Date Reviewed: 06/17/07

Length: 41 miles.

Technical Difficulty: Easy if ridden at moderate speeds. Moderately difficult if ridden aggressively, mainly because of high deer population and several cattle guards on corners (be careful!).

Location: The report begins near Austin at N44° 35' 41" and W118° 29' 39" and ends at the junction of Hwy 395 at N44° 50' 11" and W119° 01' 51".

Amenities: Gas, food and lodging at Austin Junction.

Places of Interest: Austin House; Middle Fork John Day River.

Review: National Forest Road 20 is rather unique to the northeastern sector of Oregon; it is pretty much flat. The road follows the Middle Fork John Day River very closely both horizontally and vertically. There's very little fall to the river along this stretch and only when necessary does the road rise more than a few feet above the elevation of the river. This is one factor that makes the ride so curvy, and fun.

The beginning of the road near Austin is close to the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the John Day River. When this report was documented in the middle of June in 2007 (a dry year), the river through here was little more than a trickle. There are a lot of creeks that feed into it and by the end of the 41 mile ride the trickle was a full-fledged river. The entire route consists of good pavement with a full two lanes and fog lines.

After leaving Austin, you go for about a mile before the road takes a left at the sign for Susanville, famous for the Armstrong Nugget. While the flatness of this route is unique for this part of Oregon, also very obvious is the relatively wide river bed containing the small flow of water. The water makes the valley floor very green, contrasting with the dry hills surrounding the valley.

This is a very remote part of the state, even for Northeast Oregon. For the 22 miles to Galena (or was it Susanville; I couldn't really tell from the maps which is which , or even if there were two seperate settlements) I only saw two mailboxes. And one of those, there was not a house in sight. At Galena, there is quite a little settlement with a dozen or so houses. These people love solitude! West of Galena there is a couple homes and a few farms.

Around Galena (or was it Susanville?) the ecosystem changes from dry, to moist, almost swampy land for a mile or two, through a hardwood forest. Also very unusual for Eastern Oregon. It was rather pleasant and had a definite cooling effect. Maybe it was psychological but it was nice.

Most of the ride is made up of pleasant highway-speed sweepers with several 30-35 mph corners thrown in to keep you on your toes. The entire length of the road takes you through a very beautiful land of Ponderosa pine forest and riverside views. It gets curvier the closer you get to Hwy 395 while the canyon narrows and the hills get bigger and the landscape gets drier. Despite what some maps show, the road is paved all the way.

This road is, like a large portion of this part of the state, through open range, so you need to be especially focused at all times. The cow population, combined with the deer, makes the road dangerous. Despite the caution needed, this road is a real nice ride and is highly recommended by this Eastern Oregon road connoisseur.