Oregon Historic Highway 242
I fix coin washers and dryers in a large part of Oregon. Today's travels sent me to Bend, Oregon from Eugene. I decided to travel 242 for something a little different. It's almost a once a week trip, so a different route is good.
I got very lucky today and only passed 1 car between the bottom west side to the top. This road is very narrow even for my work van.
There were a few vehicles at the top parking lot.
As I head down the east side of the 5000 ft pass, I encounter 1 fifth wheel RV hogging the complete road (because he has to) due to extremely sharp curves and narrow road width. The Historic Highway 242 over McKenzie Pass is closed to vehicles longer than 35 feet. In less then 5 minutes another fifth wheel rig is headed up the road. I get him to stop and chat for a minute. I pointed out to him that he will be unable to go down the west side. He said that Good Sam routed him this way. Hopefully he turned around at the top.
I love to ride this road on the motorcycle, but still take it easy on the blind corners ( and there are a bunch of them). Here is a few sample pictures. The scenery is fantastic. This area is in a very primitive area. The boundaries of the Mt. Washington Wilderness and Three Sisters Wilderness are 66 feet from the highway centerline. For about 40 miles to the south is all wilderness. About 18 miles in all the other directions is also wilderness. There is no cell phone coverage either.
The sharp corners before the cliff.
1000+ drop off on one side and vertical rock cliff on the other.
I have seen a car hauler simi straddling a hairpin corner on the west side, blocking the road for many, many hours. I road past the cars that were stopped and road the motorcycle under the driver front tire (with a cliff wall on the other side) of the truck.
Please think hard before you take this road with your RV.
Here is some other info about this route.
Point of No Return
The McKenzie Pass—Santiam Pass Scenic Byway
Oregon ODOT 242
I got very lucky today and only passed 1 car between the bottom west side to the top. This road is very narrow even for my work van.
There were a few vehicles at the top parking lot.
As I head down the east side of the 5000 ft pass, I encounter 1 fifth wheel RV hogging the complete road (because he has to) due to extremely sharp curves and narrow road width. The Historic Highway 242 over McKenzie Pass is closed to vehicles longer than 35 feet. In less then 5 minutes another fifth wheel rig is headed up the road. I get him to stop and chat for a minute. I pointed out to him that he will be unable to go down the west side. He said that Good Sam routed him this way. Hopefully he turned around at the top.
I love to ride this road on the motorcycle, but still take it easy on the blind corners ( and there are a bunch of them). Here is a few sample pictures. The scenery is fantastic. This area is in a very primitive area. The boundaries of the Mt. Washington Wilderness and Three Sisters Wilderness are 66 feet from the highway centerline. For about 40 miles to the south is all wilderness. About 18 miles in all the other directions is also wilderness. There is no cell phone coverage either.
The sharp corners before the cliff.
1000+ drop off on one side and vertical rock cliff on the other.
I have seen a car hauler simi straddling a hairpin corner on the west side, blocking the road for many, many hours. I road past the cars that were stopped and road the motorcycle under the driver front tire (with a cliff wall on the other side) of the truck.
Please think hard before you take this road with your RV.
Here is some other info about this route.
Point of No Return
The McKenzie Pass—Santiam Pass Scenic Byway
Oregon ODOT 242
