Post Ride Report: JohnDay, Oregon

October 03, 2025

Hi all I wanted to give a brief rundown of our recent ride to John Day. We have been doing this ride for 4-5 yrs. Mid-September seems to be a great time to explore the scenery this area has to offer. Situated on highway 26 about 120 miles east of Redmond/Bend, there are numerous two lane blacktop roads that allow you to explore old logging, railroad, and gold mining towns. The area is sparsely populated, so there is very little traffic, but there are gas stations and a few places to eat along the way on the various routes we have taken. Our typical agenda is to arrive in the afternoon (Monday or Tuesday) have dinner. After breakfast the next morning, ride a loop of choice, consisting of 100-200 miles ending up back at a hotel in the middle of town. The breakfast and dinner restaurants are within walking distance. The fairgrounds in town has camping spots. This is repeated for two more days as desired.

Our first day we headed to Prairie City for gas, to Sumpter to explore the old gold mining Dredge, then up the hill through windy blacktop roads to Ukiah. This area is a blend of forests, meadows, and some high peaks leveling off for a spectacular view of the Blue Mountains. There is a lot of hunting as evidenced by the various tents along the way, and antlers on many of the ranch buildings and stores in and around Ukiah. We found a food truck by the city park and had super burger and headed south to Mount Vernon. This section has several miles of curves along the river that makes you want to ride all day. From Mt. Vernon we headed east to home base and after a shower headed to the Outpost for an unwind session of liquid and some good food. This loop was about 190miles and took from 10am to 4pm. We opted to really take our time on the back roads to soak it up. . This is repeated for two more days as desired.

This hotel is still active. Nice mural as well.

The gold dredge in Sumpter

Day two had us going west to Mount Vernon then North to Long View for a brief pit stop, then west again. This is ranch and hill country before getting to Kimberly, along the John Day River. The road now heads south along some twisties and gives fantastic views of the fossil areas and painted hills. If you haven’t, you should check out the Thomas Condon Paleontology center on the way south. This road eventually intersects highway 26, and the stretch from here on to John Day meanders back and forth in curves and straights with green pastures on both side of the highway. Break time, check for missing parts, and head to the Outpost.

A view of the Blue Mtns looking south Kris, John, Tim, Scott

Repeat for day three with breakfast, then a look at the maps. Our route took us south through Canyon City and around some great windy roads south to Seneca for a snack and some gas at the Bear Valley Store, then east on first street through the strawberry Mtns. After going up the mountain it levels off for a wide view of the open meadows with hills in the distance. Again all the roads are paved and little to no traffic, making easy and scenic riding the order of the day. After a few miles we intersected highway 62 and headed north eventually rolling in to Prairie City for lunch at the local Cantina. With a quick jaunt west, we are back to the motel in John Day for a total of about 90miles. Not a long distance but if you cover your speedo, and just cruise along, the seat time is hard to beat and all your problems seem to fade away.

Posing next to Scott’s cool ’ 57 Peterbuilt. Scott is heading to a truck show and has a loading rack to carry his bike. Quite handy.