Canby Ferry Crossing
Length: 53 Miles
Direction: Counter Clockwise
Elevation Gain: 3100 ft
Highest Point: 562 ft
Recommended Gearing: 39X25 or equivalent
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There aren’t many rides where you can hop on a ferry just for the experience. The Canby Ferry crossing is only a couple of minutes long and there is no charge for bicycles. Another advantage to its short ride is that if you miss the ferry, well it’ll be back in a few minutes. So you’re not stuck waiting for long.
The ride starts in downtown at the Vera Katz bronze statue on the Eastbank Esplanade path. This is the standard start location for all rides heading West and South. And it’s very close to River City Bicycles too if you need anything before your ride. You’ll cross the Hawthorne Bridge and begin climbing up to Terwilliger Blvd past OHSU. Terwilliger is a common commuter route that boasts a great view of town and bike lanes as it meanders along. Eventually, you’ll arrive at Tryon Creek State Park. It’s your option here to continue on Terwilliger if you wish, but personally, I never pass up a chance to hop on the Tryon Creek bike path, especially heading south. It’s nearly all descending through the trees and a visitor center offers bathrooms and water fountain access year round. In the summer, the Tryon Creek path offers welcome shade from the heat. In the winter, there is plenty of greenery left to shelter you from the rain. The path ends onto State St in Lake Oswego. You’ll follow this as it turns into Willamette Dr heading towards Oregon City and then the town of Willamette. Willamette is a very cool little hamlet that will have you taking note for a return trip in the future.
Exiting Willamette, you’ll turn left onto Turner Rd. This is a steep little climb that you’ll probably have to yourself. Tucked away in the trees, Turner is reason alone to do this ride. Mountain Rd afterwards will take you all the way to the Canby Ferry. Now you’re looping back towards Oregon City. The descent down to the river is a lot of fun. Cross over to River Rd and follow this for a spell back towards Portland. As you reach the Sellwood area, hop onto the Eastbank Esplanade path again at Oaks Pioneer Park for your trip home.
May 1st, 2009 at 8:31 am
I rode this route yesterday. Turner is a nice variation to what is a classic Portland area ride. I added a Clematis-Wysteria loop for more milage and climbage as follows:
from Dollar St.
-Right on 19th
-Right on Blankenship Rd
-Immediate Left on Johnson Rd
-Right on Woodbine Rd
-Woodbine becomes Wysteria Rd
-Left on Clematis Rd
-Left on SweetBriar Rd
-Left on Grapevine Rd
-Right on Woodbine Rd
-Left on Johnson Rd
-Right on Blankenship
-Left on Ostman Rd
-Right on Dollar
May 15th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Tried the extra climb today. Outstanding! 500ft gain too. Thanks for posting
July 9th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Is the Rte 43 bridge open to bikes/pedestrians right now (July 09)? I’d heard it might be inaccessible to all traffic…
July 17th, 2009 at 11:42 am
As far as I know, the bridge is still open. When it does close, a shuttle will be the only way for bikes to cross the river.
August 1st, 2009 at 9:10 pm
I did this ride today, and the bridge is indeed open — they’ve installed a temporary bridge while the real bridge is being worked on. However, the bit of road (and trail) connecting Dollar St. to the bridge is closed, so you’ll not want to go down that way.
Instead, you can either stay on Willamette Falls Dr. as you pass through West Linn, or you can go down Dollar St. and turn Left on Ostmann Rd. then Right back onto Willamette Falls. Someone at the restaurant down at the bottom of Dollar St. said they were suffering from the sudden lack of through traffic, so you might consider having lunch there (though I didn’t try the food myself).
January 11th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
I did this ride last week. Double thumbs up for an excellent route. Scenic and gorgeous.
I’d like to follow up on the comment by johnj by mentioning that the Dollar St to bridge connection is still closed (and looks like it may be for a while). Use johnj suggested routes for time being.
In regards to the restaurant, I didn’t even see one at the end of Dollar St…makes me wonder if they didn’t make it?
February 1st, 2010 at 9:38 am
I haven’t been out there in a while but I recall it was sort of a converted house, set back a little. But I bet that road closure has affected business if it’s still there.
April 11th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
It’s April 2010, and the Dollar St. bit is *still* closed, so take stay on Willamette Falls Drive and you’ll be fine.
This is a GORGEOUS ride, and definitely a good trainer for newer long-distance riders (e.g. we’re every-day commuters, but had only ever done 1-2 rides at or above 50 miles). The climbs kicked our butts, but it was totally worth it.
A couple details we found confusing/needed clarifying:
– 37th becomes Holly st., not Hilly street… though there are some baby hills in there! This wasn’t exactly a confusing point, but figured I’d add it.
– High street doesn’t exactly become 7th, as far as we could tell… instead it dead-ended at a T intersection, which looked like perhaps it was 7th in one direction (right turn) and turned into Singer in the other (left), though we didn’t actually see a sign for Singer (may have just missed it). So when High street comes to a T, turn left onto 7th, not right, and it’ll get you onto Singer in no time.