Day 9: Newberg to Independence

June 28, 2022

Today is a long day but the terrain is mostly flat, staying near the Willamette river. The weather is cloudier and much cooler than yesterday. Yesterday had a high of 90F. Today had a high of 72F.

I started by backtracking several miles to the east side of the river. My original plan was to pedal a meandering loop on Riverside Drive west of OR 219. That road goes very close to the river but I decided to abort that loop and stay on busy OR 219 which goes directly to St. Paul.

Cloudy Willamette river south of Newberg.

I spent some time wandering around St. Paul. It's one of the oldest towns in Oregon but it's still very small. Population is only 396. St. Paul Catholic church dominates the town. The parish was founded in 1836, making it the oldest Catholic parish in Oregon. It was founded by retired Hudson's Bay Company employees who married Indians and farmed the area. The parish was founded 7 years before the first wagon train of settlers arrived via the Oregon Trail in 1843.

Scale model of the log building that was the first Catholic church in Oregon.

St. Paul is all decorated for the July 4 Independence Day celebration. It's a big deal in St. Paul because they also have their annual rodeo on July 4.

Decorated for Independence Day in St. Paul.

The St. Paul rodeo arena is amazing for such a small town. I'm sure it can seat more than ten times the town's population. Having a rodeo on a major holiday seems odd to me. Most people want to spend holidays visiting family and eating hamburgers and corn on the cob, not breaking bones being thrown off a horse.

The St. Paul rodeo arena can seat more than ten times the town's population.

Traffic decreased south of St. Paul. Most of the trucks turned east towards I-5 and OR 99W. I stopped to look at a well preserved Grange hall surrounded by farms. It was once a village called Fairfield, but nobody lives there now.

Grange hall in a town that no longer exists.

Today I had a strong southwest headwind. Yesterday I cruised at 14 mph with a tailwind. Today I'm cruising at 9-10 mph with a headwind. The open farm areas have little or nothing to block the wind. I appreciated the occasional forested hill which gives shelter from the wind as well as a change in scenery.

Rare forested hills obstructed the headwind.

Most of today's route is on the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway. I detoured a little bit to see the Wheatland Ferry and pedal a trail through Willamette Mission State Park.

The ferry seldom closes but it has been closed since June 7 for inspections and maintenance. The ferry is privately owned by the same family since the 1890's. There was once a town called Wheatland at the ferry site but there is no town now.

Privately owned Wheatland Ferry. Closed for repairs.

Wheatland ferry is a back entrance to Willamette Mission State Park. I pedaled the park trail about 3 miles with occasional river views. The trail is probably underwater every winter.

Riverside bike trail at Willamette Mission State Park.

I expected more historic buildings and interpretive signs at Willamette Mission State Park. One problem is that I entered via the "back door". I didn't see interpretive signs until I got to the park headquarters on the way out.

Willamette Mission was a Methodist mission founded in 1834 by Jason Lee. The mission had little or no success converting Indians to Christianity. But it had great success raising crops. News about the successful farming rapidly spread to the east. Publicity from Willamette Mission is credited with creating the demand for farmers to emigrate to the Willamette Valley. Previously the only white people were hunters and trappers who sold their products to the Hudson's Bay Company.

Today's excellent farm house north of Salem.

I followed the signed Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway route through Keizer and Salem. Biggest urban area I pedaled through during this tour. I don't have much good to say about this Scenic Bikeway. To me it's less scenic and has far more traffic than other Oregon Scenic Bikeways. I considered bypassing Salem by pedaling on the west side of the river. But I think the traffic would be almost as bad on that side as well.

The clouds rapidly dissipated at about 3 PM while I was at the state capitol.

Modern sculpture at the Oregon state capitol.

This is Oregon's third state capitol. The first two capitol buildings burned. This one was built in the 1930's during an austere period. Most states have older and grander capitol buildings.

I detoured through downtown Salem but didn't spend much time taking pictures. I still have a long way to go today.

In Salem I turned off the Scenic Bikeway for good and turned onto bike trails through Riverfront City Park and Minto-Brown Island Park. The riverfront park has great river views and great facilities.

Many high rise condos have recently been built east of Riverfront park and south of downtown. It seems to be an up-and-coming urban area, walking distance to thousands of state jobs and a large riverfront park.

The 1964 flood was 3 feet higher. The 1861 flood (before dams) was 12 feet higher.

The Riverfront Park trail connects to a huge trail bridge to Minto-Brown Island park. The bridge has a striking design, with two arches spreading at the middle. I'm probably not the only person who thinks of this bridge as the "vulva bridge".

Minto-Brown Island park is awesome, with a wilderness feel but very close to the city. The trail has many river views. It's obvious that this trail regularly floods during winter. It hadn't rained in 12 days but one portion of the trail still had 2 inches of standing water.

The park trail dumped me onto busy 2-lane shoulderless River Road. It was the afternoon rush hour and all the traffic was going the same direction as me. Once again I was happy to have two 350 lumen flashers. River road crosses the Willamette river in the town of Independence.

Crossing the Willamette river to Independence. My hotel is visible on the left.

Independence is larger and more charming than I expected. I didn't expect it to have 10,000 people. Signs explain that it was the center of a large hop growing region. During the harvest season the town would import trainloads of laborers from Portland.

Independence is one of the few towns that occupies high ground very close to the river. Most other towns need to have a wide floodplain between the town and the river. Consequently, Independence has a genuine "river town" feel.

Riverfront amphitheater in Independence. The condo building on the right is still under construction.

Tonight's home is Independence Hotel, a riverfront boutique hotel. $231 makes it the most expensive place I've ever stayed with my own money. But it is a very stylish hotel in a great location between the river and the historic downtown. It was a great experience.

Independence Hotel is a rare hotel with a rooftop deck and a well equipped bicycle maintenance room.

Rooftop deck overlooking the Willamette river.

Rooftop view looking downstream. Park on the left.

I was stunned to see so many newly built condos along the riverfront. Independence seems to be transitioning into an upscale satellite suburb of Salem. I don't know where the condos sit relative to the level of the 1996 flood. 13 flood control dams regulate the tributaries, but the Willamette river can still rise 30 feet once in a while.

Rooftop view looking upstream. Many new condos on the right.

Downtown Independence is mostly historic structures. It's well preserved. I haven't seen very many Willamette "river towns", but this is surely one of the best river towns. While eating dinner on the patio of the brewery I talked to an elderly couple who lived their entire lives in Alamo Heights, Texas, but chose to retire in Independence, Oregon. They bought a riverfront condo and hardly ever need to drive their car.

Today I saw no covered bridges but I saw a state capitol, two interesting historic towns, and good views of the Willamette river. The headwind and long distance made it a long day of pedaling. Good thing the terrain is flat.

Distance: 56.5 mi. (90.4 km)
Average Speed: 8.9 mph (14.2 km/h)
Ascent/Descent: +1055/-1140 ft. (+322/-348 m)

Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 368 miles (592 km)

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Scott AndersonYou made the right strategic choice for the day in my opinion. The ride down the east side of the river is much quieter and more enjoyable than the west unless you get farther from the river and start climbing the steep backroads through the vineyards.
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1 year ago

Wayne EstesI figured the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway can't be too terrible. And yes, when studying the map it did appear that all traffic west of the river is forced to concentrate on one road. The east side offers more back road options, plus a state capitol and several miles of awesome riverfront trails. I wanted to avoid both the hills and the tipsy entitled drivers of the wine country.
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1 year ago