Idaho & Montana ride suggestions

[tdd3748]

Looking for route and ride suggestions for Idaho & western Montana, northern Wyoming. We will be travelling from Seattle to LoLo Hot Springs just outside of Missoula and spending 3 days 15th, 16th & 17th. After that our planned trip has fallen apart due to some traveling mates needing to return to work. Remaing 4 of us have 10 more days to spend riding. So we are looking for suggestions from those of you that have travelled that area. Any suggestions (sights, places to stay, fun bars, etc) would be greatly appreciated.

[BVBOB]

Try to make it to Cody Wy, visit the Buffalo Bill museum, and the Irma Motel is an interesting place, as for the riding, it is my favorite place of all time, Chief Joseph highway from cody towards the notheast enterance of Yellowstone(Cooke City) is great, some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen, but to top it all you can go over Beartooth pass into Red Lodge, One of the most breathtaking rides you will ever experience (literally, over 11 thousand feet) Be ready for any weather, I rode in snow on top of Beartooth pass two years ago on Aug 4th, no snow last year but damn hard, cold rain. If you plan on going into Yellowstone at all be sure to check out the Little Grand Canyon, not advertised much but problably one of the best sites in the park. Have fun, I envy you, wish I could have made it out there this year.

[claytp1]

Where do I begin? I used to live in southeast Idaho and claimed all of that country as home as I would spend much time fishing, hunting, camping and exploring it. It is all just great scenery to be sure.

Everything BVBOB said, I'll give a thumbs up to. A couple of things to know about Yellowstone. First is the traffic, it'll be bad especially when the buffalo are near or crossing a road. Having mentioned buffalo you'll more than likely have at least a few encounters with buffalo being near you. They're pretty used to it, so the best thing to do is to be cool and let them pass by if you're caught stopped. The best way to avoid traffic is to get as early a start as possible. The north side of the park tends to be more mountainous than the south side. However, it's the southside where all the geysers are including Old Faithful.

But from LoLo where do you go? Well there's a number of choices. The one I'm the least familiar with would be getting on highway 12 and coming over to highway 95 then dropping down to Boise by way of McCall. All of this will be great riding. In Boise, there's plenty of places to find eats. Leaving Boise, I'd find my way to highway 21 and follow it to Stanley. This I guarantee is great riding.

From Stanley you can go east on highway 75 to Clayton and up to Challis. But I would go south to Ketchum on. Do this in the daytime to get views of the Sawtooth mountains. And be sure to stop when you reach Galena summit for pictures and views again of the Sawtooths. Continue on south until you get to Ketchum which is the home of the Sun Valley ski resort. There will be plenty of places here to stay, eat, drink. But this is a playground of the rich, so be prepared for high prices.

Continue south until you get to highway 20 and head east to Craters of the Moon National Monument. This is a less than well known spot to see. You're now well in the Idaho desert and specifically in the lava flows. Craters is aptly named and you will think you're on the moon if you stop in there. I think it's worth it, but that's up to you.

From Craters you can continue east either towards Idaho Falls or Rexburg. There's an exhibit out there somewhere for EBR-1, the first nuke power plant in this country. The Idaho desert is the home of the INEEL which is the birthplace of the nuclear navy. Which way you go depends on where you want to go next. This part of the ride will be less than exciting as you'll be in the flats of the desert and farmland of east Idaho. If you want to go to Jackson, WY, then Idaho Falls is your choice. This is a reasonable size town of about 50,000 people with reasonably priced hotels. There's a good microbrew/rest along the Snake River here called Brownstone Brewhouse that I used to go to. Also just as you're coming into Idaho Falls there's a dairy on the north side of the road that serves great ice cream. From Idaho Falls head east until you get to the town of Swan Valley. At this point I'd head to Jackson via Victor, Idaho. This route will take you over Teton Pass and I think is more scenic. But if you continue east going to Jackson via Alpine Junction, you won't go wrong. It's all good. Jackson is another playground of the rich and your quintessential tourist trap. But there are excellent restaurants there too, including out along the way to Teton Village which is where the ski resort is.

If you want to go to Yellowstone via West Yellowstone, Montana, then go to Rexburg and then through Ashton. Once you get to Ashton, things will improve quickly as you go up the Ashton hill as we called it. The hill will be a fun ride and puts you up on the same plateau that geyser area of the park is in. This is all great riding and will be noticeably cooler as you gain quite a bit of elevation. West Yellowstone has a number of hotels and restaurants and are a bit more reasonably priced than Jackson. Also in West is a grizzly bear exhibit that isn't cheap but will give you a chance to see bears up close. Bear sitings in the park are not that common. The Silver Spur cafe serves a great breakfast as I recall.

The other way to do this loop, is to come south out of LoLo and through Salmon - Challis - Stanley. You could also use the highways that go to Mackay or Leadore, great scenery all the way. Either going west or south out of LoLo, I'd end up taking the routes through Ketchum.

After doing the park and Cody, WY I would one way or another make my way north to Glacier National Park. Glacier is a whole other experience. The mountains up there are just majestic and worth the ride. I'd probably go by way of Flathead Lake and Kalispell. There's all kinds of things along that route. The other thing too in the Glacier area is a wonderful treat called huckleberries. They will be in season and are truly a great thing. You'll see these berries used in pies, pancakes, ice cream and other treats.

Phew, that's enough for me. I hope this helps. One last thing, if you like to fish and can pack a rod, you'll be passing through some of the greatest trout fishing in the world all through this area.

Have fun, I'm quite jealous.

[Y2K]

10 more days,hell you could ride about anywhere in the Western half of the USA and back with that much time.
If you plan on Lolo as a base you could do Glacier Park and Yellowstone/Tetons Parks with ease and have time to spare.
As suggested Cody is nice and a ride up into the Big Horn mountains is doable and worth it.
Just about any direction you go from Lolo is a good ride.

[hoosierhog88]

Originally Posted by BVBOB

Try to make it to Cody Wy, visit the Buffalo Bill museum, and the Irma Motel is an interesting place, as for the riding, it is my favorite place of all time, Chief Joseph highway from cody towards the notheast enterance of Yellowstone(Cooke City) is great, some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen, but to top it all you can go over Beartooth pass into Red Lodge, One of the most breathtaking rides you will ever experience (literally, over 11 thousand feet) Be ready for any weather, I rode in snow on top of Beartooth pass two years ago on Aug 4th, no snow last year but damn hard, cold rain. If you plan on going into Yellowstone at all be sure to check out the Little Grand Canyon, not advertised much but problably one of the best sites in the park. Have fun, I envy you, wish I could have made it out there this year.

I totally 100% agree with the above. My son and I made this trip in June and had the time of our life! Without question, some of the best scenery I've ever been around.

I just wish I could go back tomorrow. But living in Indiana has it's drawbacks.

[tdd3748]

Thanks guys - lots of great suggestions will be putting stick pins in a map this afternoon and looking at all the routes.
As it stands no when we leave LoLo we are heading to Sun Valley as we have a condo there and will likely only spend one night but maybe two.
Beartooth Pass and Red Lodge along with Craters of the Moon spark my interest.

Been to Cody, Yellowstone and Jackson Hole many times but by car and with kids; so this trip will be a brand new experience and the first long ride my other half has ever taken - should prove interesting.

Thanks again - now if my bike would just get here - it is on a truck from NY.