A complete guide to Oregon Coast Cycling
The Oregon Coast Visitors Association website is now a central hub for all things biking on the coast!
For the past few years, we’ve been actively involved in supporting the creation of three coastal mountain bike trail systems (Klootchy Creek in Seaside, Big Creek in Newport, and Whiskey Run in Coos County), and have sponsored mountain biking events like Ride the Dirt Wave and Mountain Bike Oregon, as a way to elevate mountain biking as a coastal experience for visitors and locals.
This year, we have also partnered with Dirty Freehub to scout and map coastal gravel routes, which can be ridden as day trips or as pieces of longer bike-packing trips. Each route has been vetted and thoroughly written up, so riders can know exactly what to expect as far as road conditions, safety, refuel stops, and the cultural and natural points of interest that make each ride unique.
Why cycling?
Cycling is an active and car-free way to experience the coast, and there are endless ways to enjoy it. Families can rent fat bikes for an afternoon on the beach, and adventurous riders can haul their bike-packing gear and head off into the mountains for days on end.
The Oregon Coast Scenic byway has long been loved by road cyclists and long-distance riders — but by investing in mountain biking and gravel routes, we are opening up the coast to an entirely new demographic of riders, and creating more outdoor recreation opportunities for the people that call the coast home.
In a time when economies are shifting, cycling also offers an opportunity for some small coastal towns to reinvent themselves and come together around recreation. One great example of this is the brand new Art 101 space in Bandon Oregon: a community art gallery with a thrift store and artistic resale area.
The owner, Angela Haseltine Pozzi, has plans to serve coffee and snacks, as well as stock bike tools, patch kits, and more for the cyclists passing through. As one of the few resupply stops in that section of coast, she’ll be visited by many riders who need a rest point, and they will get a chance to experience her incredible art, which is all conservation centered around art pieces made of recycled debris.
Check out the routes
The Oregon Coast Biking homepage launched this month, with sub-pages for fat biking, mountain biking, and gravel. Check out the routes in your region, and stay tuned as we continue to add to these lists, and for the official Oregon Coast Gravel Guidebook, which will be available later this year.