Timberline Lodge (Mount Hood)

The defining road cycling climb of the Pacific Northwest and the closest thing to an Alpine summit finish in the western United States. The Timberline Lodge Road climbs from Government Camp (1,180m) to the Timberline Lodge at 1,829m — but the true cycling objective extends beyond the lodge on the summer snowcat service road to the Palmer Glacier area at 2,300m, accessible for cyclists in July and August when the road is clear of snow. The full 15.1km from Government Camp to the Palmer Glacier snowfield gains 1,128m at a sustained 7.5% average, with the steepest section (12-13%) in the first 4km immediately above Government Camp where the road cuts through dense Cascade forest. Above the treeline at approximately 2,000m, the volcanic cone of Hood rises above a moonscape of lava fields and permanent snowfields — a landscape with no parallel in American road cycling. The Timberline Lodge itself (a WPA-era timber and stone masterpiece built in 1936) marks the midpoint; riders who continue to the snowfield are treated to views across the Cascades to Mount Adams, Mount Rainier, and Mount Saint Helens on clear days.