Fernie BC - West Glacier, MT - Pincher Creek, BC - Fernie BC
08-27-11, 11:49 AM
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Fernie BC - West Glacier, MT - Pincher Creek, BC - Fernie BC
I am exploring the idea of riding this loop at the end of May 2012. Does anyone have any experience with the road conditions, particularly Glacier Route 1 in Montana?
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/669723
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/669723
Last edited by trustnoone; 08-27-11 at 01:07 PM.
08-28-11, 04:21 PM
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Late May is too early. Look up historic opening dates for Going to the Sun Road. A little googling yielded someone saying the average opening date for the last 8 years is June 23. https://glacier.nationalparkschat.com...php?f=1&t=5998
As a resident of a much further south portion of the rocky mountains, I'm going to say mid-June is about as early as you want to tour in the rockies in the USA. July and August are better. May is a crap shoot. This year, on the weekend of May 22-23, I bailed on a century in Buena Vista CO because it was snowing, and went to Moab, UT instead... and driving back home over the mountains we were in a blizzard, yes a blizzard. In CO, not MT.
In other comments....
Consider that loop clockwise, to take advantage of prevailing west winds on Hwy 3 and more likely south winds on Hwy 93.
The glacier part is fantastic. There is a daily bicycle road closure on Going to the Sun Road - I don't remember the details, but basically you have to be done with the west side and over the pass by (i think) 11:00am. Check with the park service. (https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/gttsrfaq.htm)
Adventure Cycling maps (Great Parks NOrth) have a dirt detour that gets you off Hwy 2 from Columbia Falls to West Glacier - i took it, and though the road surface was a bit dicey with 28mm road tires (some loose gravel) it was nice to be away from the cars.
Hwy 3 (Crowsnest Pass) carries quite a bit of traffic, and though it does have shoulders (at least, the other way, which is the way I went) it is pretty busy. There is a wind farm (west wind) at Pincher Creek. You can guess what that means. I did however have tailwind going north up to there from waterton, so it might be a toss-up on where you want your headwind.
There's a nice provincial park campground in Fernie.
As a resident of a much further south portion of the rocky mountains, I'm going to say mid-June is about as early as you want to tour in the rockies in the USA. July and August are better. May is a crap shoot. This year, on the weekend of May 22-23, I bailed on a century in Buena Vista CO because it was snowing, and went to Moab, UT instead... and driving back home over the mountains we were in a blizzard, yes a blizzard. In CO, not MT.
In other comments....
Consider that loop clockwise, to take advantage of prevailing west winds on Hwy 3 and more likely south winds on Hwy 93.
The glacier part is fantastic. There is a daily bicycle road closure on Going to the Sun Road - I don't remember the details, but basically you have to be done with the west side and over the pass by (i think) 11:00am. Check with the park service. (https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/gttsrfaq.htm)
Adventure Cycling maps (Great Parks NOrth) have a dirt detour that gets you off Hwy 2 from Columbia Falls to West Glacier - i took it, and though the road surface was a bit dicey with 28mm road tires (some loose gravel) it was nice to be away from the cars.
Hwy 3 (Crowsnest Pass) carries quite a bit of traffic, and though it does have shoulders (at least, the other way, which is the way I went) it is pretty busy. There is a wind farm (west wind) at Pincher Creek. You can guess what that means. I did however have tailwind going north up to there from waterton, so it might be a toss-up on where you want your headwind.
There's a nice provincial park campground in Fernie.
08-28-11, 05:39 PM
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I wasn't sure if the opening applied to bikes as well as cars. Highwood Pass in Alberta is closed similar time but it opens earlier for bikes which for us would be a bonus.
If the snow is sticking it would change the plans. I rode Kootenays this year and the Rockies in 2010 both at the end of May. There was a trace of snow falling heading into Lake Louise so no big deal.
Thanks for the other intel. Clockwise it'll be.
If the snow is sticking it would change the plans. I rode Kootenays this year and the Rockies in 2010 both at the end of May. There was a trace of snow falling heading into Lake Louise so no big deal.
Thanks for the other intel. Clockwise it'll be.
08-30-11, 11:29 PM
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I have never ridden a bike on those roads, but I have driven them. Going To The Sun Road would be spooky on a bike - especially on a weekend. Absolutely gorgeous country, but often lots of tourist traffic. If you could time it to be able so you could ride it before it was open to cars, but clear of snow, it'd be epic! (Cold too!)
Looks like it typically opens mid June. https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/gttsrfaq.htm Be sure and post a trip report with pictures if you do it!
Found a video that will give you an idea of how much shoulder you have:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5s8tS-ZqCs
Looks like it typically opens mid June. https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/gttsrfaq.htm Be sure and post a trip report with pictures if you do it!
Found a video that will give you an idea of how much shoulder you have:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5s8tS-ZqCs
Last edited by mtnbud; 08-30-11 at 11:41 PM.
08-31-11, 07:47 AM
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Did most of that in '09. Started in Whitefish, MT. Stayed north of Eureka just before the border, Sparwood (nice public campground on the edge of town), Pincher Creek (sad town), Waterton Village (nice camprground on the lake and a great place for a day off for hiking) and St. Mary just inside the east entrance to the park. The plan was to ride over Going to the Sun from east to west, but it was still closed in late June. So we took U.S. 89 south to MT 49 to East Glacier and then U.S. 2 over Marias Pass to West Glacier and then into the park to Sprague Creek Campground. 100 miles for the day. Epic ride. The next morning we rode up the west side of GTS, made it to Logan Pass and then rode back down again. The final day we rode back to Whitefish. I went up and over GTS west to east in back in '99 and then up and down the west side again in '00.
A couple of things:
1. Absent an extraordinarily light snowfall this winter, you will not get over Logan Pass at that time. Count on it not opening to the middle of June at the earliest just to be safe. As noted above, in '09 it was not open until late June. This year, it did not open until sometime in July. Back in '99 it did not open until June 16th. In '00 I was there around the same time and it was open due to relatively light snow over the winter.
2. DO NOT take U.S. 2 from West Galcier through Columbia Falls. There is a curvy section just west of Hungry Horse that has no shoulder and can have very heavy traffic. You are hemmed in by the river so there is no escape. I can give you the preferred route. It's much nicer, although you have to ride some dirt/gravel. We did fine on 37c tires. Better yet, get a copy of the Adventure Cycling's Great Parks map that covers almost all of your planned route.
3. There are alternatives that take you off U.S. 93 in spots between Whitefish and Eureka. Much nicer riding as U.S. 93 can have traffic in places. Again, ther alternatives are shown on the Adventure Cycling map. I also have them mapped out on Bikely.com
4. PR 3 had a good deal of noisy traffic in the Blairmore area on the way to Pincher Creek. The much more pleasant option is to take Rte. 507 just after passing the Burmis Tree. It's extremely rolling in places, but there was virtually no traffic.
5. There are no services between Pincher Creek and U.S. 89, except for a restaurant/bar in Twin Butte. We had a hellacious headwind from Pincher Creek all the way into Waterton Village, which we reached via PR 5. Just beyond the PR 5 junction there is a stiff climb. It goes on for miles. Much of it is dead straight. Stares you right in the face so it's psychologically tough. When you finally make it to U.S. 89 you will almost certainly be hit with a stiff headwind heading to St. Mary. The point being that Waterton Village makes a nice place to stop if only because bypassing it would make for an extremely difficult day.
6. While I have never climbed the east side of GTS, I have descended it. It's less hairy than the west side. More open, less twisty and there is some shoulder in places. IMO, the optimal starting point is Rising Sun Campground. From there, it's only about a 2000' climb to Logan Pass. If you start early, you can easily beat the mass of traffic. Descending the west side takes concentration. Once nice thing is that on a bike you can usually go faster than cars, so you can take the lane. Note that there is an ongoing road re-hab project on the west side. You may experience some unpaved sections and uni-directional traffic which results in delays. But it's a nice place to hang out--assuming it's not raining.
7. Definitely go clockwise.
Here are some photos from our trip in '09 trip:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/davez20...7620763740044/
We started at the KOA just south of the center of Whitefish.
A couple of things:
1. Absent an extraordinarily light snowfall this winter, you will not get over Logan Pass at that time. Count on it not opening to the middle of June at the earliest just to be safe. As noted above, in '09 it was not open until late June. This year, it did not open until sometime in July. Back in '99 it did not open until June 16th. In '00 I was there around the same time and it was open due to relatively light snow over the winter.
2. DO NOT take U.S. 2 from West Galcier through Columbia Falls. There is a curvy section just west of Hungry Horse that has no shoulder and can have very heavy traffic. You are hemmed in by the river so there is no escape. I can give you the preferred route. It's much nicer, although you have to ride some dirt/gravel. We did fine on 37c tires. Better yet, get a copy of the Adventure Cycling's Great Parks map that covers almost all of your planned route.
3. There are alternatives that take you off U.S. 93 in spots between Whitefish and Eureka. Much nicer riding as U.S. 93 can have traffic in places. Again, ther alternatives are shown on the Adventure Cycling map. I also have them mapped out on Bikely.com
4. PR 3 had a good deal of noisy traffic in the Blairmore area on the way to Pincher Creek. The much more pleasant option is to take Rte. 507 just after passing the Burmis Tree. It's extremely rolling in places, but there was virtually no traffic.
5. There are no services between Pincher Creek and U.S. 89, except for a restaurant/bar in Twin Butte. We had a hellacious headwind from Pincher Creek all the way into Waterton Village, which we reached via PR 5. Just beyond the PR 5 junction there is a stiff climb. It goes on for miles. Much of it is dead straight. Stares you right in the face so it's psychologically tough. When you finally make it to U.S. 89 you will almost certainly be hit with a stiff headwind heading to St. Mary. The point being that Waterton Village makes a nice place to stop if only because bypassing it would make for an extremely difficult day.
6. While I have never climbed the east side of GTS, I have descended it. It's less hairy than the west side. More open, less twisty and there is some shoulder in places. IMO, the optimal starting point is Rising Sun Campground. From there, it's only about a 2000' climb to Logan Pass. If you start early, you can easily beat the mass of traffic. Descending the west side takes concentration. Once nice thing is that on a bike you can usually go faster than cars, so you can take the lane. Note that there is an ongoing road re-hab project on the west side. You may experience some unpaved sections and uni-directional traffic which results in delays. But it's a nice place to hang out--assuming it's not raining.
7. Definitely go clockwise.
Here are some photos from our trip in '09 trip:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/davez20...7620763740044/
We started at the KOA just south of the center of Whitefish.
09-01-11, 09:20 AM
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Nice pictures!
Did most of that in '09. Started in Whitefish, MT. Stayed north of Eureka just before the border, Sparwood (nice public campground on the edge of town), Pincher Creek (sad town), Waterton Village (nice camprground on the lake and a great place for a day off for hiking) and St. Mary just inside the east entrance to the park. The plan was to ride over Going to the Sun from east to west, but it was still closed in late June. So we took U.S. 89 south to MT 49 to East Glacier and then U.S. 2 over Marias Pass to West Glacier and then into the park to Sprague Creek Campground. 100 miles for the day. Epic ride. The next morning we rode up the west side of GTS, made it to Logan Pass and then rode back down again. The final day we rode back to Whitefish. I went up and over GTS west to east in back in '99 and then up and down the west side again in '00.
A couple of things:
1. Absent an extraordinarily light snowfall this winter, you will not get over Logan Pass at that time. Count on it not opening to the middle of June at the earliest just to be safe. As noted above, in '09 it was not open until late June. This year, it did not open until sometime in July. Back in '99 it did not open until June 16th. In '00 I was there around the same time and it was open due to relatively light snow over the winter.
2. DO NOT take U.S. 2 from West Galcier through Columbia Falls. There is a curvy section just west of Hungry Horse that has no shoulder and can have very heavy traffic. You are hemmed in by the river so there is no escape. I can give you the preferred route. It's much nicer, although you have to ride some dirt/gravel. We did fine on 37c tires. Better yet, get a copy of the Adventure Cycling's Great Parks map that covers almost all of your planned route.
3. There are alternatives that take you off U.S. 93 in spots between Whitefish and Eureka. Much nicer riding as U.S. 93 can have traffic in places. Again, ther alternatives are shown on the Adventure Cycling map. I also have them mapped out on Bikely.com
4. PR 3 had a good deal of noisy traffic in the Blairmore area on the way to Pincher Creek. The much more pleasant option is to take Rte. 507 just after passing the Burmis Tree. It's extremely rolling in places, but there was virtually no traffic.
5. There are no services between Pincher Creek and U.S. 89, except for a restaurant/bar in Twin Butte. We had a hellacious headwind from Pincher Creek all the way into Waterton Village, which we reached via PR 5. Just beyond the PR 5 junction there is a stiff climb. It goes on for miles. Much of it is dead straight. Stares you right in the face so it's psychologically tough. When you finally make it to U.S. 89 you will almost certainly be hit with a stiff headwind heading to St. Mary. The point being that Waterton Village makes a nice place to stop if only because bypassing it would make for an extremely difficult day.
6. While I have never climbed the east side of GTS, I have descended it. It's less hairy than the west side. More open, less twisty and there is some shoulder in places. IMO, the optimal starting point is Rising Sun Campground. From there, it's only about a 2000' climb to Logan Pass. If you start early, you can easily beat the mass of traffic. Descending the west side takes concentration. Once nice thing is that on a bike you can usually go faster than cars, so you can take the lane. Note that there is an ongoing road re-hab project on the west side. You may experience some unpaved sections and uni-directional traffic which results in delays. But it's a nice place to hang out--assuming it's not raining.
7. Definitely go clockwise.
Here are some photos from our trip in '09 trip:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/davez20...7620763740044/
We started at the KOA just south of the center of Whitefish.
A couple of things:
1. Absent an extraordinarily light snowfall this winter, you will not get over Logan Pass at that time. Count on it not opening to the middle of June at the earliest just to be safe. As noted above, in '09 it was not open until late June. This year, it did not open until sometime in July. Back in '99 it did not open until June 16th. In '00 I was there around the same time and it was open due to relatively light snow over the winter.
2. DO NOT take U.S. 2 from West Galcier through Columbia Falls. There is a curvy section just west of Hungry Horse that has no shoulder and can have very heavy traffic. You are hemmed in by the river so there is no escape. I can give you the preferred route. It's much nicer, although you have to ride some dirt/gravel. We did fine on 37c tires. Better yet, get a copy of the Adventure Cycling's Great Parks map that covers almost all of your planned route.
3. There are alternatives that take you off U.S. 93 in spots between Whitefish and Eureka. Much nicer riding as U.S. 93 can have traffic in places. Again, ther alternatives are shown on the Adventure Cycling map. I also have them mapped out on Bikely.com
4. PR 3 had a good deal of noisy traffic in the Blairmore area on the way to Pincher Creek. The much more pleasant option is to take Rte. 507 just after passing the Burmis Tree. It's extremely rolling in places, but there was virtually no traffic.
5. There are no services between Pincher Creek and U.S. 89, except for a restaurant/bar in Twin Butte. We had a hellacious headwind from Pincher Creek all the way into Waterton Village, which we reached via PR 5. Just beyond the PR 5 junction there is a stiff climb. It goes on for miles. Much of it is dead straight. Stares you right in the face so it's psychologically tough. When you finally make it to U.S. 89 you will almost certainly be hit with a stiff headwind heading to St. Mary. The point being that Waterton Village makes a nice place to stop if only because bypassing it would make for an extremely difficult day.
6. While I have never climbed the east side of GTS, I have descended it. It's less hairy than the west side. More open, less twisty and there is some shoulder in places. IMO, the optimal starting point is Rising Sun Campground. From there, it's only about a 2000' climb to Logan Pass. If you start early, you can easily beat the mass of traffic. Descending the west side takes concentration. Once nice thing is that on a bike you can usually go faster than cars, so you can take the lane. Note that there is an ongoing road re-hab project on the west side. You may experience some unpaved sections and uni-directional traffic which results in delays. But it's a nice place to hang out--assuming it's not raining.
7. Definitely go clockwise.
Here are some photos from our trip in '09 trip:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/davez20...7620763740044/
We started at the KOA just south of the center of Whitefish.
09-19-11, 10:26 PM
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Columbia Falls-West Glacier
I am exploring the idea of riding this loop at the end of May 2012. Does anyone have any experience with the road conditions, particularly Glacier Route 1 in Montana?
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/669723
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/669723
09-20-11, 08:06 AM
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I just returned from a road trip which included Glacier NP. I rode a loop from the Apgar Campground-Camas Entrance-Columbia Falls-West Glacier-Apgar. The section of Highway 2 from Columbia Falls to West Glacier is to be avoided at all costs. As a previous poster indicated the road is narrow with marginal shoulders between Columbia Falls and Hungry Horse. An alternative route is head north out of Columbia Falls and take Blankenship Road east and ride good gravel to West Glacier. The NPS has a nice large format map of the park that shows the route. You can call 406-888-7800 and ask for a copy of the 18'x18" map labeled "Glacier". The GTS Highway is undergoing major road work and I opted to not ride it. During the summer you need to be over the pass by 1100am. No restrictions after Labor Day.
https://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/297214
We actually spent less time on U.S. 2, opting to take Belton Stage from where it intersects with U.S. instead of taking Five Lakes Rd. to Belton Stage. Be very quiet and you might see a black bear back there.
One point of clarification. On the west side of the pass, you cannot ride east between Apgar and Logan Pass between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. And you cannot ride west between Sprague Creek and Apgar between those hours. So if you are heading east, hit the road as early as possible and you should have plenty of time to make it by 11 a.m. Coming west, you can stop at Avalanche Campground, the lodge (grab a beer and sit by the lake) and/or Sprague Creek. After 4 p.m. you can conitnue on if you'd like. I don't believe there any restrictions on the east side. It's all explained on the park's official web site.
The road construction was not that big of a problem when we were there in '09. Later in the summer they have been closing the road for extended stretches to allow faster progress with paving, etc. But in the height of the tourist season, there are usually only short delays as noted above. It's a balanicng act between completing the project and attracting tourists.
