Flying M Ranch

DESTINATIONS

ROUNUP

Flying M Ranch

Portland, Oregon

Imagine a vaction spot where you can ride up to the hotel’s front office on a dirt bike, check in, then spend the rest of the day riding on tree-lined trails within a few miles of your room. Imagine having a convenient restaurant and lodge where you can relax at the end of the ride, and imagine that this dream location is in one of the most beautiful settings in the world.

Too much to ask? Maybe, but such a place does exist, just an hour or

so from Portland. Oregon. It's the Flying M Ranch, which is known to some motorcyclists as the site for the annual Trask Mountain ISDE Qualifier. Although the ranch caters primarily to horseback

riders, the folks there also take a kind view toward motorcycle riders, as well as the occasional flier who lands on the Flying M’s dirt runway.

The hotel has 24 rooms, and there also are

a number of campsites available. The Flying M isn't the easiest place to find, though. It's accessible only by dirt road or by air. and the nearest towrn is the teeming metropolis of Yamhill, Oregon, population somewhere around 250. It’s best to call ahead and get reservations and directions, and also ask which trails are best for motorcycling—some are reserved for horses only. Write: Flying M Ranch, Rt. O, Box 95C, Yamhill, OR 97148; or call (503) 662-3222. Ron Lawson