SW Washington

[dtsloan]

Riding Canada to Mexico next summer.

The ACA route stays fairly inland in SW Washington, instead of heading more west and then south near the coast. Anyone know why? Is there a viable route, like this?

[jamawani]

I have ridden both inland and on the coast.
I prefer the coast.

But US 101 has a good deal of traffic - esp. between Aberdeen and Raymond.
It's longer - but Hwy 105 has some lovely stretches.
You have a paved bike trail on the dunes in Westport.
Then there are back roads thru cranberry fields - but near the beach.
Plus, the stretch along Willapa Bay is right on water's edge.

US 101 south of Raymond also can be busy - usually with adequate shoulders.
Short rail trail along the river - then a few bay views. Camping.
401 has less traffic, but 101 has better wind southbound & views.
Make sure to overnight at Cape Disappointment - very nice views.
Fort Stevens on Oregon side doesn't have the cliffs.

Finally - the big, big ride over the Astoria Bridge.

Pic - Willapa Bay along Hwy 105

[dtsloan]

thanks!

[staehpj1]

FWIW, I rode some of the inland route in WA and wasn't crazy about it.  I started in Seattle and took the ferry to join the AC route at Bremmerton if I remember correctly.  I finished up in San Luis Obispo.  After having done so I decided that if riding there again I'd ride the coastal route in WA next time or else just start in Astoria.  I can't compare the WA options though since I have not yet ridden the coast in WA.

I told some guys from WA that I met in a hiker biker site what I thought of the WA portion of the AC route.  One of them said, "We're from Washington and we start in Astoria."

I met some other folks who loved one or the other portion of WA.

I really loved the Oregon portion of the ride.  Northern California was nice too.

[dtsloan]

kind of what I suspected; thanks

Last year I rode Oregon/California border to Mexico border, and northern California was definitely the most scenic.

[adventurepdx]

Yeah, I have no idea why the ACA route stays inland practically to the Columbia River. The ride south of Olympia is OK, fairly quiet, country scenery, but nothing really spectacular about it.

I've ridden US 101 south of Raymond, and it isn't bad. I remember a decent shoulder for much of it, and traffic light. The one thing you DON'T see, though, is the ocean. That's because the Long Beach Peninsula creates Willapa Bay. Some parts are nice, but you are not going to see waves crashing into a beach until you get to Cape Disappointment.





I know that some folks will head from Olympia to Aberdeen to get to the coast, but another option is to use the ACA route south to Chehalis and then head west via the Willapa Hills Trail. It's a former rail right of way. The finished portion of the trail ends around Pe Ell, which is the crest of the Coast Range. (A pretty low crest, maybe 700 feet in elevation.) From there, one could bike on SR 6 to Raymond. The highway has some traffic, but not a lot from what I remember until right around Raymond.

[dtsloan]

thanks; good info