La Grande Area

This climb starts on the Morgan Lake road then turn left onto Glass Hill and it keeps climbing to the top of this long mountain to the south of La Grande. To make a loop, continue on to the freeway for a short trip on I-84 then Foothill Rd. back to town.

The Palmer Jct road is one of the best paved climbing roads in Union County because of the great scenery and random steep climbs it throws at riders. It is an out and back course on a road bike, but if continued on the gravel offers a long climb up to Jubilee Lake.

Mt. Fanny is a monstrous climb on a cross bike. If done properly from Phys Rd, the climb rises 4234 vertical feet in 19 miles, topping out at 7,123 at the summit. The road is steep only a in few places, but is otherwise a steady climb up to Moss Spring Campground. Then, the road gets rougher. In a few places, the road skirts the Eagle Cap Wilderness, offering a good view of the Wallowas.

Notes

A rather big loop that goes up Indian Creek on the north side of Mt. Harris, summits the mountain at the lookout and towers, and comes back down the south side on Mt. Harris Road to Grays Corner. Most of the road is good gravel, but it does get a bit rutted and rocky closer to the summit.

This is a long climb up to the Point Prominence Lookout Tower, an active lookout tower during fire season. You basically stay on the main road up the side of Mt. Harris (Forest Road 62) and continue on to about the wilderness boundary, where you take a right onto Rd 6220 (look for the sign for Point Prominence). The road gets rougher from there and then takes a left on an even rougher road up to the lookout.

Jason Werst was a fast runner and a fast cyclist. He frequented Morgan Lake Road in his training, which is just on the outskirts of La Grande a short distance from where he was a collegiate runner at Eastern Oregon Univeristy. The road is so steep, it prompted Jason to ponder the question: can I run up it faster than I can bike it? From this idea, The Werst Race was born to support Jason in his fight with leukemia. During periods of remission, he found the strength to compete in the race 4 of 5 years that he was alive, even competing in 2011 the year he passed away.