biker222

Hi,

Looking for input on doing a loaded bike tour loop starting in E. Glacier,MT to Jasper sometime in July.
Plan to take Amtrak from St Paul to E. Glacier and back to St Paul.

- Have 3-4 weeks available for tour.
- Suggestions for route. Would like to get in Going-to-the-Sun Road. I missed doing it when I did NT tour due to
road closure.
- Places to see & stay
- Road conditions

Thanks

raybo

I rode from Missoula, MT to Jasper in July, 2013. I rode east of the mountains and went through Browning (don't miss Indian Days if you get the chance). My host there drove me around East Glacier, but I didn't ride there.

I was going to stay east of the Continental Divide but heavy flooding closed that route and, instead, I use the ACA's Northern Parks route, which started with me taking Going To The Sun road. I recommend the ACA route.

Mostly, I stayed in hotels, but did do some hosted stays (both warmshowers and couchsurfing) and a couple days of camping.

You can read about the trip and see hundreds of photos in my journal.

It is a fabulous ride. Maybe even my favorite.

L134 

Did Jasper to W Glacier back in 82 on a tandem. Jasper, Banff, Kootenay, Waterton, Glacier. I think it was about 500 miles over 10 days? We camped in the parks. Shoulders in Canada were fantastic and it was an incredible trip. We did get snow in early July! From Kootenay to Waterton we faced some strong winds, if I remember correctly, and the mosquitos could be so thick a rest stop was out of the question. So, have warm gear and bug repellent!

BlarneyHammer

Bike toured in that area twice. Once in June, once in July.

Bring a rain jacket. Bring another rain jacket. Bring some plastic garbage bags as well.
Bring X-ray goggles so you can see the mountains that I've heard are behind all the rain and clouds. Leave the sunscreen at home.
Bring gloves, mittens, hand warmers, shoe covers, a wool cap, and a neck warmer. All of your socks should be thick, warm, and high-topped. All of your shirts should be long-sleeved. Leave the shorts and sandals at home. It's summer, after all!

Can you tell I'm a wimp when it's cold and wet? Canadians must be the toughest sum'biches alive if they put up with that in summer...and presumably, the rest of the year is even worse.

indyfabz

Have you seen this?:

https://www.adventurecycling.org/rou...k/great-parks/

The Great Parks North routes will help you with much of the way.

From E. Glacier (check to make sure you can get on and off with a at that station) take MT 49 over Looking Glass Hill (beautiful road) to U.S. 89. That will take you to St. Mary where you can then ride Going to the Sun, head to Whitefish and head north on the above route through Eureka (camping in the municipal park as Blue Mountain RV north of town no longer allows tent camping), crossing the border at Roosville. Coming back, you can do the alternative loop through Sparwood (nice municipal campground there), Pincher Creek (sad little town but good grocery store and campground), Waterton Village (great towne campsite on the lake) and then over Chief Mountain Hwy. back to St. Mary, MT. Then U.S. 89 and MT 49 again back to E. Glacier. If a U.S. citizen, make sure you have your passport to get back into the U.S.

Tourist in MSN

I did the Glacier Waterton Loop in 2012, in and out of Whitefish. Had a great time. I hope Amtrak is closer to on time now than it was during the oil boom in North Dakota several years ago. Going out the train was 4 hours late, coming back (to Wisconsin) was 16 hours late.

If you decide to go in and out of Whitefish instead, I stayed in Whitefish at the Cheap Sleep motel, made my reservations there months in advance. There is a well stocked Safeway grocery store in Whitefish.

Coming back the Amtrak station in Whitefish still had my bike box with my name on it. When I left it there, I asked if I could use the same box when I came back. They made no commitment, but it was still there.

prathmann

We rode from Jasper - Lake Louise - Banff - Waterton - Glacier - Missoula in the summer of '15 following the Adventure Cycling route. Our GPS tracks each day and some pictures can be seen at:
https://triptrack.org/3079 through https://triptrack.org/3093 (just increment the number to see each day's record). Our trip used all campground stays and we shared the driving of a VW van for carrying gear and transport from/to home.

Doug64

That is the challenge with that route, getting to the start at Jasper. We rode almost the same route but in 2 different tours: first one was Vancouver BC to Calgary, then south to Whitefish MT; the second was from Jasper to Calgary then east to Winnipeg, then south to Fargo ND. The Canadian railway workers were threatening a strike, and the VIA advised us to look for alternative transportation from Vancouver to Jasper. We ended up renting a car, which was cheaper than our 2 train tickets, even with a motel.

Anyway, I'm not sure how you would make a good loop when you factor Jasper into the equation. indyfabz's suggested route sounds good, but does not get you to Jasper. All the loops that met your objective seem too long for 3-4 weeks. You are talking about a lot of mountain riding, which makes high daily mileages really challenging.

The Icefield Parkway going south from Jasper has some of the most spectacular scenery that I have ever seen. If you can figure out how to start in Jasper, you can find several routes that would get you back to Whitefish MT Amtrak station. This would allow you to go over the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier NP. I believe Whitefish is a better option than E.Glacier, and still would work with indyfabz's suggested route.

Good luck!!

L134 

I agree with this about the Icefield Parkway absolutely. It was a long time ago but, we flew to Edmonton and bused from there to Jasper. Definitely worth figuring out how to get to Jasper.

hilltowner

I'm guessing it should say ...a [bike] at...

It's not exactly clear if that is the case at East Glacier. The Empire Builder schedule doesn't show the "checked baggage" symbol for the station but the online info for GPK (East Glacier) seems to suggest it does handle checked bags. It's also not completely clear if the trainside checked bicycle service is available at stations that do not handle checked bags. I guess it would help if someone knows the answer to this since I am planning on using the same line this coming summer and though I wouldn't need to get on or off at one of the stops that do not handle checked bags my brother might try to join up with me mid-tour and it might be useful information in that case.

indyfabz

Your are correct. It's not clear. Below is the portion of the website addressing trainside checking up to the Empire Builder service. What are the "select stations?" Only those with checked baggage (but including Winona, MN and W. Glacier, MT per the note)? That's my guess. Perhaps they say "select stations" instead of "stations with checked baggage service" because there seems to be cases where there is checked baggage service at a station but you cannot get off and on with a bike (e.g., Albany, NY on the Lake Shore Limited) and vice versa. If that is correct, the issue turns on whether E. Glacier offers checked baggage service. Perhaps the timetable is a misprint because the website for the station does say checked baggage service and bike boxes are available. Then again, maybe the eliminated checked baggage service there and neglected to update the website.


Trainside Checked Bicycle Service

Standard full-size bicycles may be transported in bicycle racks located in the baggage car. Passengers are not allowed in baggage cars, so Amtrak personnel will store and secure your bike in the bike racks. Before handing your bicycle to an Amtrak crew member, please remove any large seat/saddlebags, handlebar bags or panniers. These items must be consolidated and either checked or carried with you onto the train. This service is only available at select stations. Advance reservations are required.

Number of Spots Bicycle
Reservation Required Checked Service Available Bicycle Fee
California Zephyr
(WIP is unstaffed but
will offer bike service) 6 per train Yes Select Stations $20 or less
Cardinal 6 per train Yes Select Stations $20
Carolinian 6 per train Yes Select Stations $20 or less
City of New Orleans 6 per train Yes Select Stations $20 or less
Coast Starlight
(Limited acceptance
at CTL) 6 per train Yes Select Stations $20 or less
Crescent 6 per train Yes Select Stations $20
Empire Builder
(WIN and
WGL are unstaffed
but will offer bike service) 6 per train Yes Select Stations $20 or less

Tourist in MSN

When you click on baggage, it says they sell bike boxes. So, that is a pretty good sign that they load and unload bikes there.
https://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conte..._Page&code=GPK

And when you click on routes, you only get Empire Builder.

If I recall, that station is only used half the year, so the current schedule is useless for planning purposes.

Doug64

My wife showed me a good way of finding out if an Amtrak station accepts bikes.

Go to the Amtrak site and go into their "Tickets and Reservations" section.
Fill in the information as if you are purchasing a ticket.
Click on the "Find Trains" box.

This will show the train schedules for your route. In this window there is an option to "Add Bike to this Trip", if bike service is available. This seems like a good method of checking stations for services.

Tourist in MSN

I had never seen that before, so I just tried it for Empire Builder, a trip that I took two years ago (Columbus WI to Portland OR). Bike option did not pop up. But I know you can buy a bike box, put the bike in the box for an extra fee.

indyfabz

You know, I was thinking that but didn't want to speculate to much. I would not be surprised if the spring timetable will show checked baggage service there. Good catch!

Doug64

Usually, if there is checked baggage, you can get boxed bikes on the train. I think the "add a bike for this trip" is for the roll on slots that require a reservation. It also depends on the particular train on a given route, and if there are transfers to trains providing different services.

Happy Feet

I am planning to do the Icefield Parkway this summer and either heading due south to Missoula or SW along Hwy 3 back to Vancouver. Partially depends on whether I can get from Missoula to Vancouver afterward easily (cheaply) enough.

My plan to get to Jasper is to bus from here with the bike in a box. If I book ahead it's only $75.

The Jasper - Lake Louise section is beautiful (drove it in 2015).

Happy Feet

I am planning to do the Icefield Parkway this summer and either heading due south to Missoula or SW along Hwy 3 back to Vancouver. Partially depends on whether I can get from Missoula to Vancouver afterward easily (cheaply) enough.

My plan to get to Jasper is to bus from here with the bike in a box. If I book ahead it's only $75.

The Jasper - Lake Louise section is beautiful (drove it in 2015).

One potential issue is that Canada is waving park fees this year, which seems like a good thing, but I think it means campsites will be booked solid for the summer. Not sure how that will play out.

indyfabz

I picked a random date in July (7/24) for Chicago to East Glacier and got the bike option. I also tried random dates in February and March. No train service to the station. Supports the position that the station is a seasonal one.


Re: Columbus, WI to Portland, OR, the "add a bike option" is only for trainside checked service (unboxed bike that is given to a baggage handler who puts in on the train) and carry on service (passenger literally takes the unboxed bike on the train himself), not for regular checked baggage service (boxed bike given to baggage handler). Both Columbus and Portland have checked baggage service. The lack of the add a bike option between that origin-destination pair likely signifies that even though trainside checked service is available on the Empire Builder, it's not available at all stations with checked baggage service. (Recall that the website specifies availability at "Select Stations".) Another possible consideration is this: The Empire Builder splits at some point. (In Spokane, if I recall correctly.) One portion of the train continues on to Seattle and the other to Portland. It's quite possible that there is only one baggage car that has the special accommodations for trainside checked service and that that car continues on with the portion of the train that goes to Seattle.

Tourist in MSN

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks.

Since I have only once gotten on an Amtrak train without having to box the bike first, I will be pleasantly surprised if I see the add a bike option listed, but I will not bother to look for it in the future.

The one time I did not need to box the bike was Kirkwood MO to Sedalia MO on the Katy Trail, I just plugged that into Amtrak website now to test it and the add a bike option was listed.

SparkyGA

Actually there is loads of options getting out of Jasper. Couple bus companies that take bikes, REALLY easy to hitchhike to the Edmonton or Calgary Airport plus the VIA train that will either take you to Vancouver or Edmonton/out east.

The option to ride from Jasper to Kamloops (500 km) to catch a flight is good too. Nice quiet ride for most of it as well. Tons of gravel riding options to get down south as well

The loops he is mentioning is reasonable. I've personally done Whitefish-Jasper-Hinton (75 km past Jasper) in 3.25 days on a (high speed) tour

Doug64

The OP was asking about a loop. There are a lot of nice point to point rides in that area.

I'm just curious about what route you took and your daily mileage. Did you go through Glacier? Icefield Parkway?

biker222

Got trip planning pretty much completed.
Taking Amtrak from St Paul with Bike Rack service to West Glacier on July 16.
Heading up Going to Sun Rd to St Mary (attached map for route) Green line is going to Jasper
Blue is return.
I modified return at bit instead going thru Yoho to Golden and then south to Waterton Lakes and
Highway 5 to Cardston - St Mary - E Glacier at Day 26. Depart E Glacier day 30 on Amtrak using bike rack.

jefnvk

Interested to hear how Going to the Sun road goes. I've been on it in a car, can't say it'd be particularly high on the list of roads I'd love to tackle on a bike!

Tandem Tom

My wife and I rode the Going to the Sun Road in 2014. We left our campsite at about 6:30AM. The scenery was fantastic! It was the most spectacular scenery of our ride across the US.