where to go - any suggestions?

[immigrant]

I have 20 days during may/ june for a bike trip. I live in saskatchewan canada, and i was hoping some of you guys can give me suggestions on where to go in western canada and the US of A. Nice mountain passes, national parks, nice places to stay and eat (and have a beer), etc etc? It is always better to get advice from the locals than just following the tourist trail.
What do you think?

 

[markjenn]

You've got nothing but great riding to the W, SW, and S of you and a nice amount of time. You really can't go wrong.

The fly in the ointment might be the riding in May and into early June. It can still be awfully cold/snowy in the inter-mountain west and passes will still be intermittently getting storms. My tendency would be to advise you to be flexible on route/schedule and probably work your way S as quickly as you can to get to better weather, then head W and come home through BC later in your vacation.

Beyond this, it would help to know what you're interested in. Sightseeing? Remote roads? Seeing things like Glacier, Devils Tower, Black Hills, Yellowstone, etc.? Or just riding.

- Mark

 

[pteppic]

I concur with Mark. Head south ASAP, then west. California's Sierra Nevada mountains, at least from the southern end to at least Lake Tahoe will be very rideable. You might be interested in joining our Southern Sierra ride (search for the thread in Western Region ) if your timing works. Shoot me a PM if you're interested. -Gene

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[Firefight911]

I'm outside of Folsom. If you need a bed, you can have the spare. I'll rode with ya schedule allowing!


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[RED CAT]

Head as far SW as you can possibly go that time of year for good riding. ::001::

 

[tomatocity]

Agree with Mark, Gene, and Phil. If you like coastal rides California is loaded. Northern California has less traffic on their coast. Inland would be Tahoe, Lassen, Trinity, Plumas, Mendocino, Shasta, Modoc, Klamath, national forests. They all have their own special beauties. Here is 900 miles of fun and beauty http://goo.gl/maps/caJvC and you would have missed as much as you had seen. This map isn't made to be a route but it could be. Just wanted to give you an idea of what is available. Forest Route 19N01: GoogleMaps found this road. I have never ridden this road but I will be looking into it. You can pickup Grayback Road at HappyCamp.

An excellent resource is one of our members, DesertDave. He has great RR's and Photos.

Ouray, Colorado June 24-28 there is a Super Tenere function with more than 70 members attending.

If you don't mind heat you should ride Death Valley.

I am retired and would enjoy sharing miles with you. Let us know when you will be in California.

 

[immigrant]

This forum is the bomb. I want to see as much of the States as possible. I figured that time will be the best before all the holiday traffic and summer rains - at least i hope so. I dont want to go to remote and technical cause i will be alone and i will have a 2 month old son and a worried wife/mother at home. Reason i can go then is the mother in law will be visiting for 2 months to help and i will get time to go ride. It will be better cor both of us if i am not there ;D
Mountains, forests, deserts whatever i can fit in between may 14 and june 4. I will start planning a general route and you guys can fill in the blanks

 

[pteppic]

Re: Re: where to go - any suggestions?

[quote/]
Mountains, forests, deserts whatever i can fit in between may 14 and june 4. I will start planning a general route and you guys can fill in the blanks
[/quote]

We can do that!

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[immigrant]

New dates: may 22 - jun 13. Will give the snow time to melt

 

[tomatocity]

New dates: may 22 - jun 13. Will give the snow time to melt

Better dates.

 

[Siseneg]

Desert southwest I would recommend. Coming south would offer Mt. Rushmore and Devil's tower (and fun riding around there). Denver and west would be fun beyond measure but likely still chilly. Moab, Arches and Zion Nat'l parks, Grand Canyon, Glenn Canyon are all amazing places. Maybe find some sectionf of Historic Route 66 off of I-40? Maybe come back up through SW. Colorado and go to Mesa Verde then west to Canyonlands and up to Salt Lake City, then north to the Idaho Panhandle and across to Seattle on Highway 2 out of Spokane.

There are a million possibilities, so scratch one out on a map and let the planning begin ::26::

 

[TNWalker]

Hello immigrant, Welcome to the Forum. If you are able to get to the south regions, be sure to tour some of the great riding opportunities in The Great Smokey Mountains and surrounding Tennessee areas. Tennessee is graced with great riding areas throughout the state with lots of interesting sites to see. This link http://smokymountainrider.com/?p=695 is a great site to get you started on some very nice routes to try out. Hope you enjoy your journey and if you do get through Tennessee, Give me a heads up and I can try to tag along for a bit and enjoy some of your trip as well

Cheers

Steve ::022:: ::26::

 

[hANNAbONE]

...easy...

Enterprise Oregon -- "Terminal Gravity Brewery"

http://www.terminalgravitybrewing.com/index.html

 

[immigrant]

i think i will need more time - some great suggestions. Thanks for that. I think the Grand Canyon/Glenn Canyon will be my turn around point. Places I have to see are obviously the Grand Canyon, Utah rock formations (Moab), the big trees at Sequoia Nat. park, Yosemite (are bikes allowed in these parks?) and then head back north and incorporating the routes Tomatocity suggested. Not sure where to go heading further north?

 

[tomatocity]

Desrt Dave http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=801678

He has good RR's on Yosemite and the surrounding area, as well as many other places.

 

[rem]

Doesn't get any better than central B. C. Between Pemberton and Lillooet there is a road called the Duffy Lake road, highway 99. Most awesomest motorcycle ride in western Canada. better getter. R ::008:: ::008::

 

[pteppic]

Re: Re: where to go - any suggestions?

the big trees at Sequoia Nat. park, Yosemite (are bikes allowed in these parks?) and then head back north and incorporating the routes Tomatocity suggested. Not sure where to go heading further north?

Yosemite and Sequoia both allow bikes, on pavement only. For a nice ride and overload on big trees, take Generals Highway between Sequoia and Kings Canyon parks.

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[tomatocity]

Re: Re: where to go - any suggestions?

Yosemite and Sequoia both allow bikes, on pavement only. For a nice ride and overload on big trees, take Generals Highway between Sequoia and Kings Canyon parks.

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Gene what are the dates of your ride?

 

[markjenn]

I'd order this:

http://www.butlermaps.com/Motorcycle-Road-Maps/9/Rocky-Mountain-Collection

There have been great suggestions on this thread. Personally, my favorite riding areas in the W USA are NE Oregon (surrounding John Day), N Central Idaho (E of Lewiston), NW Wyoming (but avoid going through Yellowstone in the peak summer months), S Colorado, the Four-Corners and Escalante/Moab areas if Utah, W NW and E AZ, and the coastal range of CA, especially N of SF. BC is also fantastic, especially the areas around Nelson and up to Revelstoke.

Glacier, Devils Tower, Tetons, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon (and Hoover Dam including the spectacular new bridge just completed) are wonderful sits to see.

Given the time of you of your travels, you will need to skip the super high elevation areas and passes, most of which have opening dates of Memorial Day or later. Much of the high country in Colorado, for example, will still be snowed in.

It is difficult to advise in detail over such a broad area. If you want to purse more detailed routing, I'd suggest you put together a general "loop" of your route hitting the spots you want to hit. With this as a skeleton, it is much easier to adjust the route to go through the best stuff and advise on funky places.

- Mark

 

[HoebSTer]

I will be the first to say CONGRATS ON THE NEW BABY!! With all that is new to you and the little kid, a ride even to a hotel on the bike for some much needed sleep will be a good thing. HA!!! As for a route, well that comes in to play with what you want to see and the ideas of those who have offered opnions here already. I will throw in, if you need a night to crash around the Seattle area, let me know. My now 2yr old won't mind as she sleeps now throughout the night.
What I might offer as a recent dad this past two years is to figure a route as big as possible, yet, if wife or yourself has an incling to have you home soon, you are within a SOLID LONG (1000 or so miles) day ride back. This is just a thought in case something should or would come up even with inlaws there, heavens knows it is a good thing to be out of the house when they are around. Mine only live 5 miles away, so i am left with visits often and endless bags of crap to leave behind.
Anyway back to the route!! Anything would be good, you can meet some great people along the way and see some great stuff. Let me know if you are near, as I can stuff soem food down your pipe and wash it down with a beverage of choice.

Jeff