The way points of this bicycle route:
This stop seemed to be the best trade off in distance from Portland, and proximity to Highway 26. After this stop, the Max drifts south of the highway.
This is the turnoff I took to join with the Banks-Vernonia trail. It was well worth it. A scenic MUP that got me off the highway and out of traffic.
The banks-vernonia trail is hard to see on the google map, so this section is approximate. The banks-vernonia trail map can be found here: http://www.oregonstateparks.org/images/pdf/bv.pdf/
This is a pretty nice park, and close to Portland. Only 25 miles from the Hillsboro 185th/Willow Creek stop.
The next 3 miles of the trail unpaved. It's mostly loose shale and gravel. The first mile of it was barely navigable on a fully loaded touring bike with 700x32 marathons.
From here, the Banks-Vernonia trail crosses the highway and continues, on to meet with Highway 47 in Vernonia. Anything less than a mountain bike will be unlikely to make it through the next two unpaved miles, but if you get back on the highway here (making sure to go the right direction, I got confused) you can meet back up with the remainder of the paved trail later on. Just watch for signs.
This tiny ferry is cool. And it's only a dollar for bikes.
Some truly gorgeous views around here.
From here, you can catch ferries to all the San Juan Islands, and to Canada. Once you get out to the islands, you don't have to pay to board the inter-island or return ferry. And if you go to Orcas Island, go to the east, or north side of the island. I thought the west side was boring.
Skagit Cycle bike shop, right here!
There's a great multi-use path here that takes the scenic route back to highway 20, crossing a causeway over Fidalgo Bay.
This turnabout is awesome. Half the turnouts connect to nothing.
This part confused the hell out of me. I missed the turn around to take me onto the pedestrian portion of the bridge, and wound up going halfway back to Anacortes. Don't do that.
This turn off leads to Mt. Vernon, and an Amtrak Station on the Cascade line.
The Mt. Vernon Amtrak and Greyhound station. Tickets can be bought at after hours at an vending machine in the lobby, or over the phone or online. For an extra $5, your bike can ride in the baggage car, but you have to take all your bags off it. And you do need a reservation for the bike that has to be done in person or over the phone. The vending machine does not ask about bikes.
Welcome to Bikely, take a step by step tour of this path:
Press Start Tour - then use the navigation buttons below to move along the path.
Tagged with: Scenic, Touring
