Yellowstone Riding

[adamhell]

What's the sitch? I'm about to go there and I don't know whether it's worth bringing a bike, and which bike to bring if I do.

Any experiences riding near there? We are staying in Montana. I don't know much more than that.

-adam

[eippo1]

Not a local, but I think there are some places near there that are amazing for riding. If you can ride in the park, I'd stay away from the roads. The tourists are truly a ****-show on wheels.

[Mzilliox]

ive done a bit of riding there. i'd have at least 28s for when roads turn to dirt, theres a lot of dirt around. theres a ton of climbing if thats your thing too. if you are pure road, that would be fine, the roads are in good shape this time of year. certain roads have a lot of cars, but traffic tends to be slow, and its always possible to get off the main roads.

have fun, theres always something to see there, so many rivers, so much wildlife! i love that area and will be there late august or september

[David Kirk]

Are you asking about riding in Yellowstone park itself or in the surrounding area?

dave

[malcolm]

I really don't know the answer but I'll leave you with this. We were there May a year ago and saw quite a few cyclists in both yellowstone and GTNP, including a family, Mom, Dad and a trailer with a little one. They were loaded down with full travel gear.

It looks like a fun place to ride and in early to mid May when the tourist volume is low I bet it is, but ever then there can be some log jams especially when animals are on the roadway as bison are prone to do.
This time of the year (June, July early August) unless things have changed in recent years yellowstone has a tendency to turn into a parking lot and I suspect it would suck. Could be wrong just basing it on when I've been there in a car.

[adamhell]

Are you asking about riding in Yellowstone park itself or in the surrounding area?

dave

either and or both. just if it's worth bringing a bike, and if so, cross, mtb, road ???? i'm thinking my black mountain cycles might be fun.

[sandyrs]

either and or both. just if it's worth bringing a bike, and if so, cross, mtb, road ???? i'm thinking my black mountain cycles might be fun.

See this thread:

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=179533

[gone]

Yellowstone is a national treasure. I wouldn't ride a bike on the roads there for a million bucks. People lose whatever sanity they have at the sight of anything bigger than a chipmunk. I've seen people making u-turns in the middle of a blind curve because they saw an elk (turnout 100 feet down the road).

Want to share a narrow road with grandpa pulling a 50' motor home? Yellowstone's your place.

Not enough money to get me to ride on the roads there and I've been there dozens of times over the last 40 years.


Greg

[HenryA]

I would not ride in the park, but the surrounding area is wonderful. Dave Kirk will likely chime in with his favorites.

[adamhell]

i would probably want to ride dirt, anyways. the tourists seem crazy!

[Mr. Pink]

Not much dirt you can ride in both Yellowstone and Teton. Actually, not much dirt at all in any National Park. Save Yellowstone for a good walk. There's lots of that. Bring the bear spray and leave the damn animals alone. There's been a rash of stupidity in the park resulting in nasty human/wildlife encounters. Trust me, you lose in the end. They are way bigger than you, and live a hard life.

Teton Park out and back from Jacksonish is a better and safer road, but flat/ish. The town of Jackson is a mess in the summer. Teton Pass south of Teton park is for the climbing studs, on both sides, and coming up from Idaho is steeper.

Edit: if you're on the Montana side, a nice ride may be the climb up to the Big Sky ski resort and back. Probably not to busy in the summer.

[Tickdoc]

Was there last spring on a hiking and road trip with my 15 yr old and did not see many cyclist. I did see one guy having a hella ride around lake Yellowstone and it looked like an awesome ride. Offered him a water and some bars but he declined. Dude was trucking it up the hills, one water bottle, and no visible foodstuffs.

I thought I remember hearing there are parts you can ride and parts you can't, or only can seasonal.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Handgod/B73504AD-82FD-4AD2-8396-8890B3D2DDB4_zpsq3ptbnfv.jpg

[nesteel]

I rode Yellowstone as a teenager, before I knew better (crazy people driving RV's). I'd do the Paradise Valley loop north of the park though.

[Mr. Pink]

Was there last spring on a hiking and road trip with my 15 yr old and did not see many cyclist. I did see one guy having a hella ride around lake Yellowstone and it looked like an awesome ride. Offered him a water and some bars but he declined. Dude was trucking it up the hills, one water bottle, and no visible foodstuffs.

I thought I remember hearing there are parts you can ride and parts you can't, or only can seasonal.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Handgod/B73504AD-82FD-4AD2-8396-8890B3D2DDB4_zpsq3ptbnfv.jpg


That picture looks like it was taken on one of those hills still looking damaged from the great fires of 1988. I remember driving through those landscapes maybe ten years ago. Probably be like that for decades.

I was lucky enough to do a snowmobile ride to the main geyser the winter after the fire. Think of all that blackened landscape with five feet of snow.

[Tickdoc]

That picture looks like it was taken on one of those hills still looking damaged from the great fires of 1988. I remember driving through those landscapes maybe ten years ago. Probably be like that for decades.

I was lucky enough to do a snowmobile ride to the main geyser the winter after the fire. Think of all that blackened landscape with five feet of snow.

Yes it was still pretty in a new growth kinda way. This was after a four day camping/hiking trip. We saw so much wildlife, every minute of the trip was special. I loved seeing on our hike how a tree would fall and decay for many many....many years until it is just pulp and dust. That and the many sheds. Such a magnificent place. I hope to go back some day soon.

[sevencyclist]

I am in Yellowstone now and I would say leave the bikes at home. I have not seen much off road trails open to cyclists; and the road, as many have said above, is dangerous for road riding due to the tourists behavior. Don't take the risk and just focus on getting to whatever you wanted to see in the cars safely.

Do the riding outside. Hike the trails (Canyon is great) if you wanted to enjoy nature.

My 2 cents.

[unterhausen]

it's been a long time since I have been there, but it seems like the road off to east Yellowstone is pretty deserted.

[Daveyk]

just got home from my first trip to Wyoming, so am no expert on the area.

I got ride In on the multi use / bike paths in the Teton and Jackson areas. I can recommend that.

The roads through National Parks were busy with cars and tourists. It must be even busier now after Memorial weekend. I would not t recommend a ride in Yellowstone.

[ripvanrando]

I'm probably riding thru Yellowstone tomorrow. It can't be that bad.

[bewheels]

I'm probably riding thru Yellowstone tomorrow. It can't be that bad.

Yes it can!

Granted I was last there in the mid 80s on a bike going across the country. Crazy amount of RV traffic back then. These are not professional truck drivers. A lot of the RV traffic were rental RVs which mean people driving these rigs with little/no experience.

I was on the core roads in the park. I would not do that again ... I was very happy to get out of there.

Another thing to be ware of, I was there in mid June and it was snowing

[David Kirk]

I personally would never try to ride through the park during the summer. It's way too dangerous. It just takes a single drive through the park to see how it is to put any urge to ride there to rest.

There may be good offroad riding but I've never looked into it - bring bear spray.

dave

[Mr. Pink]

bring bear spray.




Gruesome way to go.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America

[taylor_walker]

You might find some ideas for cycling around the Greater Yellowstone area here: http://www.cyclegreateryellowstone.com/

I have always wanted to ride the Beartooth Highway/Pass....

Best,

Taylor

[zennmotion]

Save the Yellowstone trip for winter. Seriously, it's a different place and total magic around the thermal basin and all those trail are totally (and legally) skiable nordic-style and it only takes a few minutes of huffing away from the Lodge and you are---- alone----. The bears are sleeping but everything else is out and within sight of the roads and trails- things you'll never see with the Summer crowds. Plus soaking in the Boiling River when the temperature is near/below zero is amazing- until you have to get out and dress in the open. For Summer, go to Glacier instead, they should be opening up the Going to the Sun Road which is a great alpine ride that's open to bikes before the cars- mid June is about perfect-, and the perimeter roads and adjacent state forest roads around Glacier park are great riding.

[ripvanrando]

Lousy road surface. Tiny shoulder. Endless cars and RVs. Mediocre scenery at best. I had no choice being the route. I wouldn't recommend riding thee.

[adamhell]

i don't think i'm gonna bother bringing a bike, too much hassle and too many mixed comments. i should learn to appreciate somewhere without having to ride a bike.

[kingpin75s]

i don't think i'm gonna bother bringing a bike, too much hassle and too many mixed comments. i should learn to appreciate somewhere without having to ride a bike.

Probably a good plan. I just got back from Glacier and Yellowstone and I would not feel safe riding the roads of Yellowstone. Some places are just better for boots than bikes.

With that said, it was pretty cool seeing a few riders on the Divide trail when I was camping in Avalanche Creek in Glacier. Very nice that the park has dedicated drop in space for bikes and hikers as would be tough biking that route and have to fight to find a place to rest. Yellowstone was nice. Glacier is Amazing IMHO.

[old fat man]

Probably a good plan. I just got back from Glacier and Yellowstone and I would not feel safe riding the roads of Yellowstone. Some places are just better for boots than bikes.

With that said, it was pretty cool seeing a few riders on the Divide trail when I was camping in Avalanche Creek in Glacier. Very nice that the park has dedicated drop in space for bikes and hikers as would be tough biking that route and have to fight to find a place to rest. Yellowstone was nice. Glacier is Amazing IMHO.

I'm riding Going to the Sun Rd for the second time this summer. We'll camp at Avalanche and start before the sun rises. Truly epic start to the day.

I rode through Yellowstone (west to east) in mid July 2008 on my way across country. I thought it was quite nice and never feared the cars. I chose to exit via Cooke City which is a much less trafficked route, maybe that had something to do with it: https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=tS&page_id=83534&v=1d

Seeing the park from the seat of a bicycle is IMHO, an exponentially better experience than driving. Yes, hiking would be good too, but you can't hike the whole thing.

[malcolm]

I just got back from Yellowstone and GTNP last week and will be going back next week.

I personally wouldn't ride in the park. Lots of no shoulders and major league distracted drivers.

I did see a ton of people riding in the park almost all were on loaded touring bikes. I also saw a bunch of folks on I think it's hwy 287 considered the scenic route coming from the Boulder area heading to Jackson, Wy.

I had also forgotten there is a fair amount of bike paths in GTNP.

Again I wouldn't do it but I was surprised at the number of peeps doing it.

A tip, even for mid June on days we got into the park early 5-6 am traffic was quite low, by mid day that was no longer the case.

[adamhell]

i just got back from yellowstone as well. i ended up not taking a bike. but, i rented downhill MTBs with some of my family and took them up big sky resort chairlifts. it was very fun.

[dave thompson]

I'm riding Going to the Sun Rd for the second time this summer. We'll camp at Avalanche and start before the sun rises. Truly epic start to the day.

I rode through Yellowstone (west to east) in mid July 2008 on my way across country. I thought it was quite nice and never feared the cars. I chose to exit via Cooke City which is a much less trafficked route, maybe that had something to do with it: https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=tS&page_id=83534&v=1d

Seeing the park from the seat of a bicycle is IMHO, an exponentially better experience than driving. Yes, hiking would be good too, but you can't hike the whole thing.
Doing the Going to the Sun Road is a bucket list thing for me.

[cnighbor1]

The trans AM Race went thru yellow stone do there route
http://transambikerace.com/2016-live-tracker/

[commonguy001]

The trans AM Race went thru yellow stone do there route
http://transambikerace.com/2016-live-tracker/

They came through the Tetons also. We were pulling in on the 12th and saw them all on the road right at the divide just outside of the Jackson Lake entrance. Pretty cool to see as we just watched the documentary on Netflix a few weeks back.

Regarding Riding there - I had my bike with and rode some in the Black Hills on the way out but skipped it in the park (GTNP not Yellowstone). Even though there was a fairly decent shoulder on the main road there was a ton of traffic and half of that was in rented RVs. The dirt road system in the park is minimal where I was and wasn't worth gearing up for IMO. I would have ridden the Signal Mountain climb but we did the hike up instead. I'll probably bring my bike next time we're out but it'll again be for riding at our Spearfish SD layover on the way out.