Why this ride
A volcanic summit road paired with one of Oregon's best forest corridors. The road: OR-242 and NF-19. Distance and riding time are estimates from the checkpoints until the road is measured on this page.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
McKenzie Pass and Aufderheide Loop
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 388 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 50
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Sisters
Sisters sits on the dry east side of the Oregon Cascades, at about 3,200 feet, in a patch of ponderosa pine and sagebrush where the forest gives way to high desert. Above it rise the three volcanoes that gave the town its name, North, Middle and South Sister, each over ten thousand feet, snow-streaked even in summer. The town was built in a Western style, with false-front wooden buildings along the main street, boardwalks and murals, and it has the feel of a film set that happens to work.
2. McKenzie Pass
McKenzie Pass has a split personality. On the western side, the road climbs through damp forests of Douglas fir and hemlock, past waterfalls and moss, and then, quite suddenly, you emerge into an apocalyptic field of black lava. The Cascade Range has been erupting for a long time, and the lava fields at the top of the pass, left by volcanic activity that continued until a few thousand years ago, stretch away on both sides in jagged, frozen waves, broken only by the stunted trees that have gained a foothold. At 5,325 feet, about 1,623 metres, the pass is a high, windy, exposed place, with the snowy peaks of the Three Sisters rising above the lava and Mount Washington, a spire of eroded volcanic rock, standing alone to the north.
3. Oakridge
4. Back to Sisters
Return visit. Read the place description above.