Standing on the ferry deck as we pulled out of Port Angeles toward Vancouver Island, I overheard a guy in a conversation next to me say “Golly geeze…” and just like that, I knew I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. On most of my travels, Canadians seemed to be these friendly outsiders with a quirky accent, but now I was headed to their home turf…I was going to be surrounded by them!
The Oregon and Washington coast is one of those places that just seems to be made for motorcycles. I loaded the Tenere 700 in my truck and drove 19 hours from Leadville to start this ride to Vancouver Island just outside Salem, Oregon. As I drove through Oregon, the driving between Bend and Salem was spectacular, especially Hwy 22 with its twists and curves running along the Santiam River on one side with steep hillsides covered in pine trees and lush vegetation on the other.
Before heading for the coast, we hiked around Silver Falls and sampled some local beer from Benedictine Brewery, a brewery built at a monastery and run by local monks. We even got to meet Father Martin, the brewmeister.
The next morning, we headed west toward the coast, traveling over some amazing roads that look like what I always picture when I think of the Pacific Northwest.
Finally reaching the coast, we turned north. Waves from the Pacific Ocean crashed on the rocky shore to our left as we passed through several small beach towns on our way to Astoria, where we crossed the Columbia River into Washington. I was not able to take a picture of the bridge, but if you haven’t seen it before, it’s worth checking out. The Astoria-Megler Bridge is the longest continual truss bridge in North America, and it is definitely a thrill to ride over! No trip up the coast would be complete without stops at the Tillamook Creamery and Cannon Beach, with its iconic Haystack Rock.
After having a great seafood dinner and spending the night in Westport, WA, we continued up the coast, stopping in Aberdeen, WA for breakfast and to visit the Kurt Cobain “Under the Bridge” memorial.
Continuing north on Hwy 101, we made a detour through the Makah Indian Reservation to visit Neah Bay and hike to the northwesternmost point in the continental US at Cape Flattery. Hwy 112, otherwise known as the Strait of Juan de Fuca Highway, leading to Neah Bay was a great road. It ran along the coast with a ton of twisties and ocean views. If you head this way, be prepared to purchase recreational pass from the tribe for $20 per vehicle to access Cape Flattery. The trail is very well maintained and constructed of several boardwalks and stairways. At the end of the trail, there is an observation deck with a view of the Cape Flattery Lighthouse. Several people were watching for whales here, but we didn’t see any.
After leaving Cape Flattery, we headed back along the coast toward Port Angeles, where we would catch the ferry to Vancouver Island in the morning. Here’s a shot of the beach on the way back east from Neah Bay…
After arriving at the ferry dock early for the 8:20am sailing to Victoria, we were ushered up the ramp and guided into positions along the port wall of the vehicle deck, where we were told to secure our motorcycles with ropes and blocks, as the passage might be a little rough. “Just how rough?” I wondered.
I locked my handlebars and quickly secured a line from the wall to them, routing it down to secure a block under my skid plate. Meanwhile, Gene’s old Navy training kicked in and he spent 15 minutes tying some kind of elaborate knot, that while it might not do all that much to secure the bike, it sure looked pretty! Thus, our Vancouver Island adventure began by proving once again that Army beats Navy every time!
The 90 minute ferry ride ended up being fairly smooth. As we got closer to Victoria, the sky cleared, and the water turned a vibrant blue. Passengers stood on deck watching for whales and other marine life. Gradually, the rocky coastline of Vancouver Island began to take shape, and downtown Victoria became visible.
One of the highlights of this trip was reconnecting with friends I met on the Australia ride with Charley Boorman in 2019. Dan and Roger, who live in Victoria, met us at the ferry dock with their motorcycles and guided us through the city and along the beautiful coastal road to Port Renfrew. Of course, being in Canada, we stopped at Tim Horton’s twice on the ride.
Leaving Port Renfrew, we headed north along the Pacific Marine Road, with Dan piloting us through curve after curve, and one lane bridge after one lane bridge, with Roger following up to make sure we didn’t need to be scraped off the pavement! The ride was beautiful. At Lake Cowchican, we took a break at Tim Horton’s before parting ways to continue our ride north to Port Alberni for the night.
Port Alberni is a cool little town that is located at the end of Vancouver Island’s longest inlet. Sitting on the roof of a local brewery for dinner, we met Joe and Monica, who were in town working on redeveloping the port. Hopefully their efforts will pan out and bring more growth and tourism to this charming town!
In the morning it was raining. After fueling up with some eggs benedict (and gas for the bikes), we started along our planned route, only to find out after an hour or so of riding that the road was closed on the route we had planned, so we headed back to Port Alberni and took the highway to Qualicum Beach and road up the coastal road to Campbell River with a stop in Comox for lunch. One benefit of our new route was that it passed right by Cathedral Grove, a park with some of the oldest and tallest trees on Vancouver Island. We were able to take a short hike under some 800 year old trees!
Campbell River is a coastal resort town with many hotels and a nice little downtown area. We stayed across from the beach south of town at the Big Rock Motel, and had dinner at a nice little Asian Fusion restaurant called the Big Rock Garage. In the morning, after a hearty Tim Horton’s breakfast, we headed west on Hwy 28 toward Strathcona Provincial Park. This is a beautiful area, although smoke from wildfires got pretty thick as we headed south of Campbell Lake.
We decided to head south along the east shore of Buttle Lake to go hike the Myra Falls trail at the south end of the lake. Myra Falls was beautiful! It had 4 levels of falls cascading over large flat rocks down into the lake below. Water was flowing well when we were there in September, but I would love to see this when the water is really flowing strong in the spring and early summer! This picture only shows a small part of the falls and really doesn’t do it justice!
Heading back up to Hwy 28, we road west to the small town of Gold River where we ate lunch at the Ridge Roadhouse. This is a great place to grab a burger. At Gold River, the road turned back into gravel for 65 km (about 40 miles) as we headed up to the town of Tahsis, which as you can see in the sign has a population of “more or less”.
Tahsis is a quaint little town with a beautiful bay, and is home to a large population of bears and mountain lions. We saw one bear in town, but did not see any mountain lions. There was evidence of bears everywhere, and several signs warning people to take precautions. We walked to the marina for dinner, and saw fishing charters returning with full stringers of salmon and halibut.
The picture above was taken in the morning on the way out of Tahsis. This was the day I left my riding buddy, Gene, and headed back south. I was really wishing I had more time to head farther north with Gene. He said the area up around Port Hardy was incredible, but alas, I had to get home and it was a long 4 days of riding from here.
On the way back to Campbell River, I decided to stop at Elk Falls Provincial Park, where you can hike along a nice trail to a very cool suspension bridge that crosses high above the river below with great waterfall views.
Leaving Elk Falls, I found that there was a ferry in Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay, Vancouver leaving in a few hours. My friend Jeff, who I also met on the Australia ride, lives in Vancouver and offered to host me for the night if I rode home that way, so off I went. I rode the main highway from Campbell River to Nanaimo and arrived at the ferry doc just before they were getting ready to start boarding. This was about a 1 hour and 40 minute ferry ride, and it was a beautiful day to stay on deck and admire the scenery.
In Vancouver, I was warmly greeted by Jeff and his family. Since it was such a nice afternoon, Jeff and his son took me for a boat ride around the bay, pointing out many local landmarks. We trolled for salmon, but didn’t catch anything. That didn’t stop this little guy from checking us out when we pulled back into the marina…
It was great to catch up with Jeff and hear about his motorcycle adventures and his planned trip to Thailand next January. Can’t wait to see the pictures from that one. Jeff saddled up on his BMW R1200GSA and guided me through Vancouver toward the border with a stop for lunch at Crescent Beach. We parted ways just south of White Rock as I branched off to wait in line to cross back into the U.S. and head home.
After crossing the border, I headed south to Bellingham, WA where I jumped onto Chuckanut Drive for a fantastic ride along the coast. If you are ever near Bellingham, be sure to go on this ride! I left Chuckanut Drive near Edison and rode down to Fidlago Island, crossing the bridge at Deception Pass, riding through Oak Harbor and down to Fort Casey where I caught the ferry to Port Townsend. I had thought about staying in Port Townsend, but there was a wooden boat festival going on and it seemed like every hotel for miles was booked, so I headed south all the way to Olympia for the night.
Olympia has a beautiful and very walkable downtown. When I asked the front desk clerk at the hotel where to go for a good burger, he suggested McMenamin’s Spar Cafe, so that’s where I went. I did not have a burger, but I had a great meal, and walked around for a bit after.
After a light breakfast at the hotel in the morning, I took another walk around downtown Olympia just to see it during daylight. I walked along the waterfront boardwalk, climbed the tower at Port Plaza and watched the crew readying the wooden ship Lady Washington to sail.
Heading south from Olympia, I decided to make one last detour to Mt. Saint Helens. Hwy 504 to Mt. Saint Helens is a fantastic motorcycle road. I’m glad I made this little side trip.
After Mt. Saint Helens, I hit the interstate to get back to my truck and start the 19 hour drive home. There was a lot to see on this trip and 11 days was not enough time to see it all. All in all, it was over a 3600 mile trip. Another week would have allowed me to see much more. Vancouver Island was fantastic, and I hope to go back again. Oregon and Washington also have a ton of great roads and more places that I would like to see. Too many trips, too little time! Hope you’ve enjoyed this ride report as much as I enjoyed the ride!
The Yamaha Tenere 700 did great on this ride. If you haven’t seen it already, check out the 10 Best Upgrades and Mods I made to this bike.