Author Topic: Washington State Hwy 101 S  (Read 26125 times)

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Offline Gypsea

Washington State Hwy 101 S
« on: May 04, 2025, 01:57:56 pm »
Hey fellow travelers. I'm looking at a section of 101S between Lake Quinault and Aberdeen.  Google maps puts me on a couple of sort of parallel forest roads.  One is NF 2257.  Anyone with local knowledge of this gravel road?  Why would I do this? Yes I know 101 will not be particularly pleasant.  Condition of gravel, elevation gains? Thanks!

Offline John Nettles

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Re: Washington State Hwy 101 S
« Reply #1 on: May 04, 2025, 08:26:10 pm »
Sorry I can't help with your question.  However,I tend to ignore Google maps except in cities.  They seem to route fairly well in cities but not so good in rural areas.  I would look at a heat map for cyclists (RWGPS, Strava, etc.) and see what cyclists actually ride. My guess is that most cyclists take 101.  However, if you are looking to avoid traffic on US101, I would take Moclips Hwy to Moclips then down and over to Aberdeen.

Tailwinds, John

Offline Gypsea

Re: Washington State Hwy 101 S
« Reply #2 on: May 06, 2025, 10:40:28 am »
Thank you John!  I agree with Google maps!  I'll do a bit of research and the Moclips option looks appealing.

Offline davidbonn

Re: Washington State Hwy 101 S
« Reply #3 on: May 06, 2025, 04:31:41 pm »
I just rode that a couple of days ago.  The section from Moclips to Copalis Beach has a lot of traffic on weekends, steep hills, poor sight lines, and a lot of it is shoulderless.

On the other side of it the road from 101 S of Neilton to Moclips was lightly traveled and pleasant on a Saturday morning.

Offline Gypsea

Re: Washington State Hwy 101 S
« Reply #4 on: May 06, 2025, 06:32:46 pm »
Thank you for information.  I'd be going SE from Moclips to Aberdeen via Ocean Beach road to 101S; elevation profile shows about 400 feet of gain. 

Offline davidbonn

Re: Washington State Hwy 101 S
« Reply #5 on: May 08, 2025, 09:25:54 am »
That road is also busy, though not as busy and scary as the road along the coast.

Keep in mind that there is a lot of logging activity in that area and so you might meet logging trucks or other heavy equipment on unpaved forest roads.

Offline Gypsea

Re: Washington State Hwy 101 S
« Reply #6 on: May 08, 2025, 01:42:47 pm »
Thanks for the additional information.  I'm not looking forward to the logging traffic but hoping I can pick the"right" times of day for travel.

Offline davidbonn

Re: Washington State Hwy 101 S
« Reply #7 on: May 14, 2025, 10:16:29 am »
Notes about that side of the Olympic Peninsula.

The Quality Inn in downtown Port Angeles is a good place to launch from, with laundry and a Safeway a couple of blocks away and two bike shops within walking distance.  There are two related hotels managed by the same company right next to the Quality Inn so you can still get access to the laundry and the okay free breakfast.

W of Port Angeles you can mostly manage to be on quiet roads or the Olympic Discovery Trail until about a dozen miles N of Forks near the village of Beaver.  If you don't want to take the "ODT Adventure Route" you are stuck with about ten miles on the 101 E of Lake Crescent.

There aren't many resupply points on that section, with your best bet being the quite good market at Beaver (only about 10 miles from Forks) or a smaller market near Lake Sutherland on the 101.  You can also go through Joyce on the shoulderless, sometimes busy Juan De Fuca Highway and cross over to Lake Crescent there.

Similarly, until you get to the W end of Lake Crescent at Fairholme Campground there aren't many good camping options at all.  Fairholme is an NPS campground and really has no consideration for human-powered travelers.  Further W you can either stealth camp (looked to me like there were decend possibilities on the Camp Creek section of the ODT after you cross the Sol Duc River) or stay in a large USFS Campground (Klahowya) or there are a number of small private campgrounds that all seemed fairly primitive (usually no potable water) and overpriced for what they offer.

The Olympic Adventure Campground just N of Forks is nice enough, if bit expensive and they have a proclivity for charging you extra for things like use of a shower and laundry.  They have some nice tent sites tucked away in the back part of their property but you need to contact them and confirm they are open (they weren't when I passed through two weeks ago).

Forks is a bit of a trip.  It is easy to imagine that vampires live there.  Sully's drive-in right on the 101 will give you a free ice cream cone if you are over 65.  And the Thriftway at the S side of town is the last major grocery store until Hoquiam and Aberdeen.  It is somewhat expensive and the fresh fruits and vegetables aren't super great.

About five miles S of Forks is Bogachiel State Park and arguably the best camping for cyclists on this section of the route.  Nice but small hiker-biker campsites, showers, heated bathrooms, piped water.

The shoulder is quite thin in places S of Forks and that can get uncomfortable with the logging truck traffic.  One eternal mystery to me is that you see fully loaded and unloaded logging trucks going in each direction.  There are very limited resupply options on this section, but some plausible stealth camping on state land if you know where DNR land is.

When you get into the coastal section of Olympic National Park N of Kalaloch there is even less shoulder and a lot of highway construction going on (strangely when I passed through here in 2021 there was construction in nearly the same places).  The campground at Kalaloch is a typical NPS campground and thus is expensive and not really set up for bicycle travelers.  There is a very small store and nice lodge.  A few miles S of Kaloloch you leave the coast and head inland through mostly clearcut land.

There is another small market at Queets Village.

At and around Lake Quinalt there are several markets, several small motels, and several decent USFS campgrounds.  Taking a side trip around the lake is worthwhile if you have the time.

We've talked about S of Lake Quinalt.  I'd note that if you do take the hidden coast road there is a decent, if small, grocery store in Seabrook Village as well as multiple restaurants.

The Hoquiam River RV Park on the N side of town is a decent place to camp with nice grassy campsites right on the river and showers (free!) and laundry.

Going through Hoquiam and Aberdeen it is very important to note that the S 101 bridge has no shoulder and heavy traffic and there is no safe way to cross.  The N 101 bridge forces you to go the wrong way but is safe to cross.

There are the usual stores in Aberdeen, and there is a Safeway just before you cross the Chehalis River and get back on the 101.

A fairly pleasant detour is the 105 through Westport.  There are a couple of nice sections of grade-separated bike path (most notably along the Chehalis River and around the Westport Lighthouse) that are a pleasant diversion.  There is a hiker-biker camp at Twin Harbors State Park.

The 105 rejoins the 101 in Raymond.  There is a decent brew pub which also has rooms and a bunk room.  There is a decent Thriftway in Raymond and another smaller market in South Bend.  S of there you are back on the 101 (though look at Marine Drive and you can get a short gravel section -- any mile not on the 101 is a Good Mile).  There are two good campgrounds along that section.  One at Bruceport County Park and the other at Chinook Pioneer Campground in Bay Center.  From there it is a whole lot of nothing on the 101 until you get close to Long Beach, and you'll pass through the hamlet of Chinook (small market, RV Park with possible camping) just before leaving Washington on the terrifying long shoulderless bridge with high crosswinds and crazy traffic at Astoria.

Every time I've crossed that bridge I swore I'd never do it again.  I hear you might be able to either get a taxi or call a bike shop in Astoria to arrange a lift across.  That is a very good idea.

Most of this route has fairly gentle grades and really no significant elevation gain. 
« Last Edit: May 16, 2025, 08:24:51 pm by davidbonn »

Offline adventurepdx

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Re: Washington State Hwy 101 S
« Reply #8 on: May 19, 2025, 12:51:33 pm »
From there it is a whole lot of nothing on the 101 until you get close to Long Beach, and you'll pass through the hamlet of Chinook (small market, RV Park with possible camping) just before leaving Washington on the terrifying long shoulderless bridge with high crosswinds and crazy traffic at Astoria.

Every time I've crossed that bridge I swore I'd never do it again.  I hear you might be able to either get a taxi or call a bike shop in Astoria to arrange a lift across.  That is a very good idea.

There is bus service across the Astoria-Megler Bridge from Ilwaco into Astoria. Yes, the bus has bike racks and I've used it a few times. It is infrequent (only four times a day) and weekday only, but if you can get it to line up, it is an option.
https://www.pacifictransit.org/Schedules-Maps

FWIW, I've ridden the bridge a few times. While I wouldn't say it's pleasant or a thing I'd go out of my way to do, I don't find it as bad as some. It is long (four miles) and has a climb. I didn't think the traffic was "crazy", and one good thing about having traffic lights at either end is that the traffic comes in pulses--there are moments when you won't have any cars passing you.

Offline davidbonn

Re: Washington State Hwy 101 S
« Reply #9 on: May 19, 2025, 11:02:14 pm »
I will admit that the last time I crossed that bridge it was made complicated by both very poor weather and a section of the bridge had construction with one lane closed, so there was a lot more traffic backed up than would otherwise happen.