Early in August, Portland, Oregon, cycling enthusiast Jonathon Maus spent some time exploring northeast Oregon and the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway by bike. His resulting blogs on BikePortland.org will leave you yearning to park the car, hang up the keys and use just two-wheels to experience our beautiful corner of the state. Following is the prelude to his first two installments and links to the blogs. Thank you, Jonathon, for sharing your adventure!

Jonathon Maus, BikePortland.com Last week I spent five days taking a closer look at bicycling and bike tourism in Wallowa, Baker, and Union Counties as part of a partnership with Cycle Oregon. Starting in the small town of Halfway on Monday, I rode northeast to circumnavigate the Wallowa Mountains and Eagle Cap Wilderness. I camped, rode rocky dirt roads, did some bushwhacking, sampled singletrack on a mountain bike, rolled on an official State Scenic Bikeway, and met the people working to make this region a biking destination. All this week I’ll share stories and photos from the road.

First installment: Five Days In Eastern Oregon; Halfway and an adventure to Ollokot

Second Installment: Five Days in Eastern Oregon; Riding Rails and talking tourism in Joseph

more to come…

See more fantastic photos of the journey on flickr.

People familiar with the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway know it is a prime route for cycling around that amazing mountain range known as The Wallowas! The two-lane band of pavement winds up and down, over and around, beside rivers, through forests and past sage brush, cows and all kinds of wildlife. Bicycles allow one to take in the scenery and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of Northeast Oregon.

Cycle Oregon, Oregon’s well-known organized annual bike ride, discovered the route many years ago and has returned several times to bring over 2,000 riders on a week-long supported ride from town-to-town along the byway. They will return in September 2015.

Each year, smaller organized groups and hundreds of individual bicycle riders make the trip from valley floor to high-mountain pass and back down to the farms and ranches and friendly towns in the Baker, Wallowa and Grande Ronde Valleys.

This scenic byway and The Wallowas are so beautiful, the mountain range was selected as one of the 7 Wonders of Oregon by Travel Oregon. And, to celebrate the 7 Wonders of Oregon, Travel Oregon asked seven of the best bike builders in the state to build one-of-a-kind bicycles, one for each of the Wonders. Breadwinner Cycles created a “29er” bike custom-made to handle the wide-open spaces of the Wallowas and outfitted with gear for the remoteness of Eastern Oregon.

Learn more about the 7 Bikes for 7 Wonders and how you can search for the “29er” bike at TravelOregon.com. Then, start searching, July 13! You just might find a custom built bike for your next journey on the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway!