I just came back from attending the Chief Joseph rally in John Day Oregon hosted by the Oregon BMW Riders club. The rally is small but it's a good place to catch up with friends and ride some great roads. Eastern Oregon roads are generally in great shape as they don't get a lot of heavy truck traffic. Route 395 is a perpetual favorite because the pavement is smooth and the road winds through open valleys and up and over several low passes through Ponderosa Pine forests. The corners seem plenty fast at 70 to 80 mph. Another favorite road is Highway 12 between Walla Walla, Washington and Lolo, Montana. The Idaho DOT has re-paved much of this route so the surface is generally in good condition. That route takes you along the Clearwater and Lochsa rivers through forest. It's a great route but not my favorite as it has many blind corners. In contrast, Route 93 from North Fork to Stanley, Idaho winds along the Salmon river through semi-arid country, which offers outstanding visibility. This may be the best road I've ever ridden. It's about 140 miles of nearly perfect asphalt with long sweeping 70 mph corners and 100+ straights. And there generally is not too much traffic and I've never seen a Trooper. It's a delight to be able to see all the way through the corners and not have vegetation next to the roadway for critters to hide in. As usual I was having too much fun to stop and take pictures so here are some from Goggle Maps. I know a lot of you folks are from the east (or from back-east as we say) but if you ever ride through the northern Rocky Mountains (in the US), definitely put this route on your trip agenda.
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I just came back from attending the Chief Joseph rally in John Day Oregon hosted by the Oregon BMW Riders club. The rally is small but it's a good place to catch up with friends and ride some great roads. Eastern Oregon roads are generally in great shape as they don't get a lot of heavy truck traffic. Route 395 is a perpetual favorite because the pavement is smooth and the road winds through open valleys and up and over several low passes through Ponderosa Pine forests. The corners seem plenty fast at 70 to 80 mph. Another favorite road is Highway 12 between Walla Walla, Washington and Lolo, Montana. The Idaho DOT has re-paved much of this route so the surface is generally in good condition. That route takes you along the Clearwater and Lochsa rivers through forest. It's a great route but not my favorite as it has many blind corners. In contrast, Route 93 from North Fork to Stanley, Idaho winds along the Salmon river through semi-arid country, which offers outstanding visibility. This may be the best road I've ever ridden. It's about 140 miles of nearly perfect asphalt with long sweeping 70 mph corners and 100+ straights. And there generally is not too much traffic and I've never seen a Trooper. It's a delight to be able to see all the way through the corners and not have vegetation next to the roadway for critters to hide in. As usual I was having too much fun to stop and take pictures so here are some from Goggle Maps. I know a lot of you folks are from the east (or from back-east as we say) but if you ever ride through the northern Rocky Mountains (in the US), definitely put this route on your trip agenda.Last edited by justjoe; 07-03-2019, 05:47 PM. -
Hey Joe, can you make these photos live. Thought I had it figured out. Guess not. -
Hey Bobby,
My best guess right now is that they are not jpg files, but instead, pdf's. PDF's will load as text files or links and require a download from the user. Send me a link to them directly and I will work it out!
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Got those pdf files converted to jpg. Now we just need to correct the spelling of Salmon in the thread title.Comment
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Just on that road last month. Did a loop through Oregon then Idaho and on to northern Washington. I especially like White Bird pass on 93, but there is LE in that area. Grandview, Idaho has a couple of motels. Riggins further south has motels and a good place to stop over also.Comment
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