Northwest Vacation recommendations ?

[SANTA_CRUZ]

Going to the Pacific Northwest area for 9 days and would like to get some opinions on what to see from people that have been there.
Going to spend 2+ days in each of these places - Seattle, WA, Portland, OR (& Crater Lake) and Vancouver, BC. We have some ideas from
the web, but I always prefer to talk to someone that's been there and not media hype if you know what I mean.

I've also gotten the green light to do some mountain biking and have always wanted to check out the McKenzie River Trail outside of Bend.
Has anyone here rode this trail before ? Should I do it alone ? How long would it take a fit intermediate rider to ride the whole 26 miles ?
I also wouldn't mind doing a little urban biking around the city of Portland, any recommendations on that ?

I look forward to hearing some feedback and thank you for your advice in advance.

SC

[SANTA_CRUZ]

Really ? Nothing at all but crickets.......?
Nobody has ridden the McKenzie River Trail and has some insight ?
Nobody here has been to Seattle or Portland and come make some recommendations ?

[jfactor!]

Never been there but I'd love a chance to ride the I-5 Colonnade Bike Park

[jfactor!]

Also, since you're going to be in Vancouver it'd be a freakin' crime not to hit the original North Shore trails. Check out www.nsmb.com and see what looks interesting.

[SteveF]

If you can access a road bike, the road around Crater Lake is a ton of fun. Watch for fallen rocks, though. They like to hide in shadowed corners and kick your front wheel out.

Mckenzie is a point to point trail so you need to plan on getting back to your car unless you can arrange a shuttle. Or ride it both ways...it's a beautiful area and a great trail but it's a hiking trail so not really built around flow or stunts or, whatever floats your wheels so expect a couple of sections of hikeabike. Hikers there were unfriendly/borderline hostile when I rode it so don't expect a friendly wave. It is shared use and our access was tentative at least when I was there so be nice and watch out for them.

If you pass through Bend there are a ton of bike-designed trails to ride around there, but I don't know the area. Check in at a bike shop or other hub of "local knowledge."

Most of my time there I spent around Ashland/Medford so I don't know trails in other areas very well.

[SANTA_CRUZ]

Unfortunately I didn't have time for the I-5 Colonnade bike park because I really want to check it out, also. Seattle traffic is nuts by the way.

Wish I had my road bike with me yesterday to ride around Mt. Rainier National Park as I saw some road bikers enjoying the awesome scenery there.
After reading reviews on McKenzie River Trail, I decided against it for this trip (whole day investment), but got some info on some Bend trails
which I am going to ride tomorrow. Might rent a bike and ride some bike paths around Portland today as the wife wants to lay around the pool & read.
We are going to Crater Lake, but don't know if I'll have time to ride around it, but I would love to. Good idea !

Thanks for the input !

[472guggie]

Too bad, the colonnade is an awesome place. When I was in Seattle I stopped by and checked it out, however I was there on a skiing trip so no other biking recommendations from me.

[RMXByker]

Take the time to ride around Crater Lake. Its a memory you'll always have and its an amazing experience!

[SANTA_CRUZ]

Bend Oregon is my new favorite mtb town and I want to come back to do a lot more riding, eating and drinking here.

Following some advice from a girl I met in the airport, I went to Pine Mountain Sports and rented a Superlight 29er from their super
friendly and knowledgeable staff. I failed to reserve a bike in time and Paco was actually going to lend me his own SC Blur until the other
bike came in at the last minute.
I rode over to Phil's Trail for my first experience here and had a great ride, kind of a mix of NCT and desert like rocks/dirt and flowy.
Rode up to Helicopter Pad (tough rock climbing) and then turned around and rode downhill on Ben's Trail all the way back to the lot.
I was smiling the whole time and then saw their impressive pump track, someone put some serious dirt moving into this one.

The next day I got up early and went over to the Meadow Rec Area site to ride another recommendation from PMS - the River Trail.
I got lost a few times, but got where I wanted to and there were awesome views of the Deschutes River and Lava fields along the way.
I didn't have much time to get as far as I wanted, but had a bunch of fun and it made me want to come back to explore the whole thing.
Everyone told me that there are hundreds of miles of cool flowy singletrack here and I will be back for a week full of riding soon !

SC

[deezler]

Deschutes! Bend is an awesome place.