canyon Overlook, Oregon, Joseph, Painted Hills, and Little Crater Lake in Mt. Hood National Forest. It has been one of our favorite trips to date - nothing in North America has been more beautiful and interesting as this trip, and we had plenty of time for sight-seeing (not just from the saddle of a motorcycle).

In 2015, our motorcycle trips included two weeks mostly in British Columbia, but including Hydar, Alaska (Stewart-Cassiar Highway and the Alaska Highway). We went all the way up to the Yukon and back, 5954 km / 3700 miles. Lots of bears, which was awesome. But only one day of sight-seeing - most every day was ride, ride, ride. The wind almost ruined the trip at the end.

For our Motorcycle Travel & Rally Activities for 2014, we spent two weeks, 4766 km / 2979 miles, and went to Moab, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Goblin Valley, Farewell Bend Oregon State Park, Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, and Camping in a cow pasture in the deserts of Nevada. And I had my first motorcycle wreck!

Our Motorcycle Travel & Rally Activities in 2012, including camping in Antelope amid the ghosts of the Rajneesh colony, seeing the Alvord Desert for the first time, and a big Motorcycle Journey in Northern California, Nevada & Southeastern Oregon - 3914 km / 2446 miles.

In 2011, we went to Yellowstone, Western Montana, Wyoming & more , in June 2011. 15 days, 4091 km / 2557 miles. The trip ended at the legendary Burning Moto Man 2011, in Westfir, Oregon. We also spent one week in Washington state, September 2011 to celebrate my husband's 40th birthday, visiting Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Ape Cave, ice cave and lava tubes, Gifford Pinchot National Forest and a bit of Mt. Hood.

Our Motorcycle Travel & Rally Activities in 2010, my first long-distance motorcycle trips! Acutally, we took two! One to the "Lost Coast" of California, and another to Canada (Alberta and British Columbia, Jasper, Banff & Kootenay National Parks) and Glacier National Park.

Before I started riding my own bike, and before we moved to the USA, I went on a few trips on the back of my soon-to-be husband's bike.

2008 Motorcycle Travel (pillion): Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia
2007 Motorcycle Travel (pillion): Northern France
2006 Motorcycle Travel (pillion): Scotland
2005 Motorcycle Travel (pillion): Bruges, Belgium
2004 Motorcycle Travel (pillion): Norway & Sweden (my first motorcycle trip)

Also see this list of all my motorcycle travel dreams, big and small, as well as this list of my favorite local scenic routes near the greater PDX metro (Portland, Oregon)

Adventure Motorcycle Luggage & Accessories
www.coyotetrips.com

Aluminum Panniers and Top Cases,
Top Case Adapter Plates,
Tough Motorcycle Fuel Containers, & More

Designed or Curated by an experienced adventure motorcycle world traveler
Based in Oregon
You won't find these exact products anywhere else;
these are available only from Coyotetrips
(my husband)

Also see:

My current motorcycle: A 2008 KLR 650 (Kawasaki)

My former motorcycle: A 1982 Honda Nighthawk 650

Number of US & Canadian states I've been to on a motorcycle of my own: 7

Number of countries I've toured on a motorcycle of my own: 2

Number of countries I've toured on the back of a motorcycle: 17

Trips riding my own motorcycle
California ("Lost Coast" and gold country), Idaho, Montana (Glacier NP), Nevada, Oregon, Washington (state), Wyoming (Yellowstone), Canada (Alberta and British Columbia, Jasper, Banff & Kootenay).

International trips by motorcycle
Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Northern England & Scotland, France, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Macedonia (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia , Sweden

Photos of me traveling by motorcycle

Disclaimer
Any activity incurs risk. The author assumes no responsibility for the use of information contained within this document.

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