Author Topic: Help with trip planning - S. Daktoa , Wyoming, Montana - June 30th thru July 7th  (Read 12567 times)

Offline Beamer

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3 of us are planning a trip from Minneapolis going west from June 30th - July 7th, and we will more than likely make our first stop in the Black Hills, run thru Spearfish, Needles Hwy, and the normal Sturgis Fare, but we would like to go west from there for a day or two. We know that Glacier would be too far for us to get back to MN by July 7th, but what I would like is advice on going west from Sturgis. Should we loop to the west directly towards Yellowstone, NW towards Montana, or even SW towards Denver?

We are poor flat-landers who have never had a chance to get into the Rockies, but being as close as we are we would like to spend a day riding west and a day riding back towards the Black Hills.

Suggestions?

Feel free to email me also at 800mxz@gmail.com

Offline Roadhound

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If I were you, and had never been to the western mountains before I wouldn't worry to much about the Black Hills area too much. I'm not going to tell you that the Black Hills are not beautiful but a few miles to the west there are amazing things.

I'd do a ride by thru the Black Hills Needles Hwy. and Iron Mtn. Hwy are very good roads. Short but very good if the traffic is low. I'd head west and cross the Big Horn Mtns. on Rt. 14 to Burgess Junction, take 14A from there. Try to do this as early in the day as you can to avoid the sun in your eyes as you reach the high point of the road and start down on the western slope the road and the view is amazing. Stay on 16 to Cody Wyoming, take 120 north to Chief Joseph Hwy. This is an amazing road, stop at the overlook at Dead Indian Pass and take a look at what is ahead of you. Chief Joseph Hwy will take you to the Beartooth Hwy. just east of Cooke City Montana. take a right and head toward Red Lodge, Mt. The Beartooth is 67 miles of what you head to the west for, it could be the finest stretch of road in the US. Red Lodge is a great place to spend a night and has some good restaurants and bars.

You can ride the Beartooth back to Cooke City and on into Yellowstone ride as much of the loop as you have time for and then take the eastern exit towards Cody. You can then take Hwy 16 east and cross the Big Horn Mtns. heading back east to whatever route you prefer heading home.

I hope you have a great ride and enjoy every mile of it. You can do a search for Beartooth Pass photos and you can see what an amazing road and place it is
Don Ricks
Atlanta, Ga.

"Ride or Ride not, there is no drive."

Offline SteveJ.

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If I were you, and had never been to the western mountains before I wouldn't worry to much about the Black Hills area too much. I'm not going to tell you that the Black Hills are not beautiful but a few miles to the west there are amazing things.

I'd do a ride by thru the Black Hills Needles Hwy. and Iron Mtn. Hwy are very good roads. Short but very good if the traffic is low. I'd head west and cross the Big Horn Mtns. on Rt. 14 to Burgess Junction, take 14A from there. Try to do this as early in the day as you can to avoid the sun in your eyes as you reach the high point of the road and start down on the western slope the road and the view is amazing. Stay on 16 to Cody Wyoming, take 120 north to Chief Joseph Hwy. This is an amazing road, stop at the overlook at Dead Indian Pass and take a look at what is ahead of you. Chief Joseph Hwy will take you to the Beartooth Hwy. just east of Cooke City Montana. take a right and head toward Red Lodge, Mt. The Beartooth is 67 miles of what you head to the west for, it could be the finest stretch of road in the US. Red Lodge is a great place to spend a night and has some good restaurants and bars.

You can ride the Beartooth back to Cooke City and on into Yellowstone ride as much of the loop as you have time for and then take the eastern exit towards Cody. You can then take Hwy 16 east and cross the Big Horn Mtns. heading back east to whatever route you prefer heading home.

I hope you have a great ride and enjoy every mile of it. You can do a search for Beartooth Pass photos and you can see what an amazing road and place it is

This.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Don pretty well bagged it on where and more importantly, how to do this. I usta live in the Cities, the time frame works real well. Like Don said, tread lightly on the Black Hills, you can hit them nicely in a 4 or 5 day weekend. Go do Chief Joseph and the Beartooth. Mucho gooder. And don't do the Black Hills on the way back, they will seem like a real disappointment after what you've been through out in WY and MT. DAMHIKIJK.

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Offline shokdimn

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We are poor flat-landers who have never had a chance to get into the Rockies,

Suggestions?

Feel free to email me also at 800mxz@gmail.com
You are in for a real treat IMO!

Curious, are all of you experienced riders?

Safe trip to ya.
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Offline CRocker

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Yeah...what Don said... ;)
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Offline Beamer

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You are in for a real treat IMO!

Curious, are all of you experienced riders?

Safe trip to ya.

Very. All have been riding road bikes for 10 years on average, dirt bikes, atvs, snowmobiles for over 20, and not just putting around either lol.

Thanks all for the feed-back. We desire going farther west, but want to avoid a "hurry like hell" trip out to get there just to only get a limited opportunity to ride.

We MAY trailer out to Rapid City at least (with 3 of us we can drive 24hrs non stop in shifts, vs. having to stop and fuel / break /rest while going across S. Dakota - not much to see till you get to Wall Drug) so that may optimize some time for us.

Offline Beamer

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Looking like we are going to shoot for Yellowstone and Glacier. Plans are to arrive in Bozeman late on July 1st, with options to ride till July 6th.

Offline sherob

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If I were you, and had never been to the western mountains before I wouldn't worry to much about the Black Hills area too much. I'm not going to tell you that the Black Hills are not beautiful but a few miles to the west there are amazing things.

I'd do a ride by thru the Black Hills Needles Hwy. and Iron Mtn. Hwy are very good roads. Short but very good if the traffic is low. I'd head west and cross the Big Horn Mtns. on Rt. 14 to Burgess Junction, take 14A from there. Try to do this as early in the day as you can to avoid the sun in your eyes as you reach the high point of the road and start down on the western slope the road and the view is amazing. Stay on 16 to Cody Wyoming, take 120 north to Chief Joseph Hwy. This is an amazing road, stop at the overlook at Dead Indian Pass and take a look at what is ahead of you. Chief Joseph Hwy will take you to the Beartooth Hwy. just east of Cooke City Montana. take a right and head toward Red Lodge, Mt. The Beartooth is 67 miles of what you head to the west for, it could be the finest stretch of road in the US. Red Lodge is a great place to spend a night and has some good restaurants and bars.

You can ride the Beartooth back to Cooke City and on into Yellowstone ride as much of the loop as you have time for and then take the eastern exit towards Cody. You can then take Hwy 16 east and cross the Big Horn Mtns. heading back east to whatever route you prefer heading home.

I hope you have a great ride and enjoy every mile of it. You can do a search for Beartooth Pass photos and you can see what an amazing road and place it is

+2  8)  Try and do Needles early too, miss traffic... and take pics easier.

Spearfish has great city campground too, if needed.  Very MC friendly.
Rob
Brighton, CO... missing Texas!

Offline shokdimn

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The Beartooth is 67 miles of what you head to the west for, it could be the finest stretch of road in the US.
Copy that.

Looking like we are going to shoot for Yellowstone and Glacier. Plans are to arrive in Bozeman late on July 1st, with options to ride till July 6th.
Sounds like a real adventure shaping-up.  Is the anticipation for departure building?

Greybull and Cody are high on my list of places to make “base camp” when in the northern half of Wyoming.

From Greybull I like to loop 14 to 14A at burgess Jct., then west down to Lovell, then south to Greybull.  I also look forward to a cruise thru the Wind River canyon, which is south of Thermopolis.

Regarding hwy 14A, 14, and 16 in the Bighorn Mts.  IMO, hwy 16 has the most spectacular scenery for a greater distance than 14A or 14.  But, all three of those roads offer a great deal of beautiful scenery IMO.   Personally, I wouldn’t want to miss either of those three roads.

From Cody, it’s trips to and from Red Lodge and the general area.  For me, the Beartooth Hwy is unmatched when considering paved roads.  BTW, there were lots of tar snakes on the Chief Joseph Highway just west of Dead Indian Pass this past summer. 

Regarding Yellowstone, for me, I wouldn’t care for the 4th of July traffic.  In other words, no way I would want to contend with that holiday week crowd, potential traffic congestion/jams, and difficulty in trying to find a place to camp or lodge.  Nope, give me the Beartooth Hwy and it’s spectacular scenery.  IMO, one has to experience that area in order to truly be able to appreciate it.

 This is about the only kind of Wyoming traffic jam I care for.

To me, Glacier NP and its “Going to the Sun Road” is head and shoulders above a ride thru Yellowstone NP.  But that’s just a personal preference.  BTW, I also avoid Glacier NP during the 4th of July week.

Not trying to damper anyone’s enthusiasm or interfere with you plans by saying the 4th of July traffic in Yellowstone and Glacier NP can prove to be less than pleasant at times.


Will ya’ll be camping, staying in motels, or both?


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Offline Kazairl

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Awesome! Keep the suggestions coming! I'm going to going through Glacier and and Yellowstone as I am planning a trip to British Columbia the 14th through the 28th of July.

Offline Roadhound

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I see you are going to Bozeman. If you have the time and want to spend a few hours off of the bike, The Museum Of The Rockies in Bozeman is a very interesting place to visit.
Don Ricks
Atlanta, Ga.

"Ride or Ride not, there is no drive."

Offline shokdimn

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Plans are to arrive in Bozeman late on July 1st, with options to ride till July 6th.
Here's hoping ya'll have reservations.  OTOH, there are plenty of camping opportunities in the area.

Taken in the Gallatin range off Hwy 86.
 
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Offline shokdimn

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Awesome! Keep the suggestions coming! I'm going to going through Glacier and and Yellowstone as I am planning a trip to British Columbia the 14th through the 28th of July.
State of origin?
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Offline Kazairl

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I'm in Western Nebraska. About 5 hours straight south of the Badlands/Black Hills area.  Mostly I was just looking for roads to hit in the west/Northwest region. I have no definite plans as to which routes I want to take yet. Probably north to Black Hills then West on I 90 to Glacier and then turn North into B.C. somewhere after that. Then ride through Wash., Oregon and maybe North Cali on the way back.

Offline shokdimn

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I have no definite plans as to which routes I want to take yet. Probably north to Black Hills then West on I 90 to Glacier
Have you got a rough idea of your route north thru Montana? 

Are you familiar with hwy 89 between I 90 and Great Falls?

I like to take hwy 86 out of Bozeman to Wilsall then head north on hwy 89 thru the Little Belt Mts, which is a nice scenic ride/drive IMO.  And there are three CGs in the Little Belts off of hwy 89 that I like.

BTW, I’ve looped Great Falls to Helena to Townsend to White Sulphur Springs then north back to Great Falls on more than one occasion.  That area was part of my “stomping ground” years ago.


Or, how about between Helena and Great Falls?

There is a frontage road that parallels I 15 most of the way between Helena and Great Falls that offers some nice scenery too IMO.

Lots of great scenery in IMO in Montana.  Of course, I have to admit Montana is my favorite state.


Couldn't resist showing a picture from (GTTSR) in Glacier NP.


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Offline Kazairl

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Sorry I kind of forgot about this. lol. This will be my first time into Montana and Canada.

 I think I'm going to skip the black hills this trip or else go through it on the way back. My loose plan of action now is to take I80 to 25 and just take it north all the way to 90 and then over to the Glacier area.

  I might stop for a day in the Big Horns. Cross them on HWY 16 and then cross them again on 14. Goof around for a day or two around Glacier and take hwy 93 north into Canada and hit the Trans Canadian hwy or keep going north to Jasper on the Icefields parkway. Though from what I've been reading I may be sharing the road with every Tom Dick and Harry.

 Then head West to Kamloops and down towards Vancouver then south into Washington and maybe Oregon. Then head back East through Idaho and Wyoming probably by I80 again. Depends on how much time I have left to get home.

Offline Kazairl

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After doing a lot of looking and reading I think this is roughly the route I plan on taking.

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=69122&daddr=Casper,+WY+to:Buffalo,+WY+to:Worland,+WY+to:Greybull,+WY+to:Sheridan,+WY+to:Cody,+WY+to:44.9261783,-109.7162926+to:Mammoth,+Park,+WY+to:Livingston,+MT+to:47.541247,-111.4305245+to:Browning,+MT+to:48.74257,-113.77101+to:Whitefish,+MT+to:Cranbrook,+BC,+Canada+to:Kootenay+Lake,+Central+Kootenay+Regional+District,+BC,+Canada+to:50.017232,-117.0891721+to:50.16959,-117.78534+to:50.063277,-118.435372+to:Kamloops,+BC,+Canada&hl=en&ll=50.586724,-118.916016&spn=1.869427,5.410767&sll=47.459666,-111.401367&sspn=0.995348,2.705383&geocode=FXgMdAIdXM_p-SnlJScQnzJxhzHV-csRNstREw%3BFcgXjgIdh8qp-Sljel7IZZNghzFTPjQXOfzOaQ%3BFZOzpAIdRuej-SndCrReaHg1UzElP9UFGQ0GNA%3BFQWlnwIdVLuQ-SnXr_AOYW1LUzHwyJ5HmHT_-g%3BFaTZpgIdazGP-SlraMadsMdLUzFPLXmTY-58fQ%3BFQqNqwIdbfqf-SllrW88lPo1UzF71RF7_kc6KQ%3BFQZrpwId7e1_-Sldvlshvx5MUzFQzM08RvR2ug%3BFeKErQIdvNx1-Sk_o2L6lfBOUzHT0Npe6zKctA%3BFWdJrgIdn9pm-SmTip7xDdRPUzEivO2MPaFCKg%3BFePAuAId8Pho-SkjR6AnvhNFUzFMjIRaJjKWRQ%3BFf9r1QIdhLRb-Sn1Mz5O-kZCUzGlRL64qHd5Bw%3BFXXr5AIdV41D-SkXFYOB4u5oUzGYRmk7q3Hdhw%3BFarA5wId_v03-Skz3H6UTaloUzEzWpIfPJxm5Q%3BFcSx4gIdn1gv-Sm17K8Uq2lmUzE-RjeIa3rKzA%3BFQiC8wIdyH8Z-SlDQKUGM99kUzGASu_aoxzXkg%3BFS5h9AId-UsJ-SmNVPs1qVh7UzGK1AaZiyoBKg%3BFdAz-wIdbFwF-Sn_67QGf3B7UzHtBUp0tIz-2A%3BFfaG_QIdBL36-Cl1MiOZZnB8UzFpCTVelkV3XA%3BFa3n-wId1NHw-Cl1IWUPuE58UzHMrOYnksIyHA%3BFVo7BQMdnfPT-CkxOw090yx-UzHnRWmaqpY-0g&oq=kamloops&t=h&mra=dpe&mrsp=10&sz=9&via=7,10,12,16,17,18&z=8

Offline shokdimn

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Looks like quiet a ride!  If you don’t mind my asking, was just wondering why you are skipping the Beartooth Hwy?

I might stop for a day in the Big Horns. Cross them on HWY 16 and then cross them again on 14.
Nice.  Wish I were there right now! :thumbs:

IIRC, Last summer, there was a bit of rough roadwork on Hwy 16 a few miles out of Ten Sleep on the way to Worland.

Looks like you’re going to skip Hwy 31 between Ten Sleep and Manderson.  Was just going to say, IIRC, I had the “Tee in the road” on 31 kinda snuck up on me once.

BTW, here’s hoping the heat-wave tapers off.

oops--snuck not sneak.  failed to correct it in MSword before posting.  My bad.


« Last Edit: June 29, 2012, 11:33:39 AM by shokdimn »
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Offline Kazairl

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Looks like quiet a ride!  If you don’t mind my asking, was just wondering why you are skipping the Beartooth Hwy?
Nice.  Wish I were there right now! :thumbs:

No good reason. I was trying not to pack so many roads and side trips into this so I don't feel rushed to get anywhere. Plus there is always the trip back. Have you been on the west 212 and used hwy 89 to Livingston? It looks like it goes through a bunch of foothills then 89 flattens out into a valley.

Quote
IIRC, Last summer, there was a bit of rough roadwork on Hwy 16 a few miles out of Ten Sleep on the way to Worland.

Looks like you’re going to skip Hwy 31 between Ten Sleep and Manderson.  Was just going to say, IIRC, I had the “Tee in the road” on 31 kinda sneak up on me once.

BTW, here’s hoping the heat-wave tapers off.


 I might skip 16 on the trip up and hit it on the way back or else save it for the next trip. That will save me somewhere around 200 miles just crossing the big horns once on 14. Although Hwy 31 looks interesting.

 And ditto on the heat wave. It has been over 100 pretty much all week here. I've been watching the weather along my way and the farther north I get the cooler it gets. Kamloops has a projected high of mid 80's. Sounds like heaven to me right now.

Offline shokdimn

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Have you been on the west 212 and used hwy 89 to Livingston? It looks like it goes through a bunch of foothills then 89 flattens out into a valley.
Yes, I have been on 212 and 89.  Was in Cooke City (on 212) this past summer.  My first trip on 89 between Yellowstone NP and Livingston was way back in 1980 IIRC.   I lived in Montana back then.  The last time I was on that stretch of road was in 03 or 04.  I’ve been on 89 between Great Falls and I 90 many times.  If you do take 89 between YNP and Livingston I think you will get to see what  some folks used to call “the devil’s slide".

Nowadays I tend to skip Yellowstone.  For me it’s sort of a BTDT several times kinda of thing.  Besides, I don’t care for the traffic/crowds and I miss the “good ole days” before the elk herds were, as some would say, “decimated".  And, I'd rather be in Glacier NP any day than YNP.  Just a personal preference.  Luv the GTTSR.

Although Hwy 31 looks interesting.
That’s a nice little bit of some rural Wyoming countryside that I enjoy seeing.  It’s quiet a contrast from my local area.


Speaking of the Big Horn Mts.  I had one of these give me a little chase this past summer.  Wasn't far from Burgess Jct.


Can’t help but be curious, is this a solo trip?  Are you going to be camping, moteling, or both?


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