Rough 'n Wild Biking Guide to Oregon Coast Hits the Ground Running

Published 9/23/24 at 4:35 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Oceanside, Oregon) – A few years in the making, something truly unique has now hit the Oregon coast and it's something to get all fired up about. (Photos courtesy OCVA)

Oregon Coast Visitors Association (OCVA) recently debuted its Oregon Coast Biking guide, an all-encompassing website that covers everything you need to know (and then some) about mountain bike trails, gravel trails and even whizzing around the roads on two wheels. It even covers the new world of fat biking on the beaches of this region.

They've created this coastline's own central information base about wandering the region on a bike, with more coming soon on gravel trails in a partnership with Dirty Freehub. Cycling the coast is the new hiking. Or at least it should be, says OCVA's Lynee Jacks.

It's become part of OCVA's mission in recent years, most visibly in their help in developing major mountain bike systems on the north, central and south coast: Klootchy Creek, Big Trails Creek and Whiskey Run near Bandon. Jacks said they've also sponsored the creation of the mammoth Ride the Dirt Wave races, which took place this summer in those three areas.

“This year we sponsored Mountain Bike Oregon,” Jacks said. “This was an opportunity for us to market the coast to other Oregon riders (and beyond, since that event even got some international visitors).”

If they were looking for visitors to the region – it worked. And it's going to work even more soon. With Freehub's help, they'll put out a gravel path guide to the coast in the near future.

Fat biking in Cannon Beach is big these days.

“The reason we created this central cycling page on the website was because this development is happening quickly, and it’s really exciting to be able to have all the information in one place,” she said. “Bigger picture, we’re investing in mountain biking and gravel because it brings more diverse visitors looking for those activities who often spend multiple nights at one location on the coast to experience different trails or routes.”

The new guides also enable OCVA to get out the message of how to engage in this sport safely along the shoreline.

Near Port Orford

The interest in this more adrenaline-fueled aspect is growing not just quickly but exponentially. Fat biking and e-biking got rather big in a hurry around the nation, and this area has become “a bit of a gravel paradise” Jacks said, because of the endless logging roads.

Besides all that, the economic impact of the activity is substantial.

According to OCVA:

• Recreational cycling contributed $1.5 billion to Oregon's economy in 2019.
• In 2013, 4.5 million of Oregon's 17.4 million annual tourists rode bikes while visiting.

Near Gold Beach

Foreign visitors tend to look more for adventure travel on Oregon's rugged coastline, but so far they haven't made up a sizable portion of the mountain biking and gravel bike crowd. Most people aren't flying overseas with bikes. Much of the attendee action at the Ride the Dirt Wave events were West Coasters, Jacks said. However, many international folks bike Highway 101, though the OCVA is definitely hoping to get those from other nations to explore the more rugged terrains out here.

Jacks said there's a huge diversity in the off-road riding possibilities in the area, with those new and old trail systems in great shape. They work for all skill levels, and they're not yet crowded like more mainstay destinations.

“Another plus is that you really can cycle year-round here,” Jacks said. “Even when it's raining a lot in the winter and the MTB trails are too muddy, you can still get up on a gravel road and you'll always find some epic views. “The cycling culture is awesome on the coast, and there is a lot of stoke and passion around the local trail systems.”

She called a lot of what's happening with biking on the coast a labor of love for various community members. It's another side to the coast that many still as yet have to experience, and this web section is a grand new start.

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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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