Touring - Oregon Coast - Bus from Portland?

Howdy folks,

This June I'm going to ride the Oregon coast. I'm flying in to Portland and I'm wondering what transportation options exist to take me from Portland to Astoria, so I can start the ride there the next morning.

I've checked Amtrak and Greyhound, but no luck. The bike map provided by the state says there are bus options, but doesn't get specific. Anybody know if such a bus exists?

Thanks!

Why no luck with Amtrak? Go to www.amtrak.com , and search for one way ticket from portland to astoria. the station codes are PDX to ART. I did a quick search for stuff for Thursday. Looks like there is a bus that travels from Portland to Astoria daily at 6:20pm, arriving in Astoria 8:50pm. You can book online, and there is even an option available to add a bike to the trip, $5 per bicycle. I'm assuming the bike option is for bikes not in a box but already made up.

You could just ride from the Amtrak station to Astoria - Portland is a very easy city to get around on a bike, and their transportation department has some suggested bicycle routes to the coast here (http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=39889&).

We rented a car one way to Newport, then rode to Florence and went east from there. It made sense for us since there were three of us to split the cost and we used the car to sight see for one day before starting.

If I remember, there is a bus to Astoria and it's rack can take two bikes.

Amtrak lists a bus to Astoria.

That said if doing it again I might ride to the coast.

My wife and I did the Oregon coast in 2008. We shipped our bikes to a bike shop in Astoria. Picked up a rental car at the Portland airport. We did some sight seeing in Portland and drove to Astoria the next morning. Dropped the car off, put our bikes together and took off in the morning. If we did it again I think we would ride to Astoria.

"the station codes are PDX to ART"

Thanks Weetbix! That worked. I didn't have the codes, I was just typing in "Astoria, OR" and the dropdown changed to "no matches". Although I now see that "Astoria" is recognized by itself for some reason and just clicking "GO!" would have worked even without a match on the first page. The Amtrak automated phone system didn't recognize it either... no matter!

Thanks again to everybody for jumping in to help.

Yosemite

watch out, amtrak's web site makes it look like there's a train some places, but they are really routing you on a bus.

I rented a uhaul for that section, but if i had it to do over again i would just ride. one-way rental cars work too. or craigslist ride share or hitchhike.

i think a lot of us on this site (myself sometimes included) spend a lot of time looking for "cheap" or "public" transportation options, but if you weigh in the cost/benefit of the amount of time & aggravation those take, spending a little actual cash up front makes more sense.

That said, I wonder if there is actually a regional bus line around there. Maybe ask in the regional forum?

watch out, amtrak's web site makes it look like there's a train some places, but they are really routing you on a bus.

I rented a uhaul for that section, but if i had it to do over again i would just ride. one-way rental cars work too. or craigslist ride share or hitchhike.
Yep on the Amtrak showing buses as a leg of the trip. Be sure to read the whole itinerary.

Be sure to price several options if you go the UHaul route. We were going to rent a UHaul van there and the price was more than double what we got a medium sized SUV for if I remember correctly. It may not be the case now, but Enterprise was the best deal we found at the time (2007) in a one way rental.

We have used the Amtak bus from Astoria to PDX and from PDX to Astoria You will probably have to box your bike from PDX, but that should not be a problem if it is already boxed from the flight. When we resumed our Pacific Coast ride last summer in Astoria (we are doing Hwy 101 in three segments: Lund, BC to Astoria; Astoria to Crescent City, CA; and this summer CC to ?) we rode to our local Amtrak station and thanks to a great ticket agent was able to take the amtrak bus from Albany, OR to Astoria. We also lucked out and did not have to box the bikes. We've also used Amtrak for other trips, and found the agents helpful and the bus drivers very accommodating.

If all else fails, the ride over to Astoria from PDX is pretty decent. Enjoy your ride!

Take the MAX to Hillsboro, then follow these directions. http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Portland-to-Coast-via-Nestucca-River

That ride is breathtakingly beautiful and as secluded as they come in N. America. From there, camp at either Cape Lookout State Park (amazing park with post-card idealic camping right on the ocean *BUT* there is about a 1000ft climb in and out, assuming you head South after camping there.) or stealth camp right where the 101 turns South after Beaver

It would ad a day or maybe two and some climbing, but is well worth it.

call Alan at www.PortlandSagWagon.com

tell him devian referred you!

I was researching this about 5 years ago. I can't remember the details, but I ended up riding from Portland to Astoria on Highway 30. It wasn't bad. I stopped at a motel about halfway - right before the bridge that goes to Longview, WA. I think it was in a little town called Rainier. Then out to Fort Stevens the next day. I remember the 2nd day being pretty tough, but I think it was because I was out of shape. I stayed at Fort Stevens an extra day to rest up and relax. I've since discovered there's a small primitive campground with about 8 sites in the general area where I stayed in the motel. I found it doing a search on CrazyGuy.

...The bike map provided by the state says there are bus options, but doesn't get specific. Anybody know if such a bus exists?
I like the suggestion of riding it, best -- especially down the Nestucca corridor. You actually have the choice of 4 or 5 routes, all of them an introduction to the lush Oregon coast.

But for actual bus options -- this is probably the only hop-on-at-a-minute's notice bus option: the Tillamook bus (http://www.tillamookbus.com/route-schedules.htm). It has a rack (for two bikes), so at least you don't have to worry about boxing and packing. It's likely that the Amtrak (Coachway) bus to Astoria would require boxing, and it's twice the price, to boot.

On the other hand, the Tillamook bus goes to..... Tillamook. If you're counting on starting from Astoria, the Amtrak bus or the SagWagon might be your only (public) options.

-- Mark

This page has 3 links to information about biking to the coast from Portland (http://www.biketouringtips.com/showTipComments.php?tipID=1363).

One link is to 5 routes to the coast from Portland and the other two are bikeforums.net links. Also, this thread has just been added to it.

Ray

I've taken public transportation several times with my bicycle from Portland out to the Oregon Coast.

From what I remember, the Amtrak Thruway bus that departs from Portland Union Station to Cannon Beach, Seaside, and Astoria will take unboxed bicycles. There's an extra surcharge ($5 from what I remember) for the bike. The main catch with this bus is it has one daily departure from Portland at 6pm, so it doesn't get to the coast until about 8pm. The closest state park camping by Astoria is Fort Stevens, which is about a 10 mile ride, so if that's where you plan on staying for the night bring lights and be ready to ride in the dark.

I've used the Tillamook bus ("The Wave") (http://www.tillamookbus.com/route-schedules.htm#portland)several times. They have a rack on the front for two bikes, but if the bus isn't completely full (and someone isn't needing the wheelchair area) the drivers will usually let you bring bikes on the bus. Or you can reserve your seat and a bike spot in advance if you're worried about there being no room. The Tillamook bus leaves Portland Union Station twice daily Mon-Sat at 10:15am and 3pm, so there's more time for riding after you get to Tillamook. (They have a daily option on Sunday around 6pm.) And the best part is the price: $10 one-way ($15 round trip), no bike surcharge.

Of course the biggest issue is that the Wave bus ends in Tillamook, a full 50 miles south of Astoria. If you want to and feel particularly adventurous, you CAN take other local public transit buses north up US 101 all the way to Astoria (and beyond to Aberdeen, Washington if you're REALLY feeling adventurous), but there will be plenty of transfers and it will probably end up taking all day. You can ride about 25 miles north (or take a bus) on US 101 to Nehalem Bay State Park, (http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_201.php) which has hiker/biker sites, or ride about 10 miles west of Tillamook to Cape Lookout State Park, (http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_186.php) which is my favorite hiker/biker campground on the Oregon Coast!