Bitterroot 300, Idaho

Connecting Three Trails. Fundamentally, the Bitterroot 300 is a route that connects three converted rail grade sections into a loop. There are many variations depending on how you connect the segments and which direction you go.  For our trip, we start and finish at the western terminus of the Coeur d’Alene Trail, in Plummer, Idaho. Details of each day’s ride are availble by request, but a summation is as follows:

• Day One — Plummer to Heyburn State Park Campground; 8 miles
• Day Two — Hayburn SP to Shadowy St. Joe N.P. Campground; 35 miles
• Day Three — Shadowy St. Joe CG to Telichpah N.P. Campground; 44 miles
• Day Four — Telichpah CG to Wallace; 46 miles
• Day Five — Wallace to Harrison; 49 miles
• Day Six — Harrison to Plummer; 16 miles

Nature’s amenities. Accomodations are state parks, national forest campgrounds, and private campgrounds. Some have access to rivers and lakes, some have full services, others are more limited. But this trip is not about accomodations–it’s about experiencing one of the wildest places short of Alaska, 24 hours a day. We’ll cycle in dense forests and hug the banks of wild rivers; we’ll cross 220-foot high trestle bridges and ride through so many tunnels we’ll lose count; and we’ll gaze out over mountain ridges where the only things we see are endless forests and glimpses of more trestles and grades beckoning us to find them. And then the ride pauses at day’s end, with nature as our bedroom. And when we gather to share stories around a campfire at night, we’ll know that we’ve found the best accomodations anywhere.

Milwaukee Grade and Wild Saint Joe River. For our first two days of riding, we’ll mostly be tracing the St. Joe River upstream from its confluence with the St. Marie River. Wide and calm over the first 30 or so miles, the river gorge gradually narrows until rapids and river runners squeeze between steep mountiain slopes on either side. The river continues for many miles to its source at the Continental Divide, but we’ll turn from it in Avery to follow its north fork tributary. In reality, we’ll be following the old Milwaukee Grade the entire way, a line built with Rockafeller money at the turn of the 20th century to connect mining and logging sites with points from the US Midwest to the Pacific Coast. At a grade that never exceeds 2%, it now forms one of America’s greatest cycle paths, extending from our starting point in Plummer, Idaho into Montana on the east side of the Continental Divide.

Route of the Hiawatha. On our third day, we’ll point headfirst into the high Bitterroot Mountains, climbing steadily to the Continental Divide. We’ll still be following the old Milwaukee Grade, but for this section, engineers and builders were confronted with peaks and gorges, which they tamed with a series of trestle bridges and tunnels too numerous to count, all the while maintaining a consitent, gradual grade. It is almost unfathomable to consider that the line was surveyed and built without modern equipment, but constructed it was and we are lucky that the rail bed has been preserved.

The 17-mile segment on the Idaho side of the Divide is now known as the Route of the Hiawatha, named after trains that originally ran this line. This section is extremely popular, as it is served by shuttle and bike rental for day trips. Most visitors ride downhill from east to west and then are shuttled by bus back to the start. We will instead take the opposite direction, culminating with a 1.6-mile tunnel through the Continental Divide. Though we’ll have no traffic in our direction, we’ll be in no hurry as gawk-worthy views stop us in our tracks at every turn. The Route of the Hiawatha segment is known as the jewell of US rails-to-trails system for a simple reason: there is absolutely nothing else like it anywhere else.

Coeur d’Alene Trail. On the east side of the Route of the Hiawatha we’ll take a forest road connector to pick up another rail grade, the NorPac Trail. The Northern Pacific was a local line that connected mining towns and mills in Idaho and Montana, crossing the Continental Divide at a location now marked by the Lookout Pass Ski Area. Once across the Divide, it drops into the Coeur d’Alene River valley at Mullen, connecting to the Coeur d’Alene Trail, a 73-mile long segment that is now paved, well-maintained, and enjoyed by tens of thousands of cyclists each year. We’ll follow the paved ribbon for the last part of our fourth day, plus all of our fifth and sixth days, taking us back to our starting point in Plummer. The setting the last couple of days is as different from the high Bitterroots as it is magnificent in its own rights. As it follows the Coeur d’Alene river to its outlfow into Coeur d’Alene Lake, the terrain changes to broad valleys and wetlands, filled with birds and wildlife as far as the eye can see. The Coeur d’Alene Trail is another well-deserved gem of America’s bike trail system and we thank those with the foresight and perserverance to improve and maintain it.

A Personal Wilderness Experience. This trip is unlike most eBike Nomads tours. Gone are the fabulous boutique hotels and eBike Nomads’ stable of ebikes. For this trip, each indivual provides his/her own bike, plus personal camping gear. But that doesn’t mean you won’t be taken care of.

eBike Nomads will, as always, provide full logistical support, transporting gear, setting up camp sites, and providing home-cooked meals, snacks, and non-alcoholic beverages. On a typical day, you’ll wake to a variety of hot beverages and breakfast options to fuel your day’s ride. We’ll gather and load gear, then lead the way on bike, as we simultaneously load your gear and pack up camp. The support vehicle will meet us again for a hearty lunch along the trail, then head to our next camp to begin setting up. When we arrive, you’ll deliver e-bikes to the charging station, then set up your waiting camp gear. Dinner, a warm fire, and good company will cap off each day, leaving us perfectly tired for a good sleep and anticipation of what the next day will bring.