Difficulty: Challenging

McMinnville Wine Loop – Challenging

Spend the day exploring wine country by bike! This challenging ride with long, steep hills will wind you through some of the most beautiful parts of the Willamette Valley American Viticulture Area (AVA) with a stop halfway along the way in the city of Amity.

Ride Tips:

This is a very difficult ride for anyone unprepared for a rigorous climb. This is a 46-mile ride from McMinnville southwest into rural Yamhill County with one grueling, 3-mile hill. Road surfaces are good with rare exception. While most roads do not have shoulders, traffic is light across most of the route.

Navigation: Download this map to your Ride with GPS mobile app for turn-by-turn guidance during your ride. Click “Send to Device” at the top of the map on this page.

Start/Finish: The route starts and ends by the McMinnville Public Library. Consider the adjacent City Park your staging area and take a park trail over the library’s Second Street parking lot. Head west on Second Street. Once the ride ends, food and drink are available nearby on historic Third Street.

That Special Segment: Riders using Strava will see the 2.7-mile “Mt. Amity” segment. Prepare for 745 feet in elevation gain. While the average grade is 4.9 percent, the first quarter mile includes a 12 percent ramp. Those who pass this test enjoy expansive valley views at the top and a speedy descent.

Oases: Detour a quarter mile to Bellevue Country Store instead of turning right on Latham Road. The store offers rest, relaxation, and refueling. Food, water, coffee, and drinks are available. Then retrace back to Latham Road.

Dairy Queen is available at Gopher Valley Road and Highway 18 (mile 16) and Amity Market is located at mile 24.7.

Food and drinks also are available at the Amity Market in Amity.

Bathrooms: Bellevue Country Store and Dairy Queen.

Gravel: This route includes one mile of light gravel to avoid dangerous traffic conditions.

Cautions: The following locations deserve attention.
• Limited shoulders and visibility on some country roads.
• Crossing Highway 18 at Gopher Valley Road at Dairy Queen. The ride continues for nearly a mile on the highway. Use the wide shoulder.
• A bridge is under repair on Fifth Street (Highway 153) in Amity during summer 2022. Bicycles have been able to cross the bridge, but motorized vehicles cannot. That status may change at any time.
• Riding on Lafayette Highway (mile 32.6). This is a short, quarter-mile stretch before turning right on Finn Lane. Vehicles may be traveling fast in this area. Use extreme caution.
• Gravel begins on Stockhoff Road before crossing Lafayette Highway at mile 37.4.
• Cruickshank Road and Three Mile Lane beginning at mile 42.6. You are entering a traffic zone. Use caution for .2 mile on Cruickshank Road and then turn left across Three Mile Lane taking advantage of street dividers. Use caution when moving to the wide, right shoulder on Three Mile Lane as traffic approaches on your right.
• A new bridge is under construction on Three Mile Lane leading into downtown McMinnville. Use caution and flow with traffic through the construction zone.

About this Route Evaluation: These notes are provided as general guidance and are not intended to replace each cyclist’s own research and due diligence. We encourage you to become familiar with the route. This route is subject to change.