Oregon is famous for a rugged coastline with empty beaches, quaint fishing villages, sand dunes and outrageous seafood. But what’s so special about riding gravel? We just love the overall green experience, riding quiet forest roads among trees that seem taller than skyscrapers. And while little of the riding is near the beach, there’s no end to riding along amazing rivers with cascading waterfalls. What always surprises us about the Oregon Coast is how fast we can escape the touristy side and find ourselves deep in the woods for hours without seeing anybody! We’ve done a 4 hour ride without seeing even a single car. But where to ride?
At Dirty Freehub, (https://dirtyfreehub.org) we have spent the last 3 years searching for the perfect routes, which at first seemed a little daunting. The Oregon Coast has huge swaths of national forests that are perfect for riding a bike, but there are also massive private forests with a whole variety of access requirements. (Many of the private forests require permits that are on a lottery basis.) And let’s not forget how often we found roads that did not exist on our maps or roads that showed up on maps but were not rideable. So knowing where to ride is just not that simple.
Luckily we have created both a printed guide book and 15+ online Ride Guides with more on the way that let you shop for cool places to ride. The printed Oregon Coast Guide showcases a local artist, includes points of interest and offers up tips on riding in the area. (To order the printed Oregon Coast Guide go to https://dirtyfreehub.org/store/)
Before you book your trip, we recommend that you listen to our series of podcasts with interviews about the logging industry that will help you identify logging areas, understand the real safety issues, and know how to ride safer on logging roads. (We learned a bunch even though we ride logging roads all the time – https://dirtyfreehub.org/ride-gravel/lands)
We also interviewed a meteorologist to help you understand more about the finicky coastal range weather. This will help you find crazy fun adventures in March with conditions so perfect, you have to pinch yourself. (Yes, we’ve been out there on some amazing days – https://dirtyfreehub.org/podcasts/oregon-coast-weather)
What is Dirty Freehub?
Dirty Freehub is a nonprofit that provides gravel Ride Guides across the Western US with a huge focus on Oregon. We have 300+ Ride Guides that curate 12,000+ miles of gravel riding.
A Few Online Ride Guides From Our Collection
- Bombsite – https://dirtyfreehub.org/routes/oregon/the-bombsite/
- 47 miles with 5,300 feet of gain.
- Brooking Oregon
This route centers on visiting the actual bombsite where the Japanese using a float plane (put together in a submarine) in Sept 1942 dropped bombs that tried to start forest fires. The route also includes a visit to the Brooking Harbor and the Chetco River. The route also has views of the Coast Mountain peaks and Pacific Ocean shoreline.
- CheddarHead – https://dirtyfreehub.org/routes/oregon/cheddarhead/
- 90 miles with 10,000 feet of climbing
- Can be turned into bikepacking route or credit card tour
- Tillamook, Oregon
Tillamook is a town that prides itself on famous cheese, but this is also the start of a rugged adventure. The route includes some seriously tough miles that are both steep and challenging. But the visual paybacks are amazing through lush Oregon forests.
- Double Go! – https://dirtyfreehub.org/routes/oregon/double-go/
- 19 miles with 953 feet of gain
- Coos Bay Oregon
This excursion ends at two of the largest waterfalls on the Oregon Coast: Golden and Silver Falls. This route also showcases the Allegany-Scottsburg Pack Trail, once the major connector from Marshfield (Coos Bay) to Scottsburg circa 1850 to 1950.
- Honeyman – https://dirtyfreehub.org/routes/oregon/honeyman/
- 54 miles with 5,300 feet of gain
- (Easy way to shorten it)
- Florence, Oregon
Honeyman is one sweeeeet ride. With the Sweet Creek waterfalls (yes, that’s plural, there are 7 waterfalls), with the lake hugging roads so small you will think they are a bike path, with sand dunes and a historic boathouse, with rolling farmlands mixed in with a good solid logging road climb and with an easy landslip (not landslide!) crossing that eliminates any possibility of car traffic for a nice chunk of your ride. Dare we say bucketlister!
- Elk River Ramble – https://dirtyfreehub.org/routes/oregon/elk-river-ramble/
- 39 miles, 3,600 feet of gain
- Port Orford, Oregon
Ride along the Wild and Scenic Elk River with a loop through the Siskiyou National Forest. Loaded with old-growth terrain and amazing wildlife. Includes a continuous climb that is 6 miles with 2,200 feet of gain and an average gradient of 7.4%
