Going to the Sun Road, anyone?

E

EMGX

Well-Known Member
I've driven and motorcycled going to the sun road in Glacier NP a few times but never biked it. Starting June 14 there are restrictions on biking so I reserved a campsite at Apgar for 5 days a bit over a week prior to when the restrictions set in. Should be able to ride to near Logan Pass by then. Depending on weather/road conditions and how I do with the ebike I might also try riding without a battery and with skinnier 100+ psi Gatorskins.
Anyone ridden going to the sun rd?
 
From several years ago when I rode going to the sun road on a 170cc scooter during a couple thousand mile trip - if I recall correctly.
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Restrictions are in effect on portions of Going-to-the-Sun Road from June 15 through Labor Day:

  • From Apgar Campground to Sprague Creek Campground bicycles are prohibited, both directions, between 11 am and 4 pm.
  • From Logan Creek to Logan Pass east-bound (uphill) bicycle traffic is prohibited between 11 am and 4 pm

For the bear spray doubters NPS includes this statement
"Make sure to carry and understand how to use bear spray"

There can be (and currently are) additional road segment closures due to bear activity


I added a couple days to my campground reservations so I will have a full week there. Hopefully weather will permit riding but I also plan on doing some hiking. By then hopefully the road will be open to Logan pass but still closed to motorized traffic.
 
You can do some of the same around Crater Lake. And there are a couple weekend days each year where the entire east(?) road is closed to motorized vehicles with free refreshment stands and toilets ever 5 or so miles. A must do ride that I've done at least a few times and plan to do again this year.

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Pretty impressive pictures! Thank you both.
An ebike would be a great way for us seniors to see these places. In these days of over-crowding with autos, metered entry, shuttles, ebikes could be a good answer.
 
I bet people taste better with adrenaline and all that goes with a good bike chase to the bears, I know my cats like to play with their prey before they snack.
 
I did something like that, took train to Libby MT (one stop before Whitefish), bought a scooter at the Libby powersports dealer and rode it 800 miles home - not a direct route. Taking the train to West Glacier and back to bicycle going to the sun road would cost as much as driving my 17mpg diesel F350 taking lodging into account. Camping with my truck camper cost only $11.50/night, including free entrance into the park using my lifetime national parks pass.

Picture taken from the train going to Libby, in the east end of the Columbia gorge.

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campsite on the way home.
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We used to believe bear bells were the answer. I worked for a helicopter leasing company for several years around Kalispel. But a Ruger .44 was the order of the day. Long enough ago that bear spray wasn’t in our lexicon.
 
A couple of notes about things I learned on my trip there in May 2019:
  1. A lot of stuff there isn't open in May, and a lot of businesses have really limited hours and limited selections. The first day I dropped off the rental minivan at Kalispell Airport and rode to West Glacier, and after a leisurely ride got there around 2:30. Pretty much everything closed at 3pm and I had to ride W on Highway 2 a few miles to find an open store with anything to eat.
  2. Starting from the park entrance, like I did, you can expect it to be a sixty-odd mile roundtrip with 3500 or so feet of elevation gain.
  3. Bears aren't really a problem, as the road is full of people (on bikes!) every weekend. But avalanches and rockfall can be. Start early and make good time in the upper sections and don't hang out there too long. If temperatures are really warm don't go very far past The Loop.
  4. Going early means you will be encountering fewer people. Which is nice because you can really scream on that downhill on the way back.
 
There are lots of very slow people on that route and you are unlikely to ever be out of sight of others or be the slowest person within visual range.

One other fun thing, the upper part of the road has no (or just inadequate) guardrails and a lot of people don't like that for some reason, which means they give the edge a wide berth. Which gets exciting when you are plummeting downhill at 30+mph dodging boulders and ice chunks in the wet road and whip around a corner to encounter three people riding abreast on your side of the road. Make sure your brakes are checked before riding this route.
 
Thanks for the information.
I'll be there for week starting a few days after Memorial Day so I'm thinking everything will be opened up by then. Driving out and camping makes everything easier and more flexible as well as reasonably inexpensive even if diesel is $6/gal. I might drive the Magruder Corridor road on the way home if the rangers indicate that it is relatively snow/ice free. I've been over Lolo Pass many times but never done the Magruder. Depending on how scenic it is I might go back and ride it on a motorcycle.
 
EMGX said:
Thanks for the information.
I'll be there for week starting a few days after Memorial Day so I'm thinking everything will be opened up by then. Driving out and camping makes everything easier and more flexible as well as reasonably inexpensive even if diesel is $6/gal. I might drive the Magruder Corridor road on the way home if the rangers indicate that it is relatively snow/ice free. I've been over Lolo Pass many times but never done the Magruder. Depending on how scenic it is I might go back and ride it on a motorcycle.
Click to expand...
Historically that road rarely opens up before mid-June:


You can see where the snowplows have got to here:

Directions, Transportation, & Road Conditions - Glacier National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

www.nps.gov www.nps.gov
 
We have been wanting to got to Glacier for a couple of years, Covid shut a lot of it down and now they have this reservation system now. I think we will end up staying inside the park which gets you in tge park for those days also.
 
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