emm nice sounds ideal , just talking to my bozeman daughter in law she reckons i would have a great time if i take the plunge, ah well still loads of time to think about this one,.

how much money would i need to budget for a two week tour, is Montana as expensive as Ireland .

valygrl taking the glacier route to sun road are there plenty campsites on that route and is it mountain goat stuff lol.

There are plenty of campgrounds, and you don't have to book in advance unless it's a national holiday (July 4th weekend, Memorial Day = last monday in May, Labor day = first monday in Sept). If things seem crowded you can book in the morning for that evening. I never book farther in advance than that.

Montana in general and Glacier in particular is definitely Not Flat. But Going to the Sun Road (glacier) is a long steady climb, around 4-6%, not sharp and steep. Bring your low gears though, because by long I mean like 10-15 miles. Most climbs are much shorter, and there's very little that's any steeper than 8%.


I have to share pictures to get you psyched. THis is from the KOA Campground road in St. Mary's (east side of Glacier):


And this is in Wyoming, near Cook City on Sunlight Basin Road, on the south/east route I posted:

Every cycle tourist should ride the Going to the Sun Road at least once!

Money and campgrounds - -
Excluding airfare and shipping your bike (which will be pricey)
You should be able to get by on $25 a day plus a credit card for a motel one or two nights.
(In small towns motels may be as low as $40 - near Glacier closer to $100.)

Glacier National Park has hiker/biker campsites for $5 per night per person.
For solo riders this is a great deal - plus you don't have to worry about campsite availability.
Remember that this is grizzly country - use safe food storage techniques.
Also, NEVER eat in your tent - nor use a tent that you have eaten in.

Outside of the park there are oodles of National Forest campsite which are pricier - no hiker/biker rates.
But it is legal to random camp on National Forest lands anywhere 1/4 mile away from established sites.
Of course, you would need to use bear precautions which are simple to learn.
In addition, Montana has a good number of Fishing Access Sites with camping that are on quiet waterways.
A number of small towns - Choteau, Ennis - also have camping in town parks.
The Hot Springs Motel at White Sulphur let us camp out back for very little - plus use the springs.

Back to Glacier. If you have an extra day to do Many Glacier - it is truly worth it.
Hiker/biker sites plus a pizza/pasta cafe next to the general store.

On the Going to the Sun Road - -
I much prefer Rising Sun to St Mary campground.
Rising Sun is small and intimate - with campstore, cafe, and showers.
Plus wonderful access to the lake.
St Mary is a 400+ site parking lot.

On the west side I prefer Avalanche to either Sprague Creek or Apgar.
Sprague Creek is small, next to MacDonald Lodge, and right on the lake - but has bad road noise.
Avalanche is at the trailhead to Avalanche Lake - quieter, but further from services.
Apgar is another huge campground but has nearby services.

BTW - What kind of touring do you do?
Mileage? MTB or road? Motels or camping?

very good to mention bear issues, most europeans have no idea about bear/food safety (but then, so do very little N Americans either...)

neat info there jama, not that Im planning to go, but great info to store in the back of the mind for future use...

jamawani thank you for being so generous with your time and knowledge, as usual.

fantastic info thanks a million , BEAR'S man nobody said anything about bears and i guess i would make a nice tasty little snack as well, lol.
valygrl thanks for photos brilliant 15 mile climb wow i'm going to have to get plenty more miles in the legs i'm thinking.

all my tours have been short 1 week couple days here and there
i'm cycling all my life road touring is still new to me .
i ride a thorn sherpa bike very nice
road bikes look kx light class
my favorite bike is my beautiful Raleigh 753which i recently done up looks like new again.

How is Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier NP on a bike? I was backpacking there in early September and took one of the park shuttles on that road. From my perspective on the shuttle as I remember it looked pretty hairy to ride a bike on: steep, narrow, and a lot of traffic. An intensively pretty road though. That was my first Montana trip and I really liked it, although I was deep in the back country. And bears are for real in Montana!

A few years ago, I drove the Going-to-the-Sun road on the way to the campground where I was meeting a touring group. When I completed the drive, I knew there was nothing that would convince me to ride that road ... steep, narrow, under construction and in bad repair, and a lot of traffic. The idea of going up didn't thrill me ... the idea of coming down scared me half to death. So I opted to take another route the next day, which was quite nice ... and I was able to ride a century. But some of the other cyclists rode at least partway up and back down ... braver than me!!

Back then, there was a time limit on cyclists using that road ... they had to be off the mountain by 11 am, if I am not mistaken. That was so that they would be out of the way of all the traffic.

I drove back over the Going-to-the-Sun road, but took lots of breaks so I could relax my grip on the steering wheel and inhale a few deep breaths of air before I started driving again.

Going to the Sun Road is one of the most spectacular rides in North America -
One not to be missed if you have the opportunity to do it.
As with anything in cycle touring, there are trade-offs.
Totally empty roads are likely to be unpaved -
Or at least with services only every 50 miles.

Going to the Sun touring was/is one of Bikecentennial's logo images.
https://www.adventurecycling.org/stor...sun-poster.cfm
I have ridden it a dozen times - - and I would ride it again.



Here are the NPS regulations - halfway down for cycling.
https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/gttsrfaq.htm

The portion along Lake Macdonald from Apgar to Macdonald Lodge is closed from 11A to 4p.
The eastbound/uphill section from Logan Creek to Logan Pass is closed from 11A to 4P.

I argue that riding Going to the Sun westbound is preferable -
you get the stunning morning light on the Continental Divide as you climb.
And that's the crux - - leave early - - just not too early.
In midsummer, sunrise is between 5:30 and 6:00.
If you leave by 7:00, you will have a cool ride with light traffic.

Even though the road was built 80 years ago - the grade is a steady 8%.
Many places in California. Cincinnati, and County Cork have far steeper climbs.
Again, if you leave around 7:00 from Rising Sun -
you should reach Logan Pass (12 mi) by 9:00, 10:00 max.
Then you have all day to hike the Continental Divide.
The Highline Trail is above timberline most of the time.
So unlike other trails where you climb thru timber for miles -
On the Highline you have stunning vistas from the get-go.



Another reason for spending time up in the sky is to wait before heading down.
Of course, your brakes will be smokin' so you can keep up with the cars.
But its nice to have less traffic whether going up or down.
And since there are hiker/biker campsites at the campgrounds -
there is no worry about getting a place to camp.

I can see no reason NOT to ride Going to the Sun Road.
In fact, there is every reason in the world to ride it.

Magic

thanks again jama for the details. I drove a car on it on our honeymoon, and vaguely remember the 11am cutoff.

interesting about the 8% grade and the age of the road. I found the same thing in the Pyrenees, being older roads, and using switchback after switchback, the grades used back then were never really really steep. I recall areas down the west coast having much steeper sections, I guess it was a combination of road building techniques (less blasting out of gigantic bits of mtn and hills) and the fact that cars and trucks back then did better on medium grades.

Most definately as a cyclist, I prefer a long medium grade where you stay in a few gears for a long time rather than a shorter, but steeper climb.

I have lived in Billings, MT for 30 years and have cycled all that time. Montana is indeed a beautiful state, but many of its roads are not cyclist friendly. People drive very fast up here on the secondary roads, and while most drivers are courteous and will take pains to slow down and give you some room as they pass there are those who will buzz you dangerously close. Wind is another problem. Primarily from the southwest, it can be a real problem. Summer is the best time, from west to east.

jackb it seems drivers are the same the world over bacically they hate cyclists. i had a bit of a run it with a young aggresive woman in her big red audi only today ,guess we just need to be more careful out there.
anyway do you have a favourate montana tour you would like to share.
thanks.

Autokelly,

Start in Billings and go 60 miles south to Red Lodge. Day 2, up over the Beartooth pass to Cooke City (60 miles and an elevation gain of 4000 ft.). Day 3, Cooke city to Mammouth Hot Springs at the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park (50 miles or so all through Yellowstone). Day 4, Up Paradise Valley to Livingstone, MT. 69 miles. You can't get any better than this.

jackb, as I asked before, going from my experience in mountains with a load, 100k-110k per day with climbs is asking a bit much. Hard to quantify here for me not really knowing what grades there are etc , other than you mentioning 16-1700m in a day, but fully loaded, I will be the first to say that 100k is a big big day, perhaps too big for regular folk like me (but this is completely up to the individual)
I would have to go over my trip notes, but I seem to recall that hard days in the Pyrenees with maybe 2000m climbing has me and my pal doing 50k or 30miles (and I was about 30 at the time) but I could be wrong, I never was that good at recording elevation gain, a days distance in km yes.

good point djb i'm not a big mile eater any more 50 miles a day loaded is enough for me.
i also did a few mountain passes in Spain and Italy but i was on my carbon road bike and i dont think i would have cover the miles we did if we were loaded up.
anyway jackb thanks a million for that route even without seeing the movie it sounds only fantastic.
so how tough will it be and is each day in the saddle a climbing day.

I hadn't considered fully loaded touring. When I've done this trip I stayed in motels in Red Lodge and Cooke City and at a friends house in Gardiner, MT, five miles north of Mammoth. I'm afraid it would be quite a long day. The grade is not that steep, maybe 6or 7%, but you are peddaling at altitude so oxygen is a bit scarce.

I've cycled many other roads around the state, but only on long day rides. Adventure Cycing has a tour, I believe that takes in western Montana. You could find out the route from them and do it yourself.

I have gone west to east from Sprague Creek to St. Mary once and up and back down the west side twice. The last time was two years ago. Enjoyed every mile and never felt menaced by traffic.

A multi-year, road rehab project is currently going on. That explains the construction. If you were there in '09 like we were, you may have also experienced the effects of the massive avalanche that occurred over the winter on the west side. The resulting damage delayed the full opening of the road. The parts of the road that have been repaved were as smooth as glass. When it's all done, it should be fantastic.

As noted, if you leave early, there is very little traffic. And descending the west side you can go faster than autos so if there is traffic, you can take the lane. There are also some pullouts if you want to stop and take in the scenery. Hope to have the opportunity to ride east to west one day. We were supposed to in '09 butthe pass was still closed when we were set to cross so we ended up going around the park in one day so we could at least ride the west side

every time i see a new photo i just want to jump on a plane and get over there as fast as i can such a beautiful country.

jackb can i camp along that route each stage.