Touring - Anyone ever toured Columbia river area?

Just looking at our summer plans..Committments. Trying to think when and where a bike tour might fit in? Michigan, Nevada. Maybe Oregon..
Couple organized tours of Oregon roughly following the Columbia river east to west. Anyone rode this route.?
How was the terrain, facilities, route, scenery..One tour I stumpled is 7days. Starts in Bend and ends near Portland. Would you recommend this route.?The tour starts early August...Much rain then?

I rode up the Columbia River (west to east), starting in Portland. The scenery is gorgeous, and there's plenty of places to stay/camp. In fact, the private campgroup across the road from Hat Rock State Park stands out as one of the best ever (well kept, soft green grass, etc.).

One thing to consider is the direction of travel. The Columbia Gorge is a windy place (a mecca for wind surfers), and the wind often blows from west to east. Last summer (mid June), we had to walk our bikes across the bridge at The Dalles because the wind was blowing so hard. Even walking, I thought the wind was going to pick me up and toss me in the river.

My ride along the Columbia is a good memory, but drcrash is right about the wind! On my east-west cross country, with only 3 more days to go, I actually had thoughts of giving up while riding Washington Route 14 westward along the Columbia River. From my tape recorded notes while riding: "In the last 4 hours and 25 minutes, I've managed to eat breakfast and go only 25 miles. This headwind persists; sometimes it's a fierce sidewind, too, which has blown me more than once into the traffic lane. Fortunately, there's little or no traffic on this road." [...and later...] "The wind has been such a terrible impediment to enjoyment, especially as it was a sidewind. I've gotten off and walked the bike in quite a few places, especially where there was a dropoff on the right. As I found myself being blown into the traffic lane, I was afraid I might overcompensate and go down the hill to oblivion. I probably walked about 1/4 mile in various little segments." But that evening I recorded this from my sleeping bag: "I can't decide whether this was a good day or not--2/3 the way thru it I thought 'Boy, this is surely one that I would like to have thrown away,' but now I'm not so sure. The experience was good--for me--and to have gone thru that wind once is to know how it is. So how can that be bad? I'm pleasantly tired, or maybe a little more than pleasantly tired, so I'm sure I'll get to sleep soundly...starting now."

The scenery was beautiful, especially west of Maryhill. The southern cliffs of the gorge often look like a solarized photograph. The arid parts are the most striking, but you'll also enjoy the greener parts when you get farther west.

I enjoyed a detour into Oregon which was a nice change (between The Dalles and Cascade Locks). You hit Hood River along the way, a mecca for bikers, sailboarders and other outdoor types. If you take this detour, you use US30 and Interstate 84 (legally)--both good riding through that segment.

WA14 between Plymouth and the bridge to The Dalles has a wonderful, remote feeling. There are very few services, so carry enough food and water (Umatilla Oregon may be your last chance.) Also make sure you have enough tire patches, as there are numerous, small stickery burrs that are such nuisances that Paul Harvey did a segment of his radio broadcast talking about them. They're hard to find in the tire/tube, too. Of a total of 8 flats in 3400 miles, 3 of mine happened in those 90 miles.

Despite the rigors of that lonely road, I remember WA Route 14 fondly as one of my favorite parts of my ride across. It's hard to imagine riding this road as part of an organized tour as it's such a wonderful stretch to bike alone, a good place to think about things, a good place to "meet yourself". If you're with a group, try at least to snatch a few hours and become a solitary traveler somewhere along the way.

Speaking of "windy", sorry for being so wordy. Hope you have a great time, whatever trip you do.

p.s. I know you were talking about riding in Oregon, but when I saw "following the Columbia" I couldn't resist mentioning the Washington side.

I used to ride the Columbia River Gorge and been caught in the rain a few times. Great ride, views, and roads. Bring a rain jacket.

in August it rains in Oregon VERY little -- actually as long as you're not on the coast or the Coastal Mountains near the coast you can pretty much assume no rain in Oregon in August. it rains on average something like once a month in August and east of the Cascades (say Bend or just a few miles east of Hood River) it rains even less. if i remember right, then southern California gets more rain in August than Oregon which is not a lot.

i've not actually ridden this strech on a bike although i have mountain biked a lot in the Hood River and Bend and Portland areas... as well as driven I84 numerous times as well as WA14 and the scenic road adjacent to I84 that would be awesome for cycling except there is HEAVY tourist auto traffic and continuos curves so i'm not sure if i'd want to bike it (the road was built FOR tourism in like 1915 or something like that - i could be way off on the date - as a way to draw tourists to the area so was built to be very "fun" to drive as well as have lots of scenic viewpoints)

Bend to Portland would be a pretty cool tour as you will start in the hot dry almost-desert and then ride to the Gorge, then along the Gorge and then into the Willamette Valley where Portland is. It might also be cool to ride all the way to the coast - through the hills west of Portland, then relatively flat until the Coastal Mountains and then the coast.

the wind is STRONG along the Gorge --- basically the Gorge is the only low spot for pressure to equalize between the coastal area west of the Cascades and the plains east of the Cascades. um... i forgot the details, but in the morning it blows in one direction along the Gorge and then in the afternoon in the other direction --- depending of course on sun and temperature, but you can look up on windsurfing sites about the winds - but always east or west in the direction of the Gorge.

Hood River itself is usally VERY hot in August - usually in the 90s and just a few miles to the east is EVEN hotter -- the Dalles or Pendelton regularly get 100+ temps. i'm not sure what route you would take from Bend to Hood River - there are mostly big highways (26 direct from Madras to Portland) 97)197 to the Dalles or 26/35 to Hood River... but i don't think they'd be too good for riding - especially hw 26 has heavy traffic as it's the main thoroughfare from Bend to Portland.

weather in August and scenery-wise the whole region is awesome.