The Dalles, Or to Bend, OR

No, take US 197
Both locations are drop down into river valleys and then out.

Both have to climb from Columbia River level to a plateau. US197 drops back down to the Deschutes River at Maupin, and then climbs back up. Both sides have one or two 25 mph curves.

If you want more detail, I'd suggest looking at Google Maps terrain mode and streetview. You can see the contours, altitude differences, calculate grades if needed, and see the actual road way and curves.

An interesting side trip is to leave 197 at Tygh Valley and take OR216 east past White River Falls to Deschutes River, and follow that south to Maupin. Where 216 crosses the Deschutes you may see rafters, and Indians fishing in a traditional manner. The 'BLM access rd' on the east bank of the Deschutes is paved.

An alternative up the east side of Deschutes is Bakeoven Rd, which crosses the plateau to US97 near Shaniko, a quasi-ghost town and ice cream stop.

Neither route is a difficult pull. Take the shortest.

paulj wrote:
An interesting side trip is to leave 197 at Tygh Valley and take OR216 east past White River Falls to Deschutes River, and follow that south to Maupin. Where 216 crosses the Deschutes you may see rafters, and Indians fishing in a traditional manner. The 'BLM access rd' on the east bank of the Deschutes is paved.

This does sound interesting. Does this decrease the downgrade into Maupin? I assume I would get back onto 197 just across the river from Maupin? Can I easily make this with a rig my size, especially that hairpin going from 216 to the BLM Access Road? I will have my Jeep in tow, will the parking area for the White River Falls viewpoint allow me to turn around without unhooking - probably getting there about noon on Wednesday so hopefully not too many in the parking lot?

WSDOT is warning about increased traffic on WA14 from US97 to The Dalles. Apparently ODOT is closing parts of I84, at least this evening.

Tripcheck isn't very informative, except that eastbound traffic is being diverted. Also there are oversize truck restrictions. Its harder to find construction information on Oregon's site, but apparently they are reworking the US97/I84 interchange.

ODOT is doing some bridge deck repairs on I-84. They have been working on them for over a year. The lanes narrow down and get narrow over the bridges. Slow downs are commmon especially on fridays and sundays.

WSDOT is warning about increased traffic on WA14 from US97 to The Dalles. Apparently ODOT is closing parts of I84, at least this evening.

I-84 was closed from exit 104 at Biggs to exit 109 due to a shooting. Seems an OSP Officer stopped a driver for speeding the civilian got out of his car and started shooting. Officer returned fire, the civilian got back in his car drove off then stopped about a half mile east and died, evidently from a gunshot wound.

Took us a hour and a half to cover 3 miles, from MP 101 to exit 104, yesterday on our return from Portland/Vancouver.

We came down 197 to 97 with ease Wednesday. Thanks for all the feedback. :B