Originally Posted by
Happy Feet
So.. Just off the top of your head, what course would you suggest? Local knowledge aside, If you are going to suggest those logging roads does a paper map tell you which is currently active with trucks hauling logs.
A quick look on G Maps shows two basic routes from Eugene to the coast (Florence) or some variants thereof; the 126 at 62 miles and the 36 at 77miles. The high points being between Noti and Walton and Low Pass respectively. On the 126 you are going up 1194' and down 1565'. I can also see local stores and use street view to see what they are like. The Noti Pub is recognizable by it's Pepsi sign and the provided link gives the phone number and 28 reviews with an average of 4.5 out of 5. There's a gas station and cafe at Low Pass (12 reviews giving it 4.3) but the cafe looks closed. It has one review from four months ago but the street view seems sketchy. Google maps shows secondaries like the Old Stagecoach Road (5020) and every logging road as well btw.
I can see all this on my VDT right now and, if I want, I could do the same for areas outside of Las Vegas or Prince George or Port Hardy without having to spend a cent on paper maps. I wouldn't buy a paper map until I knew I was going to tour a specific area and how do I decide to tour a specific area unless I look at a map?
Oh yeah.. Google maps.
Neither, and I used to live one mile off hwy 126 (on Stage Coach, out past Walton) and commute into Eugene by bike. Here's the ways I roll between Eugene and the coast:
1. Get to Wolf Creek Rd, out in Crow, by any of a variety of routes depending on time of day and inclination to add a bit of distance/hills (Crow Rd is okay now that its shoulders have been repaired, but not necessarily the best choice unless one really doesn't want to climb). Then take Wolf Creek to Siuslaw River Rd and turn off on Oxbow (Alma site on the map) (becomes S. Sister) After Oxbow, it's all downhill (almost) to the coast along the Smith River to Gardner, just north of Reedsport. Total distance of about 85 miles to the nearest state campground (free warm shower, yippee!). There's other variations that bring one out at the same place that involve a bit more riding on the Smith and/or Siuslaw Rivers and more climbs, all of which are fun. The only traffic of any note at all is the last eight miles or so before getting to hwy 101, and that's mostly just folks living along Lower Smith River Rd (not a lot). I think the ACA finally added this route a couple of years ago as an option. No services from Crow to Reedsport, and Crow is iffy. One bar a dozen miles east of hwy 101 is sometimes open, but don't count on it.
2. Start out the same, but don't turn on Oxbow. Just keep rolling down the Siuslaw River for another 25 miles to Austa. Cross under hwy 126 and over the Wildcat Covered Bridge and turn left (downstream, west). Three miles of gravel brings you to Stage Coach Rd. Take that downstream (ten miles?, mostly gravel in the middle six miles) to Swiss Home and then turn west on hwy 36 to Mapleton, at which point one picks up hwy 126 to Florence. The downside of this route is it really doesn't work on a Friday (too much traffic on 36 and 126 for my taste). There will always be traffic on the 14 miles of hwy 126 from Mapleton to Florence, but the shoulder is eight to ten feet wide and usually relatively free of debris. Services in Mapleton.
One variation on this theme is to take the C-line road (private logging road) from mile post seven on Wolf Creek Rd to mile post eight on Siuslaw River Rd. This substitutes 18 miles of gravel going down-creek for 23 miles of pavement that has some hills (a two-mile climb and two one-mile climbs). I like this road a lot on weekends when it is guaranteed to not have any logging going on.
There are other routes that bring you to Yachats or Waldport, but they take longer and are even less ridden than the two above. You won't find any of them on Strava.
Oddly enough, a friend of mine, a recently retired ophthalmologist, used to ride to Florence on hwy 126 to do a clinical day once every couple of weeks. Not surprisingly, he no longer rides at all as he is convinced it is too dangerous. If I did much riding on hwy 126, I'd agree with him. Fortunately, I have mostly ridden the section of 126 from Stage Coach to Eugene in the wee hours of weekdays (2:00-4:00 AM) when there was next to zero traffic, so I never had any trouble. I would no longer consider the stretch from Veneta to Eugene as rideable since that suburb grew in population over the past decade, but there is an alternate (with a bit of gravel, of course).
As far as active logging goes, the log truck drivers are really only a problem on the main roads near town. Out in the coast hills on those very narrow river roads, they are very considerate as long as you are. Remember, they're all chatting on the radio, so if you behave nicely to one, all of them know about it. Ditto for being rude. Also, since they are communicating with each other, once one of them sees you, they all know where to look for you. Even when there are several active sites going, I rarely get passed by more than three trucks all day long. It can be a bit busier if they are graveling a new logging road, but that's not very common.
By the way, in this area Google Maps shows some roads that don't actually exist and fails to show some that do. And, since these are tiny roads with lots of tree-cover, it can be difficult to determine from the satellite view if the road is there or not and if it is paved or not. The USFS maps are MUCH better in this regard. If the USFS shows a road, it's there. If it shows it as paved, it's paved. Occasionally, it shows a road as unpaved that has been paved since the publication date. I've never known the USFS maps to not show a road that exists. Google is fine for an initial look, but I wouldn't plan a tour in the west based on Google Maps alone.