What's your favorite road?

[BIGSHOT]

Sometimes when there are bills to pay or deadlines to meet or issues to address or messages to return, I close my eyes for a second and I drift back to Highway 128 between Mendocino and Cloverdale. Pretty soon, the next right-hander through the redwoods fades into the next left-hander through the rocky ups and downs of wine country and the road twists and turns under the Mini as jagged as an Oklahoma lightning bolt. Or maybe it’s Highway 218 from Oregon 97 all the way to Fossil, and the Mini handles the sweeping, undulating creek valleys like a horse that knows the way home and you can just drop the reins. On Highway 12 just this side of Lolo Pass, there’s a sign that warns you of 99 miles of winding road. Could there ever be a more righteous path to auto-nirvana?



Which road -- local or distant -- would you nominate for Best Mini Driving Experience?

Dan

[BIGSHOT]

Not necessarily my favorite, but I think this is Highway 120 just south of Mono Lake.



And here are the Rowena Loops of Oregon's Historic Highway 30. They run for miles.

Dan

[Jerry]

Mine would be Hwy 12 through Lolo Pass, or maybe the spiral highway. Then there's 821 between Ellensburg and Yakima. For scenery and the overall 'giant slalom' feel, I really enjoyed the drive between Goldendale and Bend, Oregon enroute to Mini Meet West.

[80_estate]

My favorite has been driving the Amalfi Coast in Italy. About an hour of twisty curvy roads and the most stunning views i've ever seen!
https://www.walksofitaly.com/blog/wp...-to-Amalfi.jpg

[Dixminion]

Yep, that Lolo pass is sweet. Last time for me was in an MGC GT, six cylinders you know.

Wa Hwy 9 North of Arlington. Great way to get to Canada.

Wa 4 from Vancouver Wa to Skamokawa and beyond.

Forest Service roads 25 and 30 from Randle to Carson on the great Columbia River and on to Portland.

The old parts of Oregon 30, the "Waterfall Run"

Oregon 47 from Clatskanie to Oregon 26 and the Oregon Coast.

My biggest favorite is hands down any road that is not Interstate 5.

Don

[Cheleker]

The run we did to Fossil was probably my favorite. The road, the weather and a day with no traffic made for a great run.

The road down the east side of St. Helens used to be a great one, but the road surface is so bad now, it is still a good drive but only slowly with too much time spent concentrating to avoid bumps and holes.

Lolo Pass has a lot going for it, but it only takes one slow poke car or motor home to make it a long drive with the fun spoiled...but not the scenery.

[Peter J Larsen]

nice to share some road experience.
I like the scenic River road between Ellensburg and Yakima
The Burma Road onVashon in tense forest is a short twisty
one, not high speed one.
The Dolomites in Northern Italy plenty of good roads though never drove a mini there,

[Dixminion]

Sounds like the Fossil run was done by the Three Amigos, Hmmm, connection?

Forest Service 25/30 is deteriorating quickly, but mostly on the East, downhill, Northbound side of the road. We were Northbound the last time through but spent a good deal of time on the wrong side of the road to avoid the rough patches. Go now, I doubt this route will continue to be "maintained" beyond the Mt. St. Helens areas in the future.

Don't miss the Ben Howard Road from just outside of Monroe to Sultan. It's a good beginning to a trip over Hwy 2 or could be just a local jaunt.

Don

[BIGSHOT]

FYI, Don, on that trip to Bend we stopped at the John Day Fossil Beds.



They wouldn't take us.

Dan

[BIGSHOT]

I did Don's "waterfall run" last October, when I was searching for fragments of Historic Highway 30. That's a great drive, and something a guy could do while waiting around for the Portland ABFM to begin. It's only about 35 miles from the racetrack to Multnomah Falls via N. Marine Drive, Corbett and the Vista House.

If you're ever in Sturgis, S.D., you have to drive south on SD 26, Vanocker Canyon Road. Looping, slicing, pine-treed countryside so unbelievable, you'll forget you're in South Dakota. Watch for wild turkeys out in the road.

And if you find yourself in South King County some morning, head over to Auburn and get on Green Valley Road. It starts at the Neeley Mansion, parallels the Green River westbound, and winds like crazy for about a dozen miles toward Highway 169. You could have breakfast at the Black Diamond Bakery, a couple of miles north on 169. If you drive it on a calm, late-spring evening, you can actually smell the strawberries growing in the valley. I used to do that in the MG with the top down. An absolutely incredible cruise -- even in a Mini with the windows slid back.

Dan