CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. 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.
A 155 km loop that starts and ends near Sisters, about 2 h 25 of riding. On the way it passes Dee Wright Observatory, McKenzie Pass, McKenzie Bridge and Santiam Pass. The highest point is about 1,600 m. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
For about 24 km this is McKenzie Pass Santiam Pass Scenic Byway, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it. Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Check the pass is open before you commit to it.
This is where a day makes up time without anyone trying. Third and fourth, and very little else. 30 km that neither climbs nor drops much. The road settles into the ground rather than fighting it.
54 km on McKenzie Bridge → Santiam Pass.
The Three Sisters, a trio of volcanic peaks each over ten thousand feet, stand over the town of Sisters, and the town makes an easy base for one of the most satisfying loops in the Pacific Northwest. Sisters sits on the dry eastern side of the Cascades, where ponderosa pine and juniper replace the wet forest on the other side, and its main street is lined with wooden storefronts in an old-west style. Every July it hosts an outdoor quilt show that fills the streets with hundreds of hanging quilts and thousands of visitors, which tells you something about the town's sense of humour.
Read the complete Sisters Oregon write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Sisters Oregon is where the day begins. Next is Dee Wright Observatory.
There is a low building of black lava rock on the summit of McKenzie Pass that looks as if it grew out of the ground, and in a sense it did, since every stone in it came from the lava fields around it. Dee Wright Observatory was built by Civilian Conservation Corps workers in the 1930s, in the style of a medieval watchtower, with arched openings and a flat roof from which you can look out over an ocean of broken black basalt. It was named for a local packer and guide who had worked on the old road.
Read the complete Dee Wright Observatory write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Dee Wright Observatory comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
Read the complete McKenzie Pass write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 25 km into the recorded legs you reach McKenzie Pass. Nothing on this route is higher. Next is McKenzie Bridge, mostly downhill.
McKenzie Bridge is a handful of buildings along the McKenzie River on the western flank of the Oregon Cascades, and it is one of those places that remains a village because the forest around it is too large to leave room for anything else. The river here runs cold and clear, a startling blue-green over pale stones, between banks of Douglas fir, western hemlock and cedar. The air smells of wet bark and rain, and the moss on every trunk and rock gives the whole landscape a soft, cushioned look.
Read the complete McKenzie Bridge write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
McKenzie Bridge, about halfway. Next is Santiam Pass.
Santiam Pass is the broad, forested saddle where US 20 crosses the crest of the Oregon Cascades, at about 4,800 feet, and it has a more complicated personality than the gentle name suggests. On the western side the road climbs from the wet valleys through dark Douglas fir and hemlock, and on the east it drops into dry ponderosa pine and the high desert. The pass is the dividing line between two climates, and you can feel the change in the air within a few miles, from damp and mossy to dry and resinous.
Read the complete Santiam Pass write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Santiam Pass sits at 94 km, late in the day. Next is Sisters Oregon, mostly downhill.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sisters Oregon write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 155 km.
Sisters Oregon → Dee Wright Observatory is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
McKenzie Pass → McKenzie Bridge is 42 km. Brakes and eyes forward; the views are behind the corners, not in them.
McKenzie Bridge → Santiam Pass is 54 km. This is the part worth slowing down for - look through the bends and use the pull-offs.
Santiam Pass → Sisters Oregon is 33 km. Brakes and eyes forward; the views are behind the corners, not in them.