Cycles of the Season
Story by Tim Young
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Photo: Wade McKoy/ FPI The Shadow Mountain loop includes a long downhill single-track. |
How about this for a great bicycle recipe: Take two National Parks and six National Forests. Arrange them beautifully around the Continental Divide, add a healthy chunk of BLM land with a sprinkle of state parks. Pour in great rivers like the Madison, Yellowstone, Green, and Snake, and whip this landscape until it forms high peaks, like the Tetons, Wind Rivers, and Beartooths. Finally, add you, your bicycle, and some vacation time, and the result is the best bicycle smorgasbord you’ve ever tried!
The Greater Yellowstone area is full of tasty opportunities for quality bicycling. From early season rides in the badlands around Dubois to the alpine meadows on Beartooth Pass, bicycle opportunities abound in the Greater Yellowstone region. Good roadways connect friendly mountain towns like Jackson, Dubois, Red Lodge, and Driggs—each offering outstanding local trails and worthy road rides. Essential supplies like good eats and information are easily available, including bike repairs and rentals (in case you made a mistake and forgot yours).
When to go Where
Like old cabin-bound trappers, local cyclists can’t seem to wait for the spring season. Early can be February in Dubois country, the banana belt as far as snow goes. By March, Grand Teton National Park is plowing snow off the road to Jenny Lake, offering perhaps the world’s finest bike path during the entire month of April, when the inner park road is open to bikes and closed to cars. Yellowstone is also starting a commendable “early open for bikes” program on the roads out of Mammoth. Starting in May mountain biking follows the green of spring up from the valley floor trails. Streams run strong into summer, but most high trails are clear of snow by the end of June. Summer gives road and mountain cyclists long, hot days and lots of sunshine for those big rides. Colors of gold and red signal Indian Summer around the end of September, but good riding can still hang on well into October, giving the region a surprisingly long season if you pick ‘em right.
A sense of timing and picking the right place are important ingredients in making a great bike ride. Grand Teton and Yellowstone park are beautiful all season long, but peak summer park traffic can be murder. A better call is bicycling the national park roads in quiet times, like June and September. This time is easier to find accommodations, plus wildlife watching can be especially rewarding in spring and fall. Watching a wolf pack, for example, while on an early morning ride should put some wild back in your cycling! Good traffic-riding skills are important, but the shoulder seasons offer more quiet moments for taking in the vast park panoramas.
Summer is the best time for mountain bike trail riding in the national forests and BLM lands. Check for open trails with the local bike shop. Road bike fans can search out mountain-valley side roads for road riding that takes off from the main tourist routes, like county roads in the Teton Valley of Idaho, or Star Valley in Wyoming. Mountain wildflowers are at their peaks, and temperatures warmest.
Weather
The mountains can be wild at any time of year, even if the day starts with a clear-blue morning sky. Best bet is to be prepared in case you get trashed by mother nature. At least carry a weatherproof shell and something warm for the legs. Think of it this way: Jackson has an average of only 39 frost-free days a year. It can snow in June just as easily as it can be shorts and T-shirt weather. On the plus side, a little nasty weather has helped me find many a cozy bar and restaurant. Mountain hospitality is at its best when the weather is the worst, and storms tend to blow through if you just give them a little time.
Spares and Repairs
These high mountain ranges are a guaranteed challenge for anything that rolls. If Murphy ever rides with you, you know things can happen to mechanical parts. Plan ahead for your rides and consider this: what if something breaks, say, way out in the back 40 ... instead of in front of one of Greater Yellowstone’s many quality bicycle shops?
It pays to carry a basic kit when venturing out: at least a tube, patch kit, and pump for road bike rides. For mountain biking, add a spoke key to help a bent wheel run round; tools to adjust the various nuts and screws that can loosen while bouncing down a trail; a chain tool to be able to deal with a busted derailleur; and pliers to work on shifting and brake cables. This does add up to a pound or two, but then Yellowstone country has more adventure per mile than most. Face it, you need a repair kit.
So much for the bike. Be prepared for people as well. Trails are rugged and accidents do happen. A small first-aid kit is good to have. At least be able to stop bleeding, dress cuts and abrasions, remove slivers, stop a headache, and splint a sprain or break. A big ride in the backcountry can get you so far back that a small mistake in route or daylight can lead to an unwanted overnight. A few warmer clothes are in order, because the temperature can drop like a rock, from a friendly 70-degree afternoon to a frigid 25-degree evening after the sun goes down.
Mountain Etiquette
Always good to have a map of where you’re going, a compass, and an idea of how long a ride will take. Local outdoor shops and book stores stock an excellent assortment of maps, not to mention all types of reference books. Outdoor and bicycle shops are also a good bet for information on where to ride and what the current conditions are. Please respect trail rules, leave no trace, and ride on open trails only—wilderness, national park, and many private property trails are closed to bikes. Out on the trails, bikes should always yield to horseback riders and hikers. Think ahead and never spook animals.
One hint: this is a huge area. Take your time; relax and enjoy the ride. Biking the Yellowstone country is worth spending extra time.
Ranges of Good Rides
Details are important: pick up a local trail map and ask about conditions before starting out. Ride within your limits and enjoy yourself more. Remember, wilderness and park trails are closed to bikes.
Gros Ventre: Right out of Jackson is Cache Creek, a local favorite. Or try a ride north of the Gros Ventre River on a variety of trails like Ditch Creek.
Winds: The north end of the Winds is excellent mountain biking country. Union Pass Road provides access to a number of Continental Divide trails, or try the big hill up Union Peak, just over 11,000’ on the north end of the Winds.
Tetons: Road riding east and west sides along the Tetons offers spectacular viewing of the mountains. Try the inner park road in Grand Teton National Park. On the Idaho side, try ID 32 through Felt. The heart of the Tetons is closed to mountain bikes, but the south end offers double black-diamond runs like Phillips Canyon. The dirt Flag Ranch-Ashton road rounds the north end, and provides excellent views of the upper Snake, Tetons, and the Pitchstone Plateau of Yellowstone. You can even ride around the Teton range in a five-star, three-day tour.
Big Holes: On the quiet side of Idaho’s Teton Valley, the Big Holes offer numerous rides and big views across the valley to the Tetons.
Wyoming Range: The 100-mile Greys River road out of Alpine offers great trail access into both this range and the Salt River Range.
Snake River Range: The old Teton Pass Road out of Wilson offers a great introduction to big mountain riding. Dozens of challenging rides include Black Canyon and off the Fall Creek road.
Beartooth: The Beartooth highway is the highest road in Wyoming and offers a fantastic road ride between Red Lodge and Cooke City, Montana. For mountain bike adventures, try the Morrison Bench south of the Beartooth highway.
Absaroka: Northwest of Cody is the newest paved pass in the U.S., a spectacular ride over Dead Indian Pass. Good early season riding can be found in the Dubois Wind River area.
Tim Young once spent seven years on a 45,000-mile bike trip around the world. Former director of Jackson’s Pathways Department, Tim’s now heads the Grand Teton office of the National Parks Conservation Association, working on a visionary pathway project in Grand Teton National Park.
| COMMUNITY PATHWAYS |
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Photo: Bob Woodall/ FPI |
To that end, 19% of the local population has eschewed automobiles. Instead of driving, we walk or ride bicycles to run errands, visit with friends, and travel to and from work. We encourage you to use our expanding pathway system, too. Pathways offer a safe, healthy, and enjoyable way to view and explore the valley via a non-motorized experience.
If you’re looking for a good workout, try bicycling or in-line skating on the seven-mile-long Paul Merrit and Melody Ranch Trail located just a few miles south of the Town Square. Don’t forget to wear your helmet for this hilly trail! It also allows mountain bikers to ride the popular Cache-to-Game Creek loop without riding on the highway.
For a pleasant stroll in Jackson, start behind the new post office on Maple Way and walk or cycle the Flat Creek section of the Russ Garaman and School trails. In Wilson, Pathways users have the opportunity to learn about wetlands and wildlife at a project developed by the Jackson Hole Land Trust. The Wilson Centennial Trail starts behind the new elementary school on Hwy. 22.
While visiting Teton Village, take advantage of the newly constructed Moose-Wilson Pathway. From the village, cyclists, walkers, runners, rollerbladers and other non-motorized aficionados can now safely enjoy the outdoors via the flat and paved 7.7- mile pathway.
The Jackson Hole Mountain Resort also has recently constructed trails designed for hikers and mountain bikers along the lower sections of the ski hill. These are located at the base of Teton Village, where runners, hikers, and mountain bikers can enjoy a network of over 10 miles of undulating and challenging single-track dirt trails.
South of Jackson, the Henry’s Trail—a gravel, connector pathway that contours the landslide area of the old Jackson South Highway—was completed during the summer of 2001. This path offers great views of Munger Mountain and extends the Pathways system south of Game Creek to Hwy. 89.
Maps of the Pathways system are available at the Visitor Center on North Cache Street, the Parks & Recreation Center next to the Home Ranch parking lot on North Cache, and the Friends of Pathways offices in downtown Jackson at 90 East Simpson.
For more information about the Pathways system, call Friends of Pathways at 307-733-4534, or send us an e-mail at fop@wyoming.com, or visit our web site at jhpathways.com. -Dave Vandenberg
Dave Vandenberg is the executive director of Friends of Pathways, a non-profit bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organization.
Copyright 2004 by FPI (Focus Productions, Inc)., P.O. Box 1930, Jackson, Wyoming 83001. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publishers.
Mountain Country is a free visitors’ guide published annually in May and distributed at hundreds of locations throughout Jackson Hole, Cody, and other regional communities. To receive a copy in the mail, send $5 to Mountain Country, P.O. Box 1930, Jackson, Wyoming 83001.
Publishers: Bob Woodall & Wade McKoy, dba Focus Productions, Inc. (FPI)
Editors: Mike Calabrese, Wade McKoy, Bob Woodall
Art Direction & Ad Design: Janet Melvin
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