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Forest Grove to Willamina and/or Tillamook 
along & around the Nestucca River

168 miles of foresty, twisty fun.
a motorcycle day trip in the greater PDX metro area.

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An overlooked, terrific motorcycle riding day trip in the greater PDX metro area is this route to and from Tillamook (168 miles / 270 kilometers) - or a shorter round trip just through Willamina (110 miles / 177 kilometers). You could even combine it with a trip elsewhere, or explore the various National Forest roads and camp at one of the 3 or 4 campsites along the Nestucca River in Siuslaw National Forest (if a campsite is available - otherwise, you'll have to rough camp - free and legal to do throughout the forest along gravel roads).

These routes are mostly forest-covered and have great twists and turns. It's one of my very favorite day trips from the Portland metro area.

At left is what the entire big trip looks like (168 miles / 270 kilometers). When we skip the Tillamook leg, we LOVE stopping at Willamina for lunch at the Wildwood Hotel (outdoor seating is usually available). Carlton is a delightful place to stop for a late lunch or ice cream or coffee (wish they had a camp site, so we could take in dinner and wine tasting too!).

Below is a narrative description of the 168 mile-route, counter-clockwise from Forest Grove (if you are coming from Portland, come out on US 26 to Banks and then get on 47):

From Forest Grove, take 47 / Tualitan Valley Highway South through the small towns of Gaston and Yamhill to Carlton (Carlton is charming, BTW and worth a stop if you have some time). Make a right in Carlton on North Meadowlake Road, which will take you out of town and, after an intersection, become wonderfully hilly and twisty and turn into Nestucca River Road. Once you pass the reservoir on the left, you are away from the residential areas and will be in Siuslaw National Forest, and as mentioned earlier, there are a few places along the road where you can camp - or just take a pee break. Note that the campgrounds on Nestucca River Road, like Adler Creek Recreation site and campground and Rocky Bend Campground, have vaulted (pit) toilets and no potable water. Most have day use areas, but we just park near the driveways into the campground when we want a rest stop.

Nestucca River Road is now entirely paved.

If you want to turn Nestucca River Road into a loop, or head over to Willamina for lunch, there is a terrific paved detour: 15.5 miles from the intersection of Meadowlark and NW Westside Road just outside of Carlton and less than a mile after the sign for Nestucca River Recreation Area, you will see a paved road on the left going up. This is Bald Mountain Access Road, which you can take to Bible Creek Road, and from there, right will get you back to Nestucca, left will get you to the town of Willamina. The road is usually marked on Nestucca River Road with a small metal brown sign for Willamina - but, unfortunately, assholes with guns sometimes take out the sign, shooting it into oblivion, so you cannot absolutely count on it. If you are looking for it as you go along Nestucca River Road and get to a campground, you have passed the road, so you need to turnaround - in which case it will be the first paved road on your right.

Bald Mountain Access Road is paved all the way, but it is mostly one lane - there are some small turnouts for people going North, and there is a viewpoint with a vaulted toilet. It is a lovely forested road, twisty and paved all the way. It's busiest with recreational vehicles on the weekend and logging trucks during the week.

Or, you can head over a gravel route to the right and get to Trask River! The gravel route from this direction is more difficult from the other direction, IMO, and I would NOT recommend doing it if you are on a motorcycle other than a dual sport or dirt bike.

Anyway, if you continue on Nestucca River Road going west, it becomes Blaine Road, and this takes you to 101. You can head all the way to Tillamook, or you can stop anywhere before then for lunch if you see an open restaurant (but restaurants come and go - therefore I can't recommend any because where I ate last may not be there anymore).

If you have to get back East quickly, you can take 6 from Tillamook - on Sunday afternoon, there is a crazy amount of traffic, and it's even worse on a holiday weekend, so be careful. But if you still have plenty of daylight, head back down 101 and return up Nestucca River Road and, before you get to the gravel, make a right onto Bible Creek Access Road - the access to the road is on your right, across from a big dirt parking lot on your left. At left of this paragraph is a satellite view of the turnoff that shows the big gravel area next to the road. 


Bible Creek Access Road will become Gilbert Creek Road, and this gets you to the small town of Willamina. If you pass Blackwell County Park, you are well on your way. This is a beautiful route, paved the entire way but may have some sunken grades, it's steep at times, and it's very winding. Again - if you are looking for a terrific lunch, I highly recommend the restaurant at the Wildwood Hotel.

From Willamina, you head to Sheridan, which will get you back onto 18 going East, which gets you to 47 and that takes you back through McMinneville and so on. Boring, but very quick. Or, from Willamina, you can go back up Gilbert Creek Road and make a right on
Bald Mountain Access Road, which will take you back to Nestucca River Road and then back through Carlton and Yamhill.

There are also numerous national forests roads all throughout this area, but they rarely have road signs. As mentioned earlier, the campgrounds along the Nestucca River are great places to base yourself overnight to explore the area, but frankly, I wouldn't leave anything in these campgrounds during the day unattended. As this is mostly national forest, you can legally camp rough along most any gravel road.

Parts of this trip are easily combined with Siuslaw National Forest Service Road 14 or via a 14 mile or so gravel road to Trask River Road, which is paved starting at Trask River Campground, and from there you can head on to Tillamook or head back on 6 to the Portland metro area.
   
More Oregon and Washington suggested short motorcycle routes.

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