Bike touring without traffic on the Frisco-to-Keystone bike trail in the heart of Colorado's Rockies
by Norman D. Ford
If you're fed up with riding an exercise bike,
try touring without traffic on America's most scenic bicycle trails
Bike touring without traffic on the Frisco-to-Keystone
bike trail in the heart of Colorado's Rockies
Almost every American cyclist has heard about Europe's bike paths that take you touring for days beside rivers like the Danube, Rhine, Mosel, or Neckar--all on flat, easy bike trails where motorized vehicles are banned.
Well, you may not see any medieval castles or cathedrals or 14th century villages, but it is entirely possible to enjoy multi-day bike touring on a series of scenic bike trails without ever leaving the U.S.--and in most cases, we're talking about bike trails on which all motorized vehicles are strictly banned.
Many of these trails are Rails-to-Trails conversions, former railroad beds with gentle grades that are easy to pedal. Several trails run for miles beside scenic rivers, taking you through rugged mountain ranges without ever having to ride up a hill. In contrast, at least two trails take you soaring up over mountain passes 11,000 feet high. Although the once famous Hiawatha scenic train hasn't run for years, you can still ride its awesome route through Idaho's Bitteroot Mountains on a bicycle. South Dakota's Mickelson Trail takes you the length of the Black Hills across more than 100 former railroad bridges. And you can cycle far from cars and cities on trails that take you through a wilderness of rivers, lakes and wetlands. Best of all, you can spend every night at a comfortable, affordable motel or at a B&B.
Where Are These Wonderful Bike Trails?
You will already find detailed reports on half a dozen of America's longest bike path systems on our Home Page Menu under USA--BIKE TRAILS. Here is a list of these trails with number of days it takes the average cyclist to ride them (the first 4 trails are described in the report Rails to Trails Touring in America's Midwest, 2002).
Colorado Rockies--South Dakota's Black Hills. It's just a comfortable one day drive from the wonderful network of paved bike trails through the heart of the Rockies at Frisco, CO to South Dakota's Mickelson Trail, crown-jewel of America's rails-trails conversions. For detailed reports look up Biking and Kayaking at Frisco, CO under USA--BIKE TRAILS on our Home Page Menu , then go to Rails-to-Trails Touring in America's Midwest, 2003 and scroll down to Touring the George S. Mickelson Trail.
Wisconsin's Elroy-Sparta Trail --Minnesota's Root River Trail. It's just a 30-mile drive from Onalaska on the Wisconsin Trail to the Root River Trail in Minnesota. Together they can provide 6-10 days of superlative cycling through some of America's most unspoiled riverside scenery. Each of these Trails is described in Rails-to-Trails Touring in America's Midwest, 2003 . Scroll down till you reach them.
Exploring Wisconsin's Elroy-Sparta State Park Bike Route--Touring Missouri's Katy Trail. It took me 1.5 days to drive from the Wisconsin Trail to Clinton at the west end of the Katy Trail. For good measure, consider adding in Minnesota's Root River Trail. Combined, these trails offer a minimum of ten days of easy cycling on former railroad beds (including several tunnels in Wisconsin where bikes must be walked through). Both trails are listed under USA--BIKE TRAILS on Home Page Menu.
Touring The Northwest: On The Hiawatha-Norpac-Coeur d'Alenes-Centennial Trails, 2005--Cycling Oregon's Columbia River Gorge, 2005. It's a fast six-hour drive on connecting Interstates from Spokane WA, end of the Hiawatha trail system to The Dalles OR, starting point of the Columbia River Gorge Bike Route. Yes, we know that the Columbia Gorge ride is not on dedicated bike paths, nor is it flat or car-free, and it involves riding 14 miles on the shoulder of an Interstate. But together, these two rides provide six or more days of world class cycling and scenery through the heart of the Northwest and they are well within the capabilities of the average touring cyclist. Touring the Northwest: Hiawatha, etc is listed under USA--BIKE TRAILS and Cycling Oregon's Columbia River Gorgeis listed under USA--TOURING ON ROADS on the Home Page Menu.
Frisco: Heart Of The Colorado Rockies--Moab: Heart Of Utah's Red Rocks Country. It's an easy one-day drive, mostly on I-70, from Frisco CO (see Biking and Kayaking at Frisco CO; 2005) to Moab, UT (see Moab, UT, Mtn Bike Vacation, 2005), both listed under USA--BIKE TRAILS on Home Page Menu. Its true that most Moab rides are on rougher roads or slickrock and require a mountain bike with 26 x 1.95 tires. But you can use the same bike to ride the paved trails at Frisco plus unpaved trails such as the 11,000-feet high Boreas Pass Trail. And the easier mountain bike rides don't require a great deal of skill. (If something looks too difficult to ride , simply get off and walk.) The average cyclist could easily spend a minimum of 12 days sampling the easier one-day trail rides from Frisco and Moab.
Using Your Support Vehicle To Shuttle Bikes Between Trails
For most cyclists traveling in small groups, your support vehicle is the van, SUV or truck that you use to transport yourselves and your bikes to the starting point of the tour. So unless you're traveling alone, you have a ready-made support vehicle. Perhaps a non-cycling friend or relative will volunteer to drive it. Or each cyclist can take turns driving the van.
Moving up your support vehicle each day as you ride, relieves you of the burden of carrying luggage panniers on the bikes. And at the end of the tour, your support vehicle is available for the return trip back home.
As far as we know, we are the first website to actively promote the concept of combining several shorter bike trails into a single, continuous multi-day bicycle tour--with overnight stops at towns with at least one comfortable motel, B&B etc. One reason this idea is slow to spread is that each of our itineraries typically consists of a variety of trails built and maintained by different organizations. While most are Rails-to-Trails conversions, others may be maintained by State Parks Departments or by cities or counties or National Forests or they may be Millenium or Centennial Legacy Trails or Greenway developments.
Each entity will publish a map of its trail. Yet all too often, these map-guides fail to mention that their trail connects with others maintained and operated by a different entity. Or that their bike path can be linked to another nearby bike path by shuttling bikes and cyclists in a support vehicle. Heaven forbid that they mention towns en route where cyclists can spend the night in a motel, let alone mentioning the names and phone numbers of motels best suited for cyclists. . . especially the fact that these motels may have lower rates than the big, plush, multi-story chain motels with interior corridors that are so inconvenient for taking bikes into rooms.
Above all, most of these entities rarely catch on to the idea that their trail could be a link in a multi-day bike tour. For example, while researching our Touring the Northwest: on the Hiawatha-Norpac-Coeur d'Alenes-Centennial Trail, 2005, we found that overall, five different entities were involved (the Centennial Trail is part in Idaho, part in Washington). Each of the five entities involved publishes a map of their trail. But only one entity publishes a folder that shows the routes of each of the first four trails. It's called "Recreational Trails of the Idaho Panhandle" and it's a really invaluable planning tool. But it doesn't show the fifth trail because it's in neighboring Washington State.
Even bike shop owners along this 5-trail system seemed surprised that someone would plan a bike tour the length of all 5 trails--a 160-mile ride from high in Idaho's Bitteroot Mountains to Spokane WA. And nobody we talked with had even remotely considered using a support vehicle to bridge the gap from Spokane over to Oregon's superbly scenic Columbia River Gorge Bike Route.
Well, not to worry because we've scouted the best of these bike paths and trails, and we've put it all together in mile-by-mile reports that are easy to follow and that describe just about everything you need to know to enjoy an excellent Touring Without Traffic bicycle adventure.
Finally, if you know of any other network of dedicated bike trails that we could feature in this series, send us an email (blodwen@ktc.com). However, we've had to reject several long-distance bike paths for lack of overnight accommodation .