BengeBoy 

On my (lengthy) to do list is a ride around the Selkirk mountains in northeast Washington/southern B.C.

FYI, The Biking Bis blog published an item today about a new cyclists' guidebook and map series published for the International Selkirk Loop, a 280-mile loop that encompasses parts of northeast Washington, northeast Idaho, and southern British Columbia. There also are guides to six side trips that cover an additional 450 miles of riding.

The Biking Bis item is here:

https://www.bikingbis.com/blog/_archi...7/4343676.html

The official tourist's guide to the Selkirk Loop is here:

https://selkirkloop.org/

Here's a link to buy the map/guidebook:

https://selkirkloop.org/index.php/act.../cyclist-guide

I'd previously bookmarked the name of a bike touring company in Nelson, B.C, that does both guided or unguided tour packages of the loop:

https://www.biketoursbc.ca/tour_info.htm

No connection to any of the above, just an idea....

BigBlueToe

Excellent! Organize a tour during the summer and I'm in! I rode that part of the Northern Tier two summers ago and it was beautiful. Lake Pend Oreilles is one of my favorite places on earth!

Thanks for the links. I was a little tongue-in-cheek about organizing the tour - you'd probably want to go further than my usual 50-mile-a-day pace, but I'll be picking up the guidebooks and putting them in my to-do file.

trustnoone

Has anyone else on BF done this loop. I think it is on my short list for 2011.

balto charlie

A few years ago I spent 3 weeks in Idaho. Very beautiful state. Probably the least visited Rocky mnt. state but quite a gem. I flew/car rental/ car camping w/some biking. I would like to bike it all w/out car rental. I know Amtrak goes into Spokane. How can one get to "The Loop" from there? I'm thinking a bus. Anyone know? I hate renting a car only to let it sit there for 1-2 weeks. Charlie

bikerbob1

I'd love to ride this loop.
Has anyone purchased the book yet?
My legs are coming to the point they do not appreciate steep elevation gains.
What are the hills like for gain or is the road primarily through the valleys?

arctos

In 2007 I rode hwy 95 from East Port across into BC following the river valley on my two speed track bike for a day ride toward Cranbrook and Kimberley amd return. Moderate grade with wide shoulders with decent pavement. Nice scenery with services about 40 miles from the border. I wished that I could take the whole loop but had to go to a family reunion instead. Time to move the Selkirk Loop up the list.
The biggest hassle was the crossing into Canada. The officers could not grasp the concept that I just wanted to take a bike ride for the day. There had to be some evil purpose other than pleasure. I went through three interviews or inquisitions with questions implying that I must be a drug courier or money launderer or going to meet someone. Then I was photographed and finger printed. Picture a 66 year old retiree clydesdale on a 64cm track bike with one water bottle cage and a small under seat bag for repair kit and windbreaker planning to wreak havoc in Canada. I guess that I need to learn how to smile more when encountering robotic humanoids acting like petty tyrants when granted some power. Other than this bizarre experience the biking was very nice.

BengeBoy 

I bought the book. It's OK -- it's a series of strip maps showing the route, plus an elevation profile for each section of the route. It also has a couple of add-on loops the circle out from the Selkirk loop, and some other roads that lead into the route.

Unlike the maps from the Adventure Cycling Association, it does not show services in each town. If I were going to do the tour I'd research a bit on each down and write notes on the map myself.

I guess I'd recommend getting it if you're *really* serious about doing the trip, but if you're just considering it, or just daydreaming, I don't think you'd get a ton out of the strip map.

The little free tour guide that the International Selkirk Loop Association sends out does give you a good idea of what businesses and services are available. If you don't feel the need to know the elevation profile for each day, you could get buy with a road map and some research on your own.

indyfabz

A couple of things based on riding part of the Northern Tier route in '99 and '00:

1. Unless road improvements have been made, I would strongly caution against U.S. 2 from Priest River to Sandpoint. Went that way the first time and it was scary. Lot's of trucks and no or little shoulder in places. For this very reason, the Northern Tier route crosses into Newport and follows the other side of the river. It eventually hooks up with a trail that paralells U.S. 95 and then uses the old highway bridge to get across the lake into town. Nice ride. We ignored the route and took U.S. 2 based on some bad information from our group leader (who we eventually had fired). Bad decision.

2. I would also follow the AC route from Ione to Priest River. It pretty and quiet, and you can cross over at Usk if you need to. Don't see any reason to stay on a busier state highway.

3. Sandpoint to Clark Fork, Cabinet Gorge and then to U.S. 2 near Troy is quite nice. On MT 56 you pass through the town of Little Joe, MT. The roadside of Rte. 56 is lined with numerous crosses from fatal accidents, which was odd since both times I rode it there was virtually no traffic.

From just outside of Ione:






It must be something they put in Canadian border guards' water. My girlfriend and I crossed at Roosville last year. We were fully loaded. While our experience wasn't as bad as yours, we did get a bunch of questions about our plans and how long we would be staying. We politely explained that we were doding the loop out Whitefish into Waterton Village and then back into the U.S. at Chief Mountain and even added up the numbers of days we would be in the country. The guard was not friendly at all, and at one point fired off "What's your next day back at work?" Not knowing the exact date that would be (and not really caring as I was on the third day of vacation), I simply said "Whatever date a week from this coming Monday is." She then asked us what we did for livings. Coming back into the U.S. was pleasant. We even joked with the border guards about how expensive food and alcohol was in Canada compared to Montana.

This wasn't an anomoly. In '99, 6 or so of us participating in Adventure Cycling's Northern Tier Tour crossed into Canada together and we all got the 3rd. degree by a cold guard. Later in the trip we crossed into Ontario from Buffalo. I got the nastiest eye-roll from the guard when I asked for a passport stamp.

trustnoone

It works both ways. When crossing from Ontario I had to explain to a US Border Guard in Buffalo why I wanted to visit Gettysburg.

CCrew

Interesting observations on the crossings. Our last border crossing we were warmly greeted on the Canadian side, yet subjected to the total third degree on the US side upon return. Biggest issue it seemed was our middle daughter has a different last name due to it being a "blended" family. Had we not had all the documentation we needed I could have seen it being uber interesting.

gregstandt

We have ridden the Northern (BC) part of this several times.
We live in Spokane so drive one side or the other to get to Canada. Any of the loops that can be put together are great.
There are numerous campgrounds along the way and the little towns are cool.
One thing to know is that the pass between Creston and Salmo is the highest paved pass in Canada. We didn't know this our first time and it's big.
The free ferry which crosses Kooteney Lake between Balfour and Crawford bay is a fun trip even if you just ride over and back.
Our favorite part is between Kaslo and New Denver, long and shallow from Kaslo, short and steep from New Denver with a nice rest stop at a lake on top.
Not part of the loop but going north from New Denver takes you to Nakusp, a neat little town on Arrow Lake. North of Nakusp is Halcyon Hot Springs which has a variety of accomodations and excellent hot pools in a beautiful setting. North of Halcyon another free ferry takes you across Arrow Lake at Shelter Bay and then you can ride on up to Revelstoke, a good sized city.

We always enjoy our trips up there.



Lunch on the beach at Shelter Bay ferry crossing




Camping at Summit Lake between New Denver and Nakusp