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Old West Scenic Bikeway
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The Old Scenic West Bikeway offers a wide variety of terrain and scenery, from rushing rivers to friendly small towns to fossil beds, plus some attention-getting climbs.
Start in the town of John Day at Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site, a remarkable National Landmark that you have to see to believe. Part general store, part apothecary, part religious shrine, the Museum is a snapshot of the Chinese immigrant experience in the 19th and 20th century American west.
The routes rolls east on Highway 26 through picturesque Prairie City, and on to the turnoff at Austin Junction, leaving the highway for truly rural back roads, where the distances spread out and the sky gets even bigger. Ride through rugged terrain that still looks like what the area’s early settlers found. You’ll pass through tiny, friendly towns as you ride to the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, reconnecting with Highway 26 back to John Day. This ride is for serious touring cyclists; it works well as a two-day or a three-day trip. There are three state parks on this loop. Clyde Holliday State Park has a hiker-biker site as does the newest state park in the system: Bates State Park, tucked away on the Middle Fork Road, where you will find drinking water and plugs in for recharging cell phones. Hiker-biker sites cost $5 per night person and there is no reservation! Just pedal over! There are four other campgrounds and two bicycle hostels along the route.
The Grant Count Chamber (541-575-0547) has a volunteer that will assist cyclists that wish to plan your Old West visit.
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