Sawtooth Motorcycle Tours | Day 3: Clarkston to Baker

Day Three

SITE MAP AND RIDE

ROUTE LENGTH - 246 miles or 380 Kilometers

Pull Over Info:
There are lots of interesting scenes to capture with your camera. Unfortunately the road does not really facilitate stopping but for sure we will find a few places to snap some shots. Enterprise and Joseph are quaint little tourist towns and Wallowa Lake offers what appear to be “domesticated” wild animals making for some interesting photos. Wallowa Lake is a beautiful lake, located south of Joseph at the foothills of steep, forested mountains; also the burial site of Chief Joseph, leader of the Nez Perce Indians. Finally we will get a chance to view Hells Canyon from some great vantage points.

Hotel and Area Information:
Geiser Grand Hotel: This charming historic landmark features ornate mahogany, crystal chandeliers in every room, beautiful stained glass ceiling, and Northwest food at its best. Special events sparkle here. Sunset Magazine says the Geiser Grand is "the finest hotel between Salt Lake and Seattle." Enjoy endless recreation and sightseeing in the magnificent Eastern Oregon wilderness. For those who appreciate historic preservation and timeless luxury, nothing compares to the award winning Geiser Grand. Come explore this architectural jewel, and find out why the Geiser's spectacular restoration received The National Trust for Historic Preservation's coveted Honor Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation.

Rattlesnake Grade Information

Arial View of the Grade

Boggan’s Oasis

Baker City

From the Clarkston area we head south on WA-129, known to the locals as Rattlesnake Grade, to Enterprise, OR. There we will stop for lunch and do a little sight seeing of the surrounding area. As we pass through Asotin we make a hard right up the hill (staying on 129 to Anatone and Enterprise) and come to the Almota grade, which is a fun twisty road with nice pavement. See the arial link of the grade.

At Fields Spring State Park, we start our descent of the Rattlesnake Grade. This is a neat road with lots of turns. Watch for rocks that fall off the hillside cuts and onto the road. At the bottom of the grade, where the road crosses the Grande Ronde River, is Boggan's Resort (pronounced bo-GANS) where they make excellent milkshakes using Schwans ice cream. Continuing south on 129 from Boggan's Resort, we cross into Oregon and climb back up on top of the plateau. Keep an eye out for a big abandoned restaurant on the left, as there is a great view looking east towards Hell's Canyon. We are riding through pine forest at about 4,000', and if you're lucky you may see some wildlife. Then we have some nice open country coming into Enterprise, Oregon. There is fuel, and places to eat. Wallowa Lake and Joseph are great little tourist communities. Wallowa Lake is gorgeous, and the road to Imnaha is quite nice. Then we are off to Oxbow, OR via OR-39, another great little known road invented for the motorcycle. We will stop along the way for some breath taking views of Hells Canyon.

Hells Canyon, North America's deepest river gorge, encompasses a vast and remote region with dramatic changes in elevation, terrain, climate and vegetation. Carved by the great Snake River, Hells Canyon plunges more than a mile below Oregon’s west rim, and 8,000 feet below snowcapped He Devil Peak of Idaho’s Seven Devils Mountains. There are no roads across Hells Canyon’s 10-mile wide expanse, and only three roads that lead to the Snake River between Hells Canyon Dam and the Oregon-Washington boundary. The Hells Canyon National Recreation Area is about a half-day ride northwest of Boise and encompases an area of 652,488 acres of beauty and adventure.

From Oxbow we will take HW-86 into Baker for our dinner and evening stay over. By now you may long for some high-speed sweepers -- which, fortunately, Hwy 86 offers from Halfway to Baker City.