Highway 66 - Green Springs Highway, Oregon
- Tim Mayhew
- Jun 1
- 2 min read
Highway 66 along the CA-OR border begins in Ashland, Oregon, and stretches across the southern edge of the state. Something special happens as we move across this imaginary line that delineates this state border. The terrain changes, the climate changes, and the road surface changes—subtle things motorcyclists notice. It just feels... different. Between the remoteness, the hilly terrain, and the small towns, the one thing we did not expect was the superb quality of the road surfaces.
Known as the Green Springs Highway, this route serves as a high-altitude bridge between the Southern Cascade Range and the high desert of the Klamath Basin. Leaving the deer-filled streets (they're everywhere) of Ashland—home of the Shakespeare Festival—the road immediately goes to work, climbing a series of tight, rhythmic hairpins that gain 2,500 ft of elevation in a a few miles. It’s a delightful mix of smooth, tight turns and steady climbing, offering occasional glimpses of Ashland fading into the distance in your mirrors. The pavement here is surprisingly smooth, allowing you to focus entirely on your lean angles as you transition into the dense canopy of Douglas fir.
As you crest the Green Springs Summit at 4,551 ft and pass the historic Green Springs Inn, the scenery opens into sweeping mountain meadows. The technical work gives way to fast, flowing curves that track past the Tub Springs State Wayside—a perfect spot to fill your water bottle from a natural cold-water spring and relax at the picnic tables set back in the forest.
It’s a road of contrasts: technical and tight one moment, wide and scenic the next. By the time you drop into the Keno area, you’ll realize that Highway 66 isn't just a connector; it’s a destination in Cascadian riding that every California rider needs to experience. From here, you can head north toward Crater Lake or south to Lava Beds National Monument—one of the least visited and most unknown national monuments in California.
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