Hi All - I'm mapping a trip for June and hope to hear suggestions that you have for points of interest, stretches of road , etc. Bike - R100GS Prefer - secondary and tertiary 2 lane roads - forest roads, etc. - slab only when necessary Time - June 3 20 Lodging - Camping, cabins, etc. Known stops - Hwy 12 from Clarkston to Lolo - Stanley, ID and the Sawtooth range (will be here a few days - back country ideas are welcomed) - Park City, UT - Lander, WY - Jackson Hole and Yellowstone After getting to Yellowstone Im at something of a loss. - North to Glacier (rode there last year and a number of other times but I still love it)? - Across WA on Hwy 20? - East to Crater Lake, Bend and north? Here's what I have so far. The only essential stops are to visit friends in Park City and Lander, WY. What say you? I'd love to hear your ideas for the best rides and stops that eventually lead back to Seattle (well, at least my boss would ). Thanks!
I've done a bunch of those roads. The buffalo bill museum in Cody is pretty cool and there is some cheap camping in cody. The ride from cody to yellow stone was through some cool canyons if I remember right. There is some good camping spots around C too. You can always do bend/ crater on a long weekend. I would check out glacier. I heard its pretty awesome Then come across northern Washington or Canada?.
Wyoming Around C I think this was coming into Cody from the east. Don't listen to them when they say don't carry tubes if you have tubless tires. And yes i was hauling ass and having a good old time when it happened.
From Missoula I'd suggest you head north to Glacier National Park and catch the Going To The Sun road and run across the norther part of Idaho and Washington. The route you show on the map is open scrub land. For Washington, pick up a copy of Destination Highways: Washington book (http://washington.destinationhighways.com/) You'll find some excellent motorcycle routes in there that will keep you happy. Some of my personal favorites are: The back route from Stevenson, WA up the east side of Mt St. Helens and Mt Rainier. Highway 2 running east-west from Wenatchee to the Seattle area and, the North Cascades Highway. Send me a direct message and I'll get you my contact info. I live in the Seattle area and would be happy to talk you through the details. Maybe I could even meet you on the road for a day.
Early June might still be rough on the road to the sun, but the East side of Flathead Lake is a sweet ride. When you get to the north part of the Lake head west and there is some cool old ceader stand forest area towards Thompson Falls, After Thompson Falls , take Thompson Pass toward Spokane, Then Hwy 2 to the Keller's ferry turn off and head north to Republic. Go north toward Curlew, Turn on Taroda pass toward Oriville, South out of Oriville take Loop-Loop pass to Twisp and the North Cascades Hwy back to the other side. If you doodle as I do that will take 3 days and large quantities of beer. If you have time you can head north the back way into Lynden then go southwest on the backroads to Bellingham or head east again and take the backroads into Monroe. Sometimes I find my best rides only had a general destination in mind, and the less I planned the better. In my younger days my rides were kinda like an AT&T commercial "More Bars In More Places" and I didn't make very good time, but I learned it isn't about "making good time" it is about "Having a good time"! Enjoy the Ride
I've been on most of thes as well. Looks like a great trip. IMO you can keep southern WY. HWY 80 is quite possibly the windiest stretch of road I've ever been on and I've been on it multiple times. This is from our trip a few years ago. The Olympic Peninsula is cool and eye opening if you've never been out that way.
Here are a couple of variations to break up your route thru the Basin. If you are like me, I tire if the I-90 drone and 26 is not much better. At Vantage go south to Beverly, then east on Crab Creek. Gravel, wildlife refuge, should be spring like. South at Othello on secondary pavement to Connell. Cross 395 and on to Kahlotus, Palouse Falls. the Palouse will be in full spring. If you are going to ride the Old Lewiston Grade, you can cut across Latah Co and head east to reconnect with 12 at Orofino. This will let you bypass a lot of the Lewiston area traffic.. At the top of the Hill, north on 95 toward Moscow. After clearing the Pullman/395 exits you will be headed toward a farm house. Turn left at the farm house. Moser Rd to Leon to Cow Cr Rd. Cross Cow Cr Rd to a poss no-name rd, maybe Sprenger Rd. Continue to Uniontown Rd and turn right. Onward to Genessee. This is a very scenic bit of the Palouse. Thru Genessee onto Genessee-Julietta Rd. Follow to the bottom of the draw and cross the bridge/east onto gravel. Follow the main road to Julietta. Good bit of twisty pavement at Julietta. At bottom of the hill turn left/north, on hwy 3, to Kendrick. Thru Kendrick. At junction turn rt/east up hill, on 215, toward Southwick. Follow the main road thru Southwick, Cavendish to Orofino. Two sets of twisties and a nice canyon view. At the stop sign, turn right across the bridge to hwy 12. ------------ South Idaho freeway is BAD. Mind numbing, No scenery. BAD. Utah 15 is worse. Horrible traffic. As soon as you clear Sun Valley the drone begins. An alternative might be to head west toward Fairfield and Mountain Home. Or visit the Ice Caves and west at Shoshone. There are some parks and some historic stuff around here. Hagerman Fossil Beds, Malad Gorge, Bruneau Dunes, Three Island Crossing. I found Bruneau Dunes the best. A public observatory there. Anyway I was aiming for hwy 51 south out of Idaho. Nice scenic, empty road. East at the Interstate to Wendover. Visit the Salt Flats via the interstate. Isn't Park City on I-80? When you exit Yellowstone, find out if Going to the Sun Road is open. You are early enough the Park employees should still be helpful. I'm not the biggest fan of the Cascade Hwy but the Thompson Falls, Murray route mentioned is good. I also like 20 across north WA, but usually use Stevens Pass. Have a good trip. By mid June north ID, and the Palouse area, should be mostly dried up. Fingers Crossed.
I can't post any maps from the eyePhone right now but on points D-F on your route: Northwest of Rock Creek is some kind of wild horse loop. I saw some horses there and it was badass. Just south of Labarge, WY there's a road called Labarge creek. Take that to Greys River Rd all the way to Alpine. Beeeeutiful dirt road, tons of wildlife, fields of wildflowers and mostly in a green valley protected from the Wyoming wind. Do it.
Thanks for the great recommendations - they're exactly what I was looking for! (Sorry for taking so long to respond - I haven't had a lot of time for trip planning over the past few weeks.) @ grinns - Nice photos! Good point on saving Crater Lake for a local ride. @ DaveStockwell - Thanks for the offer to ride and chat. Great tip on Destination Highways WA, I didn't have that on my list. @ thetourist - I really appreciate your detailed route through SE WA and ID. @ Easy-Z - La Barge to Alpine via Grey's River Road - Any suggestions for the route east of Priest Lake towards Hwy 31? It looks like there are a couple of FS road options. Does anyone know if it will be open by early June?
The ride looks GREAT ! It might just be because I live in it but I could not see doing a ride of the Northwet without including the Gorge. Just sayin
I agree completely. Fortunately, I've enjoyed a few rides near your home and hope to get back again soon! By the way, here's a rough sketch of the route...