This a a beautiful loop of the most popular lake in the region that includes a climb up over the moraine and around the scenic Wallowa Valley. Then you pedal through Joseph and pick up the gravel road on the west shore of Wallowa Lake where you will have fun riding by the ghetto godfather lakeshore homes before taking an escape route down to the marina at Wallowa Lake State Park. It is a fun loop!
To get up over the moraine, you will look for a green Powder River Gate about 2 miles from the marina at a pull-out off of the pavement. You will need to hop over that gate and then continue up the climb.
Another important turn to note is at the end of the loop. As the route nears the marina, the road gets more rugged and begins climbing up away from the lake. There will be a split in the road with a singletrack to the left after the road really narrows. Skip this one and a few hundred yards up the road you'll see another singletrack on the left that will take you steeply down to the marina to finish the loop. If you hit the switchback of the road, you have gone a bit too far. This is a steep descent down to the lake, so you will likely walk it, but that depends on your nerves and bike handling skills.
