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Magruder Corridor - Any info?

nakwakto00

Adventurist
Considering exploring the Magruder Corridor in Idaho and Montana this summer. Interested in any road conditions, points of interest, camping, cautions, and other things you should or need to know. Would appreciate route suggestions, best time of year, etc. Checked out quite a bit of Internet info and am now looking for any personal info and knowledge.
My info: 55+, 2013 F800GS, physically fit, average/intermediate skill & experience. Live in Western Washington.
 
The person to talk to is Timmer over on ADV Rider. He has organized the Montana 1000 which is a 1000 mile ride mostly on dirt roads in Montana. It starts in Elk City, ID and ends in the Lolo Pass area. The route includes the Magruder Corridor. I have the GPS files for the 2012 ride (there were others in 10 & 11). I'll see if I can come-up with them and PM you. Timmer lives in Washington State and has a role in the online radio show Side Stand Down. If you go on ADV Rider and search for a thread called Montana 1000 or for Timmer I believe you'll find him. Send him a PM and I'm betting he'll provide you with more info than you can imagine. Annie and I went on the 2012 edition of the ride, but it became the Montana 5 when the fan on her F650GS failed when it was 95 degrees and we were on a 15 mile uphill grade. The bike would not over heat at highway speeds so we headed home. Good luck!

PS: Found the files; PM sent.
 
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The Magruder is a great 2-day or longer ride, but very remote... Full of a lot of nothing but woods, much of which got burned a few years ago.

The road is easy, there are a number of places to camp, plenty of deadfall firewood everywhere.

Definitely check conditions before riding, I've seen it closed by snow in July before.

You're going to want to manage your fuel very carefully, and bring a good trouble kit. You won't have to lower your tire pressures vey much but still definitely bring spare tubes.

You might also consider the Lolo Motorway, which I found more scenic.

Ian
 
The Magruder is a great 2-day or longer ride, but very remote... Full of a lot of nothing but woods....
Ian

Sounds perfect on a GS, add in some good fishing and it would be paradise. I may have to plan that into a trip. :clap
 
MT 1000 files - Magruder Corridor

Kevin sent me GPS files from the 2012 MT 1000 which include the Magruder Corridor and a whole lot more! Thanks to Kevin. One of the files includes tracks for the Lolo Motorway. That looks very interesting.

So much country to see - so little time.
 
Try St. Joe River Road

Sounds perfect on a GS, add in some good fishing and it would be paradise. I may have to plan that into a trip. :clap

This is a fishing/camping/exploring dream. Did the St. Joe River Road last year from St. Maries, ID to St. Regis, MT. 80 miles of twisties along the beautiful St. Joe river. Beautiful cutthroat trout fishing too. Incredible right along the river camping. Beautiful country too. It was Paradise. Can be done on road bike but know there's 8 miles of gravel - although very good and smooth gravel road - from Idaho/Montana border to St. Regis. We did it on GS's. It's wilderness country.
 
This is a fishing/camping/exploring dream. Did the St. Joe River Road last year from St. Maries, ID to St. Regis, MT. 80 miles of twisties along the beautiful St. Joe river. Beautiful cutthroat trout fishing too. Incredible right along the river camping. Beautiful country too. It was Paradise. Can be done on road bike but know there's 8 miles of gravel - although very good and smooth gravel road - from Idaho/Montana border to St. Regis. We did it on GS's. It's wilderness country.

I spotted this ride when researching my way home for Oregon last summer, but decided to ride the Lolo Trail.

Did you take many notes on this road? I was thinking of using it as a GS Gypsy Tour route for the rally in 2015. If so, please let's talk via PM.

Ian
 
St Joe River Road Notes

Yes, I have some road notes regarding the St Joe River Road. They are not specific to mile markers or detailed to a specific corner or spot.

The road has a lot of black tar snakes but other than that it is in good condition. No pot holes or other road hazards. In some places you may find gravel or rocks on the road from a cliff or hill side - but these were far and few between. The road surface changes color a lot from black to grey to red or orange. It confused me some. But all in all the road surface was good. I only slipped once a bit taking a corner too fast and the black tar snake letting me slip a bit.

There's not much of a shoulder but two cars or truck/cars can easily go without problems. There are plenty of gravel and some paved pull outs along the river side of the road. The road doesn't do much elevation climb until after Emery. Even then there's no steep sections just gradual up until the ID/MT border. The MT side is steeper. Again the MT side is plenty wide for two-way car/truck traffic. And the MT side is not as twisty. There are some curves but nothing like the ID side.

The traffic was primarily passenger cars and pick up trucks with some vehicles pulling trailers. Locals traveled the road fast whereas tourists were slower. Log trucks whether empty or full were traveling fast. The logging truck traffic gets less in the afternoon with trucks going towards St Maries. Logging trucks start early going up the road (from St Maries) as early as 3 AM. There's not many places to safely pass as there are so many curves and many blind corners particularly the farther up you go. There are a few corners particularly way farther up that start out gradual then really turn as you get into the turn. I remember one corner made me pucker a bit because it was so deceptive. After the black tar snake slip and that corner I was much less aggressive going up. I imagined sliding off the road and into the air and dropping 150' to the river. Ugh.

The road is very scenic traveling the whole time, except near the border, along the north side of the river. There are plenty of camping opportunities. The river is flat and meandering out of St Maries and starts to steepen past Emery. Commercial camping below Emery and USFS camping above. We camped at a USFS site right along the river - beautiful (Tin Can Flat). Once the road leaves the St Joe River it climbs into alpine forests, peaking at the border. The upper river though is through a steep canyon. Fishing - I didn't do any - was good but only catch and release. Saw lots of folks fishing. Once you enter MT you quickly drop down through the forest to St Regis. I don't remember much of scenic value.

Emery didn't look like much when we went through. A big fire destroyed the big business in town. We fueled up in St Maries and had no problems. The entire road is less than 100 miles from St Maries to St Regis. Although we did this roads on our GS's it could be done on a road bike too. The MT gravel road was so smooth and firm. It rained on us as soon as we hit the border and even then it was good. In St Regis some Harley riders thought we were crazy doing that road - the MT road to to the border. They they did the ID side but turned around at the border.

Finally, there were plenty of side roads - all gravel - that begged for exploration. We stuck to the main road because we were on a schedule.

Hopefully the above gives you enough info for your trip plan. If you need any more info, or have some specific questions PM me.
 
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