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[greglyon]

I am in the planing stage for a trip to Sturgis in August and would appreciate some feedback on a scenic route that would take us back to Phoenix.  Given time restraints we are going to have our bike shipped to Rapid City, but wish to ride back routing ourselves through Yellowstone and Jackson before heading South to Phoenix.  I am looking for great places to stay, and some well maintained scenic roads.  Thanks

P.S.  Anybody coming to Phoenix for Arizona Bike Week (March 23-April 1?  If anyone has any questions, or needs help planning the trip, let me know.        

[Screamin]

Good for you Iroar. You'll have a hell of a trip. [highlight]How much time do you have?[/highlight] We did a loop after Sturgis a couple of years ago and tried to get it all in. Couldn't do it. Included Yellowstone, Tetons, Rocky Mtn. Nat. Park, million dollar highway, Durango, Jackson Hole and more. I'll get together some of my info and get it posted.

[Screamin]

Bighorn Mtns.

[Screamin]

Flaming Gorge (Utah/Wyoming border)

[Screamin]

Tetons

[greglyon]

Good for you Iroar. You'll have a hell of a trip. [highlight]How much time do you have?[/highlight] We did a loop after Sturgis a couple of years ago and tried to get it all in. Couldn't do it. Included Yellowstone, Tetons, Rocky Mtn. Nat. Park, million dollar highway, Durango, Jackson Hole and more. I'll get together some of my info and get it posted.

Wow, great pictures!  I am really getting excited.  I will be leaving Sturgis August 6th and must be back in Phoenix by August 12th.  I appreciate any and all help.

[Screamin]

Wow, great pictures!  I am really getting excited.  I will be leaving Sturgis August 6th and must be back in Phoenix by August 12th.  I appreciate any and all help.

Here's a link to some more. So you've got 5 or 6 days on the road, cool. I'll try to get you my route shortly.

http://flhrsei.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1129246083/0

[Bagger]

AWESOME pictures.  man I can't wait until I can just take off and head out west and not have to worry about keeping my finger on the pulse back here.  Won't be long.  Thanks for sharing.

[hogasm]

Bagger, I'm with you. Kathy and I are planning our return trip from Nelson. We have 10 days to get from Nelson to North Carolina. We want to see those places on the way south to Interstate 40 before heading east.

[djkak]

I am in the planing stage for a trip to Sturgis in August and would appreciate some feedback on a scenic route that would take us back to Phoenix.  Given time restraints we are going to have our bike shipped to Rapid City, but wish to ride back routing ourselves through Yellowstone and Jackson before heading South to Phoenix.  I am looking for great places to stay, and some well maintained scenic roads.  Thanks

IROAR,

When anyone says Yellowstone, I think of US 191 from Bozeman, MT to the town of West Yellowstone. This stretch is about 90 miles. Kurt Marsden and his Wife Shell own the Golden West Motel in West Yellowstone. This is a cozy, clean Motel, but don’t expect tea and crumpets. Kurt rides a 1985 FLHT and welcomes motorcyclists, so there may be other riders staying there as well.

Bullwinkle’s is a good Bar & Restaurant, although sometimes Kurt and Shell will throw a big garage party for their guests; this can be a hoot with the right crowd. I can’t say for sure if Kurt does the garage party thing during the summer, as busy as things get. There are also many other Hotels and Motels in West Yellowstone to choose from. This is West Yellowstone’s “on season”, so advanced reservations may be required if you decide to stay there.

West Yellowstone to Jackson on 287 takes you right through Yellowstone Park. I haven’t been this way myself, although I will be running it next month. I feel that 287 to Jackson is a no-brainer. The entire Bozeman to Jackson run should be an incredible experience.

One issue with your route is that Rapid City is south of Bozeman and West Yellowstone, so you would have to head north to do this. It looks like you have the time to be flexible with an indirect route.

If you are doing Sturgis, you will probably have already ridden much of the good stuff in a 75 mile radius of Sturgis. Hwy 16 south through Custer is a super piece of asphalt, but may be extremely busy during the rally. If the timing was not during Sturgis, I would recommend heading south on 16, then looping back up north when it made sense to you. Bottom line; get yourself to Bozeman and head south from there.

I wonder if an area on this site dedicated to the exchange of GPS tracks, routes, waypoints, etc., would be a good thing. There may be format issues between software vendors, but most folks are probably using the MapSource stuff anyway; just a thought.

djkak

[Hoist!]

And when you're at or going to Yellowstone, DO NOT MISS GOING ON THE BEARTOOTH PASS! Believe me, you will not regret riding that road! It straddles the border of Montana and Wyoming and takes you to the NE entrance to Yellowstone. With all the beauty of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, the Beartooth Pass was even more spectacular. Don't miss it! Hoist! 8-)

[Screamin]

Can't find my journal, got to get organized, but the best I recall is: I-90 west to Wyoming Exit 9 (US 14) through the Big Horn Mtns. Pick up US 14 Alt in the mountains and continue west to Cody. That's a day. Rejoin US 14 west in Cody and into Yellowstone's east entrance (road is always under const. in the park). Do the Central Loop w/ a side to Old Faithful and head out the south entrance on US 191, 89, 287 toward Jackson. In the Teton Park make a right on "Teton Park Rd". and go south to its' terminus @ Moose Junction. Rejoin US 89 / 191 into Jackson. That's another day. South from Jackson to Rock Springs, Wy. via US 191. Stay on 191 south to Vernal, Utah. Another day. US 40 east to Co. 64 east to SR 139 south to Grand Junction. US 50 east to US 550 south to Durango. Another day.

That's 4 pretty strong days w/ little time for exploring. Weather can impact that as well in a big way. I highly suggest that this summer you get on the Park Service web sites and the State DOT sites to see what's up w/ construction. Detours out there can be lots of hours if not more.

Some thoughts for now. Cody was only a stop for a meal and a room. The town no doubt has some neat stuff but we were too pooped to explore it. We wanted to go into Mont. and into the Park by the N/E ent. but were warned that the const. was awful and that numerous bikes were going down. Yellowstone Park we did in a day and we didn't see near enough of it. What a fantastic place and if you can swing two days you should. The Tetons were spectacular but easily done, at least for us, in part of a day. There's a neat NPS lodge w/ a friendly watering hole on the north end of the Teton Park which overlooks a lake and the mountains. Excellent stop. Jackson is tourists. The usual stuff plus some high ends as well. Million $ Cowboy Bar was ok but only stayed for a beer. The Wyoming Inn (Red Lion) on the s/side of town was quite luxurious and reasonably priced. They negotiated our rate and accommodated our bike under the canopy. Sports bar across the street was ok. Most of western Wy. below Jackson was striking but not spectacular. Wide expanses w/ little in between small towns. Hammer down until you get to the Flaming Gorge area and hammer again through N/W Co. Below I - 70 it got to be awe inspiring again and the million dollar highway will keep your break / clutch / shifter coordination working overtime. Durango is a tourist town but we had a ball there. Laid up for two nights and spent them downtown. Good, mostly clean, fun folks.

That's just part of the loop we did and in reverse because we came s/w out of Deadwood and along Colorado's "front range" then across the bottom of the state and then north. We made no reservations and just kinda followed the weather station and I can't recall having any trouble finding a motel. Enjoy your planning, I think that's a fun part as well.

[djkak]

....DO NOT MISS GOING ON THE BEARTOOTH PASS! Believe me, you will not regret riding that road!.... Hoist! 8-)

Hoist makes a good point, if you could spend a little time riding this area, the route from Cody, up the Chief Joseph Highway to US 212 (Beartooth Highway) to Red Lodge, MT. is a spectacular ride. If you could do one or the other, do this one, otherwise do both.

There is a restaurant outside of Red Lodge that is a MUST DO if you are in this area. I can’t remember the name, but I have a couple of pictures. Ask any Hotel/Motel owner for directions to the best Steakhouse in the area, and they will direct you to a place out in the middle of nowhere. Now that I think about it, this was a number of years ago, maybe it’s not even there anymore; ask anyway.

There is a lot of incredible riding in this part of the country.

djkak

[djkak]

#2

[djkak]

#3. It can be very cold up on Bear Tooth even in August!!