Must Sees along US Rt 2 from MI to WA???

[glenfiddich]

Some call it OCD. I prefer to think of it as being normal for an INTJ. At any rate, I'm gathering notes for next summer's Vermont to Oregon Rally ride. I only have a couple of weeks to spare from work (maybe 3 if I cry a bit), so need to balance daily mileage with the need to sightsee.

I plan on slipping into Ontario from Vermont and exiting at Sault St Marie, picking up Route 2 and using it as a baseline all the way to east central Washington, then dropping down into Oregon for the BMWMOA Rally. Beside a side trip thru Glacier NP in Montana, what are the Must Sees along the way?

Would love to hear from those who live along the way and those who have traveled that way before.

TIA, Pete

 

[flymymbz]

We've been on that road a few times (our annual WA to MN trip). Not much to see through eastern MT, its a lot like grafikfeat's eastern WA pics, but with out the cliffs and not quite as pretty.

You can stop in Bemidji and see their 'famous' statues of Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox. From there you can take a side trip down to Hwy 200 and Lake Itasca, headwaters of the Mississippi River.

Aerostich 'factory' in Duluth. That's as far east on 2 that I've been.

If you want a detour around the mess that is US 2 through Spokane, let me know.

Planning on visiting Grand Coulee Dam? Head north on Hwy 174 from Wilbur, then back to Hwy 2 vie 155 or continue on 174 to Hwy 17. Or, I can get you lost out in the wheatfields of Douglas County.....hehehehe........ does your bike like the dirt?

Are you going to take Hwy 97 south from US 2? .

Nice detour through Yakima Canyon, SR 821, rather than the ugliness that is the semi truck/stressed out, in a hurry, cell phone glued to the ear soccer mom infested I82/Hwy 97 from Ellensburg to Yakima

If you have the time, from Yakima head over Hwy 12 to Randle, then south from Mt St Helens to Hwy 14 and the OR border. The mountain roads through there are paved and MUCH more fun and beautiful than Hwy 97 to Biggs, OR. Then you can cross the Columbia by White Salmon/Hood River

 

[glenfiddich]

Thanks for the great feedback! I'll absorb all this over a map tonight.

The Grand Coulee Dam sounds like an interesting place to check out. I ride a 12GS and my partner is on an 1150RT, but being from Vermont he's used to dirt roads provided there's little mud or sand.

Is the Stich factory worth a visit? Being from a small town (pop 3k) I'm more than a little intimidated by the big city thing.

And speaking of Aerostich, crossing at that latitude in July will probably expose us to a variety of weather conditions. I'm looking at the Plains thinking hot and humid, wear the mesh. Then I look at the elevation of some of the passes in the Rockies and think buying a Stich might be warranted. Trying to pack and carry as little as possible...

Pete

 

[131946]

You may want to follow The Shore of Lake Superior to Paradise and Whitefish Point and check out the Maritime Museum from Sault Ste. Marie

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and then head over to Tahquamenon Falls. Pretty cool with all the iron in the water:



http://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/

and check out the Ski Jump as you pass through Iron Mountain

 

[108625]

Stop in Havre, MT and check out the old "city under the streets": http://co.hill.mt.us/museum/beneathstreets/streets.html (it's nice and cool down there in the summertime, too).

When visiting Glacier, take the time to make a loop of it and after exploring the park (Going to the Sun Highway, Looking Glass Road and the side excursions to Many Glacier & Two Medicine Lakes), ride Hwy 2 along it's southern border.

We've stayed in each of the original lodges in the park like them all. Also worth staying at is the Isaak Walton Inn in Essex: http://www.izaakwaltoninn.com/ Either stay in the main building or rent a caboose!

 

[montana]

Many Glacier may be a bit too out of your way, but the trip to Two Medicine and back, from Hwy 2, will be one of the best hours you've ever spent on a bike. If you can fit in the run to Going to the Sun Road, do so, but factor that (from East Glacier, to St Mary, to West Glacier) as 5-6 hours, and that's just riding, not getting off to drool at the scenery or walk anywhere.

I agree that Hwy 2 into Spokane gets a bit crazy. If you want to drop south a bit sooner, look at dropping down to Hwy 12 (I'd go via MT 83 and 200) and ride Lolo Pass. It's on the top ten list for motorcycle roads in the US.

 

[flymymbz]

Lolo Pass and Hwy 12 are awesome.

If you insist on staying north of Missoula, Hwy 200 is an option as well.

 

[Bullett]

lolo pass and hwy 12 are awesome.

If you insist on staying north of missoula, hwy 200 is an option as well.

+1

 

[Krommenoek]

While it's not very scenic, US 2 in North Dakota will take you the geographical center of North America in the fair hamlet of Rugby. I can also recommend Bob's Pizza Inn for food and refreshments while you're there.

There's the Scandinavian Heritage Park in Minot that is a nice way to stretch your legs after a long ride. If you're passing through after the national, the ND state fair is also in Minot and starts July 23 running through the 31st.

If you're interested in pulling off US 2, the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn (an hour or so South of Minot on US 83) has a pretty good program on the travels of Lewis and Clark. There's a scenic byway just to the west of the Interpretive Center on ND 200A, and if you follow it to ND 200 proper it will take you to the Garrison Dam and Power Station. The dam is what created Lake Sakakawea, which is rumored to be the third largest man-made lake in North America.

To the North, there's the Turtle Mountains (ok, they're really small hills) and ND 43 provides one of my favorite scenic rides in the state and can take you to the International Peace Garden.

 

[RickHillMt]

Sorry to disagree with our friends in WA , but Hwy 2 across Montana has much to see. There is the dinosaur museum in Glasgow, and the largerst earth fill dam in the US at Fort Peck. There is ranch country and fields of grain. It has a simple beauty. If Native American culture interests you there is the Fort Peck Reservation as you enter Montana, the Fort Belnap Reservation east of Havre and the Blackfeet Reservation at Browning. The ride west to the rockies out of Cut Bank is a spectacular view of Glacier Park. Highway 2 actually skirts much of Glacier Park, but some of it is in the Park. You sure want to take a side trip by taking the Going to the Sun Highway. And a few days of hiking in the Park is agreat break from riding. From Columbia Falls, I'd ride south through the Swan Valley, exiting at highway 200. From there I'd go to Missoula and hook up with Hwy 12 over lolo pass. From there I'd get the ideas of the people in Idaho.

 

[moshaffer]

Highway 2.

Hey Pete,
In August I went from St Ignas to West Glacier all the way on #2 and it was a long trip. Every state had a LOT of road construction so there wasn't any making time anywhere. Continual detours and then the never ending "follow me" trucks and a lot of the roads that were under construction/repair had both lanes torn up for miles. I had also talked to some of the highway crews on the many waits and they told me next year is going to be more construction than this year because of the stimulus money kicking in.
Highway 2 also follows a lot of the old indian and fur trading trails from back then so it also goes right through the middle of most of the small towns, no getting around that part for most of the places.
I stayed at the KOA camp ground in West Glacier for a few days and that was nice, a good portion of the "Highway to the Sun" was again under extensive construction, both lanes so there were some really long waits and lines due to the dynamiting etc. a few hours sometime.
The best thing would be to go on the sight that has the highway system on it and it will tell you of most of the parts that are under construction I believe.
Gas was fairly well available except for a stretch in North Dakota and one in Montana so plan ahead for that. Happy riding.

 

[glenfiddich]

Great advice, thanks!

I've been lucky so far when it comes to construction delays, but it's such a common complaint that I might take a small laptop with me to monitor highway construction as I travel. Somehow the route I take never quite matches the route I plan, and it's only a matter of time before one of my detours leads me into major construction.

There's so much to see and so many places to ride out West I might not make it as far as Redmond...

Thanks again!

Pete

 

[Brettendress]

From Lake superior to Glacier I saw nothing that would make me ever want to ride that road again. Wind and fields were about it. Sure Montana was beautiful but North Dakota is forever off my list of places to go. I would drop down to a lower route or go up to Canada. On the lower route there is Mt. Rushmore, the Black Hills, Bad lands, Big horn pass, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Bear tooth pass and more to see. Rt 2 was the worst part of my cross country trip. The only reason I rode it was because some said it was nice. It is from Glacier West and Superior East but the middle has been done and will never be scheduled again. Sorry if any are offended but that's my opinion.

Brett Endress
Altoona Pa.

 

[36654]

From Lake superior to Glacier I saw nothing that would make me ever want to ride that road again. Wind and fields were about it. Sure Montana was beautiful but North Dakota is forever off my list of places to go. I would drop down to a lower route or go up to Canada. On the lower route there is Mt. Rushmore, the Black Hills, Bad lands, Big horn pass, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Bear tooth pass and more to see. Rt 2 was the worst part of my cross country trip. The only reason I rode it was because some said it was nice. It is from Glacier West and Superior East but the middle has been done and will never be scheduled again. Sorry if any are offended but that's my opinion.

Brett Endress
Altoona Pa.

Hmm....I'm a central PA rider and I really liked my trip thru ND and MT on US 2. It's beautiful farm and ranch country. Compared to the tacky billboards which are plastered along every inch of the interstate thru SD, the barren highway to the north was a refreshing change.

Relative to the original post, the proposed route is good, but I would opt for going around the northside of Lake Superior. The trip to WaWa from Sault Ste. Marie is some of the most dramatic scenery in North Amercia. When the glaciers receded, small fjords were cut into the bedrock which forms the north shore on Lake Superior.

Enjoy