Idaho

I went to Idaho in August of 2013 as part of a 5-day, 500-mile ride from Bozeman, MT to Salt Lake City, UT. This was day two of the ride, starting in eastern Idaho and heading towards Jackson, WY.

The ride start

The route called for 95 miles of riding in Idaho and around 30 more in Wyoming, so I rode a few extra miles in Idaho so I could add it to the list.

The route

 It was a nice stroll through the farmlands of Idaho in the shadow of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.

Good morning, Idaho

The Tetons in the distance

Getting closer to the Tetons

A little isolated rain

The Idaho/Wyoming border

As mentioned in the Montana post, I finally got a GPS computer, so you can get a copy of the route here if you'd like to try it for yourself. Yellowstone & the Tetons are a great place to visit (I've been there on a non-bike trip in the past), and I remember Teton National Park itself being especially bike friendly. If you find yourself visiting those parks, why not take a side trip to Idaho? It's less crowded than Jackson and you can get in some nice, peaceful, and scenic riding.

Montana

In August of 2013 I participated in a 5-day, 500 mile ride from Bozeman, MT to the Salt Lake City, UT area. I arrived in Bozeman a couple days early to do explore Bozeman.

Bozeman, MT

The day's route was built around the Hyalite Canyon ride, which seems to be Bozeman's most popular ride when it comes to Internet searching. For the remainder of the ride I headed north on Bridger Canyon Rd/86. I started and ended at the Comfort Inn, which means I didn't even need to rent a car after I flew into BZN.

Riding out of Bozeman was simple enough. There wasn't too much traffic on my route and a lot of the roads had bike lanes.

Riding south out of Bozeman

Heading towards Hyalite Canyon

I passed a few fields and I had views of the mountains both to my left an to my right.

Looking towards Bozeman

Looking towards Bozeman

Getting closer to Hyalite Canyon Rd

About 10 miles into the ride I made it to Hyalite Canyon Rd., which is where the real fun began. The ride to Hyalite Reservoir is about a 10-mile climb. The climb isn't very difficult (it's only about 1,300 feet over 10 miles), but the scenery is fantastic. As far as I'm concerned it's a must-ride if you're ever in Bozeman.

Just turned on to Hyalite Canyon Rd

Hyalite Canyon

Hyalite Canyon

Hyalite Canyon

Hyalite Canyon

Hyalite Canyon

Hyalite Reservoir

Hyalite Reservoir

Hyalite Reservoir

From Hyalite Reservoir

The downhill wasn't super fast because I had a headwind. That was fine with me, though, because I wanted to enjoy the scenery for a second time.

After I was done with Hyalite Canyon, I headed back towards Bozeman. I hit a little traffic in town, but I had a shoulder most of the way. I made my way to Bridger Canyon Rd/86, which turned out to be more scenic than anticipated. There wasn't always a shoulder on this road, but traffic was very light, so I have no problem recommending this portion of the route to anybody.

Bridger Canyon Rd- close to Bozeman

Bridger Canyon Rd- close to Bozeman

The big M

Bridger Canyon Rd

Bridger Canyon Rd

Bridger Canyon Rd- close to the turnaround point

Bridger Canyon Rd- close to the turnaround point

Heading back to Bozeman

I enjoyed the route. I picked the Bridger Canyon Rd section by default as the closest highway nearby to add in some extra miles after the Hyalite Canyon ride, but it ended up being a great stretch of road. The scenery was fantastic- much better than the pictures above illustrate. I recently entered the GPS world, so you can find a good copy of the route here if you want to try it for yourself.

Montana is one of those states where one ride, no matter how good it may be on its own, is never enough. I could definitely see myself riding in Montana again in the future. Of the states I've ridden, I'd rank it as the #2 state (behind Alaska) I want to return to the most. I'd especially like to ride on Going to the Sun Road.