McKenzie Transit

I’ve made three trips across the McKenzie Pass between Central Oregon and the Willamette Valley since late August, 2026.  McKenzie Pass is Oregon's most well known scenic byway.  The first thing I noticed was that the pavement has been repaired. It’s so smooth you could ride a skate board down the whole mountain. The lane markings are new and bright which really helps when I’m looking for that next hint about which way the road is going to twist. By my rough reckoning the distance from the East snow gate to the West snow gate must be about 35 miles with about half of it made up of switchbacks and esses.

After my first trip I resolved to return, a second time, with my video camera  secured to my chest and ready for action. Unfortunately, when the day arrived, after just a few minutes at highway speed I managed kill to a large flying insect with my camera lens, something I only learned hours later when I tried to review the video files. Very frustrating !

This video is the result of the third transit which I made on Sept. 19th, 2026. We started from the East with our first stop being at DeWright Observatory. The East slope has seen some wildfire damage with the turns tightening up significantly toward the top. Those rocks look sharp as I turn in on the right handers.  The down hill twisties get started about 18:30 into the video.

Leaving DeWright Observatory the road snakes through several miles of lava fields before it begins what seems to be the longest down hill grade in existence through mixed forests. There are several attractions along the descent including Proxy Falls. Some day I’ll slowdown enough to take ‘em in.

At 53:30 we arrive at the intersection if HWY 126 and 242 where we turned around and headed back up. After an hour and twenty-two minutes the video ends at DeWright Observatory. This last portion of the video covers the tight up hill twisties on the West slope.

The advisory speed and directional signs are really helpful. 50 MPH means open the throttle NOW. 40 MPH means steady throttle. 25 & 30 MPH means trailing throttle while 15 MPH means STAY OUTSIDE.

Hope you enjoy the video.
KZQ

Nice Bill !!!!
I felt like I was riding the road myself.  
Watching it reminded me of riding thru  Northern California, And parts of the scenic routes through out the south west USA

I just now looked at the video file from YouTube and It's not as good as the MP4s when played on my computer. I'll go back and look at the settings.
Bill

I rendered it a second time with a different codec which seems to be clearer.
Bill

WHAT a great road!!  I wish, i could be there an ride it up or down! Wonderfull,..and with no cars or other in front of you to disturb your ride...Amazing! Thanks for sharing!!

Nice ride I need to get over there and do it

What a great ride Bill, looking forward to posting a few of my rides this year around New Zealand, if I can avoid hospitals for long enough that is !!!!
Rich.

The last time I was there was in 17'. On the eastbound run we (7 bikes) got stuck behind a guy in an Audi that was determined to keep any and all traffic behind him while he drove well below the speed limit. He was driving in the middle of the road when there was no oncoming traffic. I was leading so I waited for him to lose focus and stay in the lane. We got our chance and blew by him, all 7 bikes and 2 cars that were behind us. The Audi guy collected 11 middle fingers as the whole group passed him.
We had a nice lunch in Sisters and had a great ride back westbound to Eugene with hardly any traffic.

I've been stuck behind tourists and hapless drivers on this road before, mostly weekends. All three of my recent trips were mid week, one Friday. I'm pretty sure folks understand that "Bikes Share Roadway" means different things to different users. During our first trip we ran up behind other traffic several times, once for three or so miles, fortunately they all yielded soon enough and we rode on.
Might be time to talk about a Pacific North West KZR event?
Bill