Portland Travel Answers

Hi´ mate. I cycled the Oregon coast myself a few years ago and flew in to Portland too. I stayed one night at the hostel Hawthorne hostel and thought that was good as they had good facilities for my bike and borrowed me some tools to get the bike ready. Their website is: http://www.portlandhostel.org/

Thanks for the info. Cheers - Craig

Claus, didn't you ride to the Coast? We drove, but it seemed like a pretty straight shot to Tillamook. I think it only took an hour by car. By bike?? There are some hills to get over.

I flew in to Portland and then got a lift from another vt member to Cannon beach where i started my ride that finsihed in Ensenada/Mexico. And the Oregon coast is not very elevated. The ride was a little tough though as i had a lot of rain when i drove there.

Do you want to do the entire Oregon coast, or is it possible for you to start a little further south than the far northern edge? Tillamook County Transportation District http://www.tillamookbus.com/ operates a bus from downtown Portland to Tillamook, but that gets you pretty far south of some fairly scenic places. You can take one of their other buses north as far as Cannon Beach which hits some of that scenic area. Their buses have bike racks - but can only hold two bikes. If you want to say you've done the entire Oregon coast you have to start in Astoria, which you can get there by a bus operated by Oregon Coachways. I know for sure it can be ticketed through Amtrak, but I don't know about Greyhound. I'm not sure they have a way to get bikes on the buses. The section from the coast from Astoria to Seaside really isn't that scenic, so cutting your trip a little shorter than the entire Oregon Coast wouldn't be too bad - but you definitely should not miss the section north of Tillamook, especially the area just north of Manzanita.

I am curious, are there any issues with staking a tarp, rather then a tent, at the campsites? I know with some sites you have to put your tent on a paved area thereby making it hard to stake a tent. I was planning on using a small MSR tarp rather then a tent. Any thoughts?

Thank you for the information; it is useful. I am not set on biking the whole coast so perhaps starting somewhere between Seaside and Tillamook would be a good idea. Thanks for that. I am a bit worried about the availability on the buses for bikes so I suppose which ever will get me to the coast is best.

The bike camp sites at the state parks are dirt. I don't know of any of the state parks that have a paved area for tent camping. Sure, if you get one of the RV sites at some locations you might have that, but even then at most of the state parks there is at least an open spot to put a tent of some sort, even if you have an RV with you. Take a look at some of the photos I have in the Nehalem Bay State Park section. I included photos of most of the camp site types, but unfortunately didn't get much of the bike in camp sites. The bike-in camp sites have no pavement at all. The state parks web site does feature a few photos and information on the various camp site types. As far as I know, there isn't a prohibition against hanging a tarp from a tree, so long as you do this in a way that doesn't do any permanent damage. The availability of bike racks on the buses is something you would have to talk to Tillamook Transit about. I would imagine that Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday are the busiest times for those who bring their bikes on the buses - basically those doing long weekend trips or weekend trips. However, their transit system would know better how often they have capacity problems with their bike racks.

Thanks for the information and I will check out the pictures. I was able to reserve a bus seat via Amtrak who has a contract with a bus carrier. The bus goes from the Amtrak station to Seaside for 17 USD. Takes 1.40 min and was able to reserve a spot for my bike (which can be packed or unpacked - I will confirm this when I get there). Cheers

Thanks for the information and I will check out the pictures. I was able to reserve a bus seat via Amtrak who has a contract with a bus carrier. The bus goes from the Amtrak station to Seaside for 17 USD. Takes 1.40 min and was able to reserve a spot for my bike (which can be packed or unpacked - I will confirm this when I get there). Cheers

As for the tarp, It is more of a shelter and was going to use this in lieu of a tent to keep the weight down but if I am unable to stake it, there might be a problem. By the way, some campgrounds are laying out a small patch of concrete to help reduce the impact of campers. I have only seen this a handful of times (out East) and was not overly pleased with it.