Walla Walla Tour

Event Description

Come join us for a weekend of riding around beautiful Walla Walla. Experience farm country like never before! You will love the diversity of scenery -- from wheat to wine to whey, experience this unique southeast Washington community, teetering on the boundary of Oregon, which you'll also experience! This will be a fun way to ramp up your cycling season and enjoy nice weather while it's still rainy west of the Cascades. We do a group start in the morning, but riders will ride at their preferred pace and may select long or short routes each day. Ridership is capped at 200 riders, making for a delightfully social and close-knit experience.

Accommodations, breakfast, and dinner are for riders to organize themselves, but post-ride activities will be planned Friday and Saturday. Lunch is provided on the route. Stay a while and socialize and enjoy the Walla Walla sun.

Each day's ride will start at a different winery or brewery around the outskirts of Walla Walla. You are not required to ride each day, but please check in each morning that you do ride.

Rider Communications

Subscribe to communications from us and you'll receive two emails in the weeks before the tour with reminders and details. 

We also do a Zoom meeting several weeks before the tour to get you ready.

Registration

Registration opens on February 11 at 10 a.m. and closes on May 11 at 11:59 p.m.

Sorry, there is no registration available on the day of the event. Space is limited. Please register in advance online.

Route

Each day has a long or short option. 

We encourage you to wait until the day before the event to download these maps to your preferred device for easy access on the day of the event. 

Printed cue sheets are available at the start line. The route is marked with navigational markings on the road surface.

Click through to see the full map on Ride With GPS.

Event Schedule

Friday | Frenchtown through Milton-Freewater

We will start from Cougar Crest Estate Winery in Frenchtown, west of downtown Walla Walla. After a quick visit to the Whitman Mission National Historic Site, we work our way south through several small communities to Milton-Freewater, Oregon. Skirting through downtown we pause at a cidery, then swoop back north to lunch stop in Umapine at a local creamery and then to another winery or two on the way back to Cougar Crest. 

Expect some wind and prepare for a gentle but extended climb in the first third of the route. Some roads through agricultural areas may not have shoulders defined by a white line.

Saturday | Waitsburg - Walla Walla Loop

This is a classic Walla Walla favorite. We’ll start at Quirk Brewing and head over the hills to Waitsburg, where the long option loops out to Lewis & Clark Trails St Park. (Short route turns back in Waitsburg.) There's another big climb back out Lower Waitsburg Road, then high-country cruising back to Walla Walla. Riders wend their way from the old trail north of the new freeway through downtown Walla Walla and Whitman College before picking up the Mill Creek Trail.

We will enjoy brews and refreshments at Quirk when we return. 

Sunday | Walla Walla East Loop

Today’s ride will start from Castillo de Feliciana just on the Oregon side of the state line. We slip a little farther south before turning east for a nice jaunt around the wheat fields southeast of Walla Walla proper.

Riders needing a vigorous challenge can climb up and over Scenic Loop Rd (another locals’ favorite, but 2.5 miles of less-paved hardpack and gravel at the top and down) to meet Mill Creek (and full pavement) at Thomas. After the rest stop a couple more brief hardpack sections carry adventuerers through more vistas. Less adventuresome pedalers can cut mileage (and rough road) by swooping out and back on Mill Creek Rd to the Thomast stop.

Everyone enjoys lunch at Rooks Park (opens at 10:30 a.m. sharp) before cruising along the other half of the Mill Creek Trail back into Walla Walla. 

Skirting the east edge of town returns us to the beautiful wine country for our last day’s final miles back to Castillo de Feliciana.

Inclusion

Everyone is welcome at Cascade events. We are committed to celebrating and promoting diversity in the bicycling community. We aim to provide safe spaces at start lines, finish lines, and official rest stops. Read our commitment to anti-racism and our participant code of conduct and grievance policy.

We would like to acknowledge that our rides take place on native land. Our offices are located on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People past and present.

Food & Breaks

Lunches are provided. You can refill your water and electrolyte bottles and enjoy light snacks that will power you for the second half of the ride. Fare includes energy bars, chips, nuts, fruit, and sandwiches from local caterers.

Gluten free and vegan snacks and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are available.

We'll organize social events at local wineries and breweries on Friday and Saturday evening, but you'll pick up your own tab.

Where to Stay

Preferred Partners

• Holiday Inn Express Walla Walla. 20 rooms are available at a discount to riders. Please book early; offer ends April 14, 2024. Discount instructions sent to registered riders. April 17 deadline!
• Comfort Inn and Suites. 4 rooms remaining! $225/night, up to four people per room. April 17 deadline!

Other recommended hotels

• Best Western Plus Walla Walla Suites Inn. 

Support During the Ride

This ride is supported by Cascade staff and volunteers.

Support and gear (SAG) vehicles are present on the route and dispatched when you call the ride support hotline. SAG vehicles can transport you and most models of bikes in the event of a mechanical or minor medical event. You should always call 911 in a life-threatening emergency.

Goatheads are thorny seed pods common in the Walla Walla area. Bring inner tubes that fit your tires and a flat kit. Read more on how to reduce the chance of a flat tire.

Weather

Don't leave home without your rain gear. Weather is typically dry and sunny, but early morning starts and downhills warrant extra layers.

Get your bike tuned up and in shape to ride in slick, rainy, low-visibility conditions. Bring front and rear lights, install fenders, service your brakes, and clean your chain.

E-Bikes

Class 1 and class 2 e-bikes are permitted on this ride, which makes use of a multi-use trail on Day 2 and Day 3.

Training

To help you prepare for this ride, you can check out our extensive schedule of Free Group Rides in the Puget Sound area. Find rides that fit your schedule and desired pace and distance.