Great Divide Mountain Bike Route

To Pinedale and Beyond

Day 18: Falls Campground to Boulder (101 miles)

Logistics necessitated a longer day today. Because of limited paved road access along our biking route, Anna was going to backtrack over Togwotee Pass and drive via Jackson to Pinedale. That three to four hour drive was the upper limit of what Anna hoped to drive in a day. (Most days, she was able to drive from one campsite to the next in 1.5 hours.) Dave and I decided that we’d just start early and pull a long day to Pinedale (around 100 miles, according to our map).

The night before the ride, we made our coffee (and stored it in a thermos), hardboiled eggs (unsuccessfully as it turned out—despite allowing extra time for elevation’s effects on boiling temperatures, the eggs still turned out half-boiled), and set aside breakfast cereal; the morning of the ride, we had a quick breakfast, packed everything except David and Anna’s tent in the car, and set off for a chilly descent along the highway.

Seven miles down the highway, we turned south onto forest road 532 and began a gradual ascent to 9,000-some feet.

After crossing Warm Spring Creek, we reached a primitive national forest campground.

Here, the official GDMBR route continued east on 532, but we decided to follow another track (which we had downloaded in advance) that took us south from the campsite on an ATV track up to Fish Lake Mountain; while the rougher track required some walking at one steep climb, the route we followed shave some 8-9 miles off the official route; at the summit we enjoyed stunning views of snow-capped mountains to the east and west.

We figured that the official GDMBR route went to Union Pass both because of better road quality (with more gradual ascents) and additional lodging and food options; still—not really needing those services and comfortable walking our bikes for short sections—we were happy with our choice of detour, thoroughly enjoying several open, rolling miles above 9000 feet, before rejoining the route southwest of Union Pass.

Checking our bikes before rejoining the official route

Here, we rode along a good quality dirt road through open highlands. Along the way, we passed a number of beautiful primitive campsites—any of which would have been wonderful places to camp.

We reached a final high point after Raspberry Creek, and began a long, gradual descent toward the Green River. Progressively, the road quality became bumpier and bumpier, and Dave and I each rocked water bottles loose along the way. (While we had used compression straps to secure our water bottles below our frame bags, we’d recommend straps on water bottles wherever they are—we dropped water bottles from our forks several times over the course of the trip.)

Upon reaching the Green River, we continued along the river valley on a severely washboarded road for a number of miles, before joining a paved road (352). Here, 56 miles into our ride, we still had 32-33 miles to Pinedale, but given that the majority of the remainder was paved—and a net downhill—we figured we’d make good time.

We made an initial climb out of the valley away from the Green River, but after that short climb a stiff tail wind helped us along and we arrived in Pinedale in no time. (Pinedale has a great gear store.) Noting that the wind was still behind us (and loathe to waste that good tail wind) we decided to tack on an additional 12 miles to the day to Boulder (a much smaller town than Pinedale, but with better camping options). Soon we arrived in Boulder with daylight to spare.

Our First 9,000ft Pass

Day 17: Grassy Lake Reservoir to Falls Campground (78 miles, 4,733ft)

From Grassy Lake Reservoir, we headed east on a dirt road past several meadows, some sections of burned-out forest, and a number of secluded national forest primitive campsites.

Shortly, we reached the Snake River and followed it to the J.D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, which took us south through the Grand Teton National Park and past some fantastic views of the Tetons to our southwest. (For those interested in spending more time in the Tetons, a route alternative spur continues south to Jackson instead of going east over the Togwotee Pass.)

We met up with Anna, Silas, and Eleanor for lunch at Coutler Bay, where there are restaurants, campsites, visitor’s center, and grocery store—an ideal spot for a lunch break. From Coulter Bay, we continued on the parkway to US26/287, where we turned east and began to climb slowly.

A few miles up the road, we left the highway, turning left onto Buffalo Valley Road, a smaller paved road that followed the South Buffalo Fork uphill.

Along the way, Dave had the first grizzly encounter of the trip—a medium-sized grizzly bolted out onto the road ahead of him (a little ways ahead trying to gain some distance before our day’s major climb, I missed the sighting.) This was the first, and only, grizzly sighting of the trip.

Ahead, we passed the Turpin Meadow Ranch and continued onto a dirt road, which began to ascend more steeply. Behind us, the early afternoon thunderheads built us ominously. Thankfully, the thunderstorm petered out before it reached us—the second time we’ve been lucky on this trip—and we continued along the dirt road as the cloudy sky became sunny.

Clearing skies on the way to Togwotee Pass

Eventually, the dirt road led back to the highway, where we had a quick break at a convenience store; from there wen climbed the rest of the way to Togwotee Pass—at 9,658 feet, easily our highest elevation, to date, of the trip.

(There was also a great picnic/rest area at the pass.)

An ideal spot for a break at the top of the pass

From here the route took us onto a dirt road, numbered 515 and labeled with warnings against travel in wet conditions.

Road 515: “Travel not recommended when wet”

We were planning to camp at the Pinnacle Campground, 4.5 miles down the road, but Anna had tried to drive the road earlier in the day (from the pass) but found it impassable; instead she drove to Falls Campground (near the intersection of 515 and US 26/Wyoming 287). As we rode down the heavily rutted road—fine for a bike, but likely rough for most cars—we enjoyed the amazing views but were glad that Anna had turned around. (We later realized that car access was easily possible from the eastern terminus of 515 at US 26/287.)

In the end, we found out that we wouldn’t have been able to camp at Pinnacle Campground even if Anna had arrived. Only hard-sided vehicles/RVs were allowed at the campground—certainly not a campground suitable for cycle tourists.

After a final descent, we arrived at Falls Campground, 0.4 miles west from the point where 515 reached US 26/287. A wonderful site, and the few extra miles saved us a portion of the cold early morning descent the following day.

Into Wyoming!

Day 16: Big Springs to Grassy Lake Reservoir (70.8 miles, 2,796ft)

We started the day backtracking about a mile from the campground to the Yellowstone Branch Line Trail, a rail-to-trail that runs from near West Yellowstone down to Warm River. The surface quality was, to say the least, soft and quite rutted in sections—a bit slow, but flat.

Around 10 miles into the day, we hopped over onto a dirt road that ran parallel to the rail-to-trail for a few quicker miles. We returned to the rail-to-trail as it approached Warm River and were rewarded with some wonderful views as we rode above the river.

Further down the trail, we arrived at the Warm River Campground—a lovely little campground with water, pavilion, and quite a few campsites.

We climbed slowly on paved roads to the Targhee National Forest, where we continued on a rough dirt road, ascending gradually through forest and wetland. Along the way, we passed from Idaho into Wyoming.

After a steeper climb we arrived at the Grassy Lake Reservoir.

From the dam, we climbed steeply away from the reservoir, before descending to the east side, where we stopped at a primitive campsite along the lakeshore. (There was a bear box but no pit toilet or picnic table.) A few minutes later we Anna and the kids arrived, navigating to a predetermined point using Gaia GPS, and we settled in for the night.

Into Idaho!

Day 15: Red Rock Lakes to Big Springs (34.6 miles, 1,108ft)

After a number of days without a rest day, we planned a short day into Big Springs—near the western entrance of Yellowstone National Park—to be followed by a rest day.

We quickly reached the Continental Divide and, after many days, finally crossed out of Montana into Idaho. We were sorry to see Montana go, but Idaho promised a couple of nice days of riding before Wyoming.

The rest of the ride was more or less a gradual descent to Big Springs, with a wonderful mix pavement, dirt road, and single track trail. We were in by noon, excited to have the next 1.5 days off.

Exploring Yellowstone

David, Anna, Silas and Eleanor took the afternoon to drive into Yellowstone and explore the park. Little did they know that the driving the northern loop would be an eight-hour endeavor.

Silas, determined to hike all the way to the top all by himself.

Running from a Thunderstorm

Day 14: Lima to Red Rock Lakes (56.2 miles, 2,783ft)

After a morning of me tagging along with Silas, as he imagined an interstellar adventure while David and Anna planning meeting points and logistics for the next couple of days, we got off to a latish start—not a problem after a longish previous day. Again, we were riding through relatively wide open highland countryside.

At first, the skies were bright and mostly clear…

Gradually we climbed, but the grade was mostly imperceptible.
As we rode, we began to notice thunderheads building to our northwest, blackening a distinct chunk of an otherwise sunny sky.

The wind shifted and picked up. Debating whether or not we should wait out the storm, we decided to slip on our rain gear and try to use the tail wind to outrun the storm to our south.

Shortly ahead we ran into a husband and wife team on a tandem, D.J. and Carry, who were getting out there tent to bivy through the storm. Clearly experienced outdoors folks (this was their third time on the GDMBR), they wished us luck and offered some healthy advice: “Just get off your bikes if the thunder and lightning catch up!”

Intrepid mountain tandem riders, D.J. and Carry

Thankfully, we managed to race far enough south fast enough to miss all but a few big rain drops.

The view behind us. Let’s keep the break short this time.

We rode the next miles under overcast skies before arriving at the visitor’s center for a wildlife refuge where our intended campsite—Red Rock Lake Upper Campground—was located.

Another 4 miles on the dirt road and we arrived at our day’s end, Red Rock Lake.

Eleanor dictating the day’s blog to Matt.

Silas considers the next expedition by kayak.

Silas not excited about a campsite bath.

Wide Open Spaces

Day 13: Bannack State Park to Lima (80.5 miles)

Leaving Bannack State Park we made our way south along a wide, sparse valley. Slowly, we rode into ranch country, passing cowboys and cattle on either side of the road.

A brief section of pavement took us to a Bureau of Land Management Backcountry Byway, and we continued south up a similarly wide ranch valley.

Gradually, we made our way to the day’s only pass and climbed steeply over the last 1.5 miles to the top. Just before the pass we got caught in a spattering of rain that quickly past.

Just enough rain to pull out rain jackets

After a few miles of ups and downs, we made good time going down the valley on the other side of the pass. Eventually, we turned east and entered a tight, winding valley.

Passing several beautiful primitive campsites, we eventually exited the valley and came to interstate 15, where we followed a frontage road south to Lima (pronounced Lie-ma, not Lee-ma).

We met Anna and the rest of the support crew at a very reasonably priced RV park ($5.00 a tent plus tax), just in time to set up camp before a thunderstorm passed over.

A Scenic Break

Day 12: Wise River to Bannack State Park (56 miles, 2,783ft)

The ride from Wise River promised only modest climbs and only paved surfaces, mostly along the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway—a welcome respite after a few of the most challenging riding days of our trip.

We climbed a little over 2,000 feet over 27 miles to reach our day’s only pass, passing a number of beautiful national forest campgrounds (within 10-15 miles of Wise River) and Crystal Park (a park where tourist dig for minerals and crystals near the pass) along the way.

Descending on the other side of the pass, we rode past the turnoff for Elkhorn Hot Springs (where motel and camping lodging is possible) and continued through pastureland along the Grasshopper Creek.

We joined highway 278 for a few miles and then turned south, following signs for Bannack State Park. After 4 miles, the pavement ended, and we turned into the park entrance.

The park and its quaintly preserved ghost town—the site of the first territorial capital of Montanta—was well worth the visit, and hiker-biker campsites were reasonably priced at $10.00.

A White-Knuckled Descent

Day 11: Lowland Campground to Wise River (71.2 miles, 5,857ft)

We got off to an early start, quickly ascending to our 5th divide crossing, before continuing to Elk Park Pass a few hundred feet below. After a few more miles of descent on the dirt road past country ranches, we reached a paved road and continued through open, rolling countryside to Butte.

From Butte, we followed a relatively large road out the east side of town before connecting with Montana Highway 2. A few miles further south, we continued onto route 84, which ascended sharply to an open highland area with country homes. The road became a dirt road and continued gradually to our 6th divide crossing.

The next few miles passed through rolling highland and sparse pasture country. Our final descent was steeper than many we’d yet encountered, and we put our brakes to work on the way down to cross under interstate 15.

Preparing to descend back to Interstate 15

After following a frontage road north along the west side of the interstate for a couple of miles, we turned west following the gravel Divide Creek Road toward the mountains to our west.

Nearly halfway up our climb we stopped at Beaver Dam Campground to refill our water, before continuing up the remainder of the climb. After crossing over an initial high point, we reached a rough dirt double track in a saddle and turned left going up steeply toward Mt. Fleecer.

A few hundred feet higher we turned southeast and began a frenetic, dusty single track descent, which while manageable for the first few hundred meters, quickly became too steep, rocky, and loose for comfort. Even walking our bikes downhill, we had to take regular detours into the sage brush on either side of the trail for improved traction.

An elevation profile you don’t usually see

Once completing the worst of the descent, the road quality progressively improved taking us to a junction with Montana Highway 43 at Jerry Creek.

A couple of miles riding west on the highway brought us to Wise River, where we camped out for a fee behind a quaint local combo bar, restaurant, motel, and RV park.

To the Single Track!

Day 10: Helena to Lowland Campground (62.6 miles, 6,903ft)

We got off to a late start leaving Helena, since we waited until 10:00 to go to have a mechanic at Great Divide Cyclery give our bikes a once over. (They have beer on tap, so an afternoon/evening visit is worthwhile.) Given the all clear, we set off from town and began a 1,500 foot climb on a well-traveled dirt road leaving the city.

This being the day of a solar eclipse—we were just north of the 100% eclipse zone in the 94% zone—halfway up the climb the sun dimmed and air became noticeably cooler, making the climb a bit more comfortable. We pulled out our eclipse glasses—which Anna (always prepared!) had provided us with—took in the eclipse, and continued on our way.

After reaching the top of our first climb we descended through a mountain valley, past a number of homes, before beginning a climb up to another pass. Quickly, we left populated areas and after a number of miles came to a beautiful highland area. After the switchback the route led above a stunning lake—Park Lake—with a national forest campsite. After a few more rolling miles along dirt road, we reached a technical, single track climb. The trail required some brief sections of hike a bike, but for the most part we were able to ride out the trail, a fun (if difficult) diversion from the wider county and forest roads we’d been riding.

A final, rocky descent from a technical track

All in order after a rough section of trail

A fun descent to the little town of Basin followed, where we stopped at a little cafe—the only open business in town—for a water refill and ice cream. From there we followed a mix of paved, then dirt roads parallel to the interstate. After five or six miles, we moved away from the interstate, and continued up the valley we’d been following, gradually ascending to our campsite—Lowland Campground, a wonderful, secluded national forest campground. (One of the highlights of this route are the amazing campsites you can find in national forest and Bureau of Land Management areas, either established or dispersed primitive camping.)

This wasn’t our longest day, but it was likely our hardest up until this point of the trip—and one of the prettiest.

Three Pass Day!

Day 9: Lincoln to Helena (64.5 miles, 5,212ft)

After the relative ease—due to paved and dirt road detours away from forest fires—we knew that the ride from Lincoln to Helena would present a bit more of a challenge.

After having crossed to the west side of the continental divide on the second day of our trip, we hadn’t crossed again; today we had three divide crossings ahead of us. Leaving Lincoln we climbed gradually for a number of miles on wider dirt roads, before turning onto a rougher dirt track for the final few, steep and rough miles to the first of the divide crossings—thankfully, our legs were up to the test.

Dave at the top of our day’s first divide crossing after a long climb out of Lincoln

From there we descended sharply toward a valley on the other side and were startled by cows—which, to us with bears on our minds, look conspicuously similar to bears at a distance—that became more numerous as we rode through more settled pasture land.

Near the bottom we passed a wonderful little home and small ranch, whose owners host bikers traveling the GDMBR. The owners weren’t in when we passed, but it looked like one of those wonderful, unique places that’s particularly memorable on a long trip. Besides hosting cyclists, the home is a wonderful place for a quick break—while they weren’t home, the owners had left out a cooler with cold drinks and invitation that riders help themselves to a beverage.

A refuge for GDMBR riders between Lincoln and Helena

Shortly after the bike-friendly home, we reached a T-intersection in the valley bottom and followed another large dirt road gradually upstream, now moving slower as we biked into a headwind.

Navigating with the help of some handy, homemade signage

Again, as we rode away from homes and fields, the road became rougher and we ascended through forests to the second divide crossing of the day. The ascent was more moderate than the first pass but challenging nonetheless (and deceptive—we passed at least one false high-point). Descending on the other side along a rough road, we again rode into more open pasture country with wonderful, wide views. From here the terrain was relatively flat, with some gentle ascents and descents along reasonably well-maintained dirt roads.

After passing a possibly still functional cargo train stop, called Blosburg (no town or services here), we soon turned left and made a very gradual ascent to the third crossing of the day.

Glad to be at the top of the day’s final pass

All downhill from there, we continued to a paved highway that the route followed for the last 12 miles into Helena. Once in Helena we biked to the county fairgrounds on the north side of town, where (after some searching) we found the campground on the back, northwest end of the fairground complex. (Note: we heard from some other cyclists later on the trip that staying in the Helena RV park was sort of a sketchy experience.)