Routes 53 and 26 in Oregon

[tom3171]

We have a 28' fifthwheel pulled by a Ram 2500 diesel 4x4 and are planning to go from Nehalem, Oregon to Leavenworth, Washington on September 20. How are routes 53 and 26 pulling this combination? According to Google Maps, certain sections of Rte 26 are unpaved. Is this true? Also, Route 53 looks quite twisty on the map. Is this a mountainous "shelf" road?

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

This summer I-5 through Tacoma is an hour to two hour delay through the construction zones.

Time of day, day of the week does not matter.

Avoid Tacoma - take WA-512 / WA 167.

I made the mistake of getting in that mess three times - twice north bound, once southbound.

[tom3171]

thanks everyone for your input.looks like we will be going to astoria and route 30.

[rhagfo]

goducks10 wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
53 is a great road if your on a motorcycle. Otherwise its 25 miles of lots of twists.
26 is a major 2 lane highway, no problems what so ever except road construction.
As an alternative, and ambetter route I would suggest 101 north to Seaside and 26 into Portland. In fact a better suggestion would be 101 to Astoria, 20 east and cross the bridge at Longview, I5 north and cut over the mountains north of Mt St Helens. No travle thru the horrible mess known as Portland.

x2 on 53. When the wife and I rode motorcycles we used to ride out 26 to 53 to 101 with an MC club. Great MC ride. Not so great for RV's

Oh so true!
We towed our old 28' King of the Road on Hay 53 ONCE! It was a Thursday it was curvey and had to also deal with loaded log trucks. Once we got to campground and the microwave had jumped out of cabinet, and was on the floor! This was a household unit, it was a snug fit in the opening and with a 3/4" lip to get over.

[RedRocket204]

romore wrote:
RedRocket204, that is an easy drive until they get to I-5 at Olympia, they still have to deal with that mess called Seattle. 20 to Longview then 12 to Yakima would be my choice.

Good point but if it was planned where they were on that stretch of I5 (Olympia-Tacoma) between 10a-1p then it would be manageable as off I5 in north Tacoma... unless traffic has got a lot worse than 5 years ago. It's just the drive up on Hwy 101 in WA towards Aberdeen is soooo much more scenic than Hwy 30 and up I5. I suppose depends on what the OP is looking for. 🙂

Quick correction on your mention for the stretch of Hwy between Astoria and Longview bridge. That is Hwy 30. 🙂

[romore]

RedRocket204, that is an easy drive until they get to I-5 at Olympia, they still have to deal with that mess called Seattle. 20 to Longview then 12 to Yakima would be my choice.

[goducks10]

donn0128 wrote:
53 is a great road if your on a motorcycle. Otherwise its 25 miles of lots of twists.
26 is a major 2 lane highway, no problems what so ever except road construction.
As an alternative, and ambetter route I would suggest 101 north to Seaside and 26 into Portland. In fact a better suggestion would be 101 to Astoria, 20 east and cross the bridge at Longview, I5 north and cut over the mountains north of Mt St Helens. No travle thru the horrible mess known as Portland.

x2 on 53. When the wife and I rode motorcycles we used to ride out 26 to 53 to 101 with an MC club. Great MC ride. Not so great for RV's

[RedRocket204]

Additional suggestion for a route that is both pleasant and avoids Portland. I've travelled this route many, many times in the 9 years I lived near Seaside, OR and would be the route I'd go, no question.

North on Hwy 101. At Astoria, get in left lane to turn onto the Megler Bridge into Wa. When in WA, right to Hwy 401. Left at Hwy 4 then north right back onto Hwy 101 towards Aberdeen. Before arriving into Aberdeen, right onto Hwy 107 which is a cut-off to heading east. Then East on Hwy 12 into Olympia. North on I5 to continue on to your normal mapping to get to Leavenworth, WA.

[rhagfo]

stickdog wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
53 is a great road if your on a motorcycle. Otherwise its 25 miles of lots of twists.
26 is a major 2 lane highway, no problems what so ever except road construction.
As an alternative, and ambetter route I would suggest 101 north to Seaside and 26 into Portland. In fact a better suggestion would be 101 to Astoria, 20 east and cross the bridge at Longview, I5 north and cut over the mountains north of Mt St Helens. No travle thru the horrible mess known as Portland.

I agree with the second route but isn't that US30 East out of Astoria?

X3 to the second route to I5, I would also work at avoiding Tacoma, Seattle by thaking 512 to 167 to 18 to I90 over Snoqualme pass then over Blewet pass and come into Levenworth from the east.
You catch 512 just past joint base Lewis McCord.

[donn0128]

Your correct. My mind is not what it used to be. Same for the road across the mountains in WA. Drove it many times, but for the life of me cannot remember the highway number.

Just looked it up. WA highway 12

[stickdog]

donn0128 wrote:
53 is a great road if your on a motorcycle. Otherwise its 25 miles of lots of twists.
26 is a major 2 lane highway, no problems what so ever except road construction.
As an alternative, and ambetter route I would suggest 101 north to Seaside and 26 into Portland. In fact a better suggestion would be 101 to Astoria, 20 east and cross the bridge at Longview, I5 north and cut over the mountains north of Mt St Helens. No travle thru the horrible mess known as Portland.

I agree with the second route but isn't that US30 East out of Astoria?

[Lwiddis]

Astoria, yes, Don, but the Astoria Bridge is far more fun than the one at Longview. Or take them both.

[donn0128]

53 is a great road if your on a motorcycle. Otherwise its 25 miles of lots of twists.
26 is a major 2 lane highway, no problems what so ever except road construction.
As an alternative, and ambetter route I would suggest 101 north to Seaside and 26 into Portland. In fact a better suggestion would be 101 to Astoria, 20 east and cross the bridge at Longview, I5 north and cut over the mountains north of Mt St Helens. No travle thru the horrible mess known as Portland.