Days: 9 - 5 days of riding
Level: Moderate
Mileage: 56 ave - 280 total
Start/Finish: Portland, OR
Price: $1400

 

Meals: All included
Restaurants: Geiser Grand Restaurant
Motels: Geiser Grand
Events & Activities: Optional rafting Hells Canyon, Tram ride up Mt. Howard included.


The ride around the Wallowa Mountains is a classic multi‐day ride that is a good introduction to some of the more remote areas of Oregon. The Wallowa Mountains is an area that includes 126 peaks taller than 8,000 feet, lakes, rushing streams and waterfalls, and alpine meadows all so majestic and beautiful that they are commonly referred to as the “Oregon Alps”. Luckily for bicycle riders, the mountains rise abruptly out of the surrounding river valleys allowing riders to circumnavigate the mountain range with relative ease.

This northeastern corner of Oregon has limited services available which means that the length of each days ride is dictated primarily by the location of available services. This is so true that it has been said that there are only two variations to this ride – clockwise and counterclockwise.

Our route starts and finishes in Elgin, a town known for its Elgin Opera House - built in 1911 by the town fathers to "overshadow" the nearby house of ill repute. Our first day of riding takes us on an easy ride through the small towns of Imbler, Cove, and Union before our lunch stop at Catherine Creek State Park. After lunch we climb a 1000' ridge and drop down into the Powder River drainage on our way to Baker City. It's been a long 80 mile day of riding so we reward you with a nice dinner and overnight stay at the Geiser Grand Hotel which was built in 1889 and is registered as a National Historic Landmark.

Leaving Baker City the next morning we climb a small hill and pass by the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center - a great museum that we would stop at except that is is still closed at this time of the morning. An easy 35 mile downhill ride through open range country brings us into the town of Richland for a morning break. Since we are making great time this morning we push on to get the climb of the day out of the way before it gets any hotter. The road switchbacks up 1500' over 6 miles at a 5% grade. On a forested road this wouldn't be too bad but in the exposed sun this can be a real hard climb. We coast down into Halfway were we stop for a long and well deserved lunch break. Another 20 miles brings us down to Oxbow on the Snake River where we will camp for the next two nights.

 

Our layover day is spent either relaxing around camp or rafting the Snake River. The rafting is a $200 option but the raft trip down this Wild and Scenic stretch of Hells Canyon along with the Jet boat ride back up at the end of the day makes this an option that you will not want to miss out on.

The ride from Oxbow to Wallowa Lake is a 75 mile climb through the eastern shoulder of the Wallowa Mountains. Since this ride climbs 4500' up into the mountains we slit the ride into two segments. Our ride out of Oxbow is a fairly easy 6% grade up into the forest. At the summit we take the side trip out to the Hells Canyon Viewpoint where we can look down towards the stretch of Hells Canyon that we rafted the day before. We coast down to Ollokot Campground on the banks of the Imnaha River. It is a beautiful little campground but being "undeveloped" means that we will need to bring our own water to run the showers tonight.

One more day of climbing as we climb up to the 6000' level before dropping down into the town of Joseph. We spend two nights just outside of Joseph at the Wallowa Lake Campground so that we can explore the area. Taking the tram to the top of Mt Howard and hiking around to the viewpoints that look up into the Wallowa Mountains is the next best thing to spending a week hiking up into the wilderness area. Then you will spend an afternoon wandering around the bronze foundries, galleries, and shops of Joseph.

On our last day of riding we enjoy a 45 mile downhill ride along the Wallowa River as we pass through Enterprise, Lostine, Wallowa, and Minam. Minam Hill is there for one last challenge of the week - a 1250' climb over 5 miles at a 6% grade. From there it is an easy ride into Elgin where we will relax for one last night before with a nice dinner and stories of our weeks adventure while sitting around the campfire.

On Sunday morning we pack up or gear and head back to Portland.

Tour details may change without notice. Although you'll have an up-to-date itinerary prior to departure,
changes due to unforeseen circumstances may occur at any time.