JoeyBike

Most cyclists in Glacier are touring cyclists just passing through. Not many recreational road cyclists drive a million miles, past all sorts of better mountain passes, to seek out the ONE road in Glacier that also has a time limit to get over the top. See my post above. Beautiful place to hike and backpack with hundreds of trails. Miserable place to drive a car, much less a bike. Yes, the scenery is breathtaking but the Icefields Parkway from Banff to Jasper Alberta is so much better cycling if you're that close.

axolotl

The restriction biking up Logan Pass west to east is from 11am to 4pm, not at 9am.
https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/bicycling.htm

It's a matter of taste, but I've crossed the Continental Divide on my bike over 5 different passes in Colorado alone, and none of them can compare, in my opinion, with the grandeur of Going-to-the-Sun Road.
-
The Icefields Parkway is very nice, but it's different. For me, Going-to-the-Sun Road is the prettiest pass I've seen in North America.

Tourist in MSN

I agree with Axoloti, as I mentioned above I rode from East to West. That way I only had one section of road with the restriction, and the one restricted zone I had was at the end of the day to get to Apgar campground in late afternoon. The other section of road that Joeybike cited with the east bound restriction near Logan pass is only for eastbound cyclists.

And the obvious advantage of East to West is less climbing and more downhill, refer to my GPS plot above in post number 13.

When I arrived at Logan Pass, there must have been some tour group that rode from West to East because there were a bunch of roadies hanging out at Logan Pass with their carbon framed wonder bikes that had just arrived. The way that they stared at us with their jaws hanging down and the shock on their faces was priceless. They could not believe that people with four panniers loaded down could ever get up a hill like that.

One of my neighbors went out to Glacier to ride her bike with a tour group for a week, her trip was all indoor lodging and van supported to haul all the luggage. And her group all made it to Logan Pass in time to avoid the cut off, but I do not think she told me what time they started. I think in her group, Logan Pass was on the last day of her week long trip.

One thing I should have mentioned earlier but did not think of it at that time, if the OP has a group that is van supported and if they plan to have the van meet them at the top for lunch, the parking lot at the top can be very full and hard to park at. So a contingency plan might be in order if they have a plan to park a vehicle at the top.

Doug64

East or West Glacier are much easier to get to than Banff or Jasper. Amtrak goes right by both towns.

The Icefield Parkway is also a great ride, but as axolotl said' "it is different". It is also much harder logistically if the OP is not van supported, and they are not camping. I would recommend starting in Jasper, and riding to Calgary using the Icefield and the Bow Valley Parkways. It is a great ride. Motels and hotels are booked far in advance. However, there are some really nice campgrounds between Jasper and Calgary.

Between Sunwapta Falls and Icefield. The best room in the house.

skookum

I have cycled Going to the Sun probably half a dozen times and Icefields Parkway three times. Going to the Sun is my favourite.

I like the way it crosses the back bone of the continent, the Great Divide and I love the way the road is constructed. Its narrow and twisty and it takes you right up to timberline. Then down you go again, as fast as you dare. Its incredibly scenic. If you are in the vicinity, you owe it to yourself to do it.

I prefer climbing the west side, from Lake McDonald. You have to leave early by six or seven AM, to get to the top by 11 (not 9) but you get to ride in the cool of the morning and there usually isn't much traffic.

You can make a nice three day loop starting at St Mary heading south to East Glacier then west over Marias pass (which is rather dull) to West Glacier, Lake McDonald and over the Pass. Or go the other direction. Both are fun. I would do it in the off season(September) if possible.


The Icefields Parkway is more difficult logistically, but its longer and has some amazing scenery. The road isn't the smoothest and there can be a lot of traffic in the summer. Interestingly there was a proposal to build a separate bike path next to the highway between Jasper and Columbia icefields, but it's been quashed by its high cost and the opposition of environmental groups.

jamawani 

Nope. You didn't read any responses.
Nor did you look at the Glacier NP cycling page. Pretty easy to locate.
https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/bicycling.htm

You are quite wrong.
a) The Logan Pass restriction is only eastbound uphill - from 11a to 4p.
No restrictions on Logan Pass westbound.
Rangers do enforce this.
b) Lake McDonald section restriction both ways - from 11a to 4p.
Rangers do enforce this, too.

Eastbound - with gear (without gear)
From Apgar you would need to leave at 6a. (7a)
You need to start from Sprague Creek or McDonald Lodge at 7a. (7:45a)
From Avalanche you can stretch it to 7:30a. (8a)
Strong riders might leave a half hour to 45 min later from all 3 locations.
But the earlier the better because traffic is lighter.

Westbound -
No restrictions, but the earlier the better. 2 hours to get to Logan Pass.
Westbound is preferable since the morning sun illuminates the high peaks.
Westbounders will need to wait at McDonald Lodge or Sprague Creek until 4p.

<<<>>>

Yes, Glacier NP has a great deal of traffic -
But it you plan your timing, GTTS remains one of the most spectacular rides in the world.
There is also heavy traffic on the Icefields Parkway, in Yellowstone, in Yosemite, around Aspen.
If you want light traffic try US 6 between Tonopah and Ely Nevada,

indyfabz

So much wrong in this it almost hurts.

tcs

Actually an impressive 760 feet higher than the crossing on New Mexico 9, but yeah, I get what he was saying and I bet not many folks choose between those two routes.

JoeyBike

Most of what I typed was OPINION. You may disagree with my opinion, many here do fairly often, but you can't say my opinion is right or wrong. The only "facts" I presented were:

1. There is exactly ONE bikeable road in Glacier. TWO if you do it both ways.
2. There is a time limit on the only road you can cycle upon (yes, I got the exact time wrong) and,
3. Glacier is remote. Unless you want to travel 1000 miles BY TRAIN to cycle on ONE road. It is a beautiful road for LOOKING AT, but the entire Rocky Mountain chain is right there and more appealing FOR CYCLING. In my opinion.

Would you make a long travel plan to visit an amusement park 1000 miles away to ride ONE awesome roller-coaster AND that was the ONLY ride at the park? AND it was only open to you a few hours each day?? There are many people who would! They are checking roller-coasters of their list. If you are checking mountain passes off your list, then you gotta do what you gotta do. But if you are looking for a cycling destination I can think of dozens of better ones. IN MY OPINION.

I have been to Glacier in a car. My family drove the entire Rocky Mountains from Mexico to Jasper, Alberta. Awesome. Loved Glacier. It was PART of an adventure. Then in my 30s I biked the entire Rocky Mountain chain from Pueblo, CO to Jasper fully self contained. Granted I had seen Glacier once before but for me, Glacier National Park was a check mark on my list. Otherwise it was basically "in my way". I enjoyed it but I sure as Hell would not go there just for Glacier. IMO!

It's nice to shine a light on the entire picture, not just the climax. How far do you live from Glacier and how many times have you cycled Glacier NP? Just curious. People travel very long distances to kiss a certain rock face (Black Stone in Kaaba). I'm not judging. Just giving my OPINION.

ksryder

Try reading the thread.

JoeyBike

Always a good idea. So I took your advice. A lot was added after my first post as well. It's all been covered far as I can see. Thanks.

indyfabz

1. Factually incorrect. You can also ride to the Many Glacier and Two Medicine areas of the park. There is also Camas Rd. Want gravel? Polebridge Rd. And let's not forget Chief Mountain Highway.

2. Factually way wrong as there are no restrictions on the east side of Logan Pass, and, again, it is not the only road you can cycle. See No. 1 above.

3. Factually incorrect. You can fly into Glacier Park International Airport (f/k/a FCA) (I've done it twice.) It's a scant, easy 12 miles from Whitefish. Plenty of ground transportation. Or you could simply ride your bike to the park. West Glacier is only 25 miles from Glacier Cyclery, a great shop in Whitefish that will receive and re-assemble your bike and store you bike box.

JoeyBike

Good to know. There are THREE roads, two of them basically to nowhere and back. In a popular, crowded, National Park. I stand corrected.

How many people make the trek all the way to Glacier and only bike up the East side, back down, and go home? Likely a statistical ZERO. So yes, you got me again technically speaking.

So I would fly with my bike to GPI (or have it shipped to the bike shop for assembly), reassemble the bike and ride to Glacier N.P. (one if not two days used up), Bike ONE ROAD (the only one anyone really wants to bike) or maybe three crowded roads. Or maybe just bike up the East side and back down! Then pack everything up again (another day or two wasted) and fly home. Really?

There is the "Letter of the law" and the "Spirit of the law". You cover the "Letter" of the facts and I'll handle the "Spirit" of the facts. And I am always happy to be corrected! Thanks.

pdlamb

The arguments against GTS in Glacier can be applied to many of the other large national parks, e.g.:
Yellowstone: One figure eight road with four spurs out of the park
Yosemite: Two roads and a spur to the valley
Great Smoky: Two roads with a loop at the end of one
Blue Ridge Parkway/Skyline Drive: Just one road between the two of them
Grand Tetons: One road with a parallel road outside part of the park

Does that mean there's no scenery in a park? Hardly. May as well make a fuss that there's no microbrewery in any national park.

Tourist in MSN

This being a bicycle forum, I won't recommend Isle Royale National Park, there is no bicycling allowed in the park.

spinnaker

Is it really that steep? Looks like a really long but fairly shallow climb. Are the photos deceiving? Looks like a beautiful road either way. Where are all of the cars?

skookum

But is there a brew pub? If there is I am going.

Tourist in MSN

I think part of it was 10 or maybe 12 percent grade. If I recall right there were a couple hills that had about a thousand feet of very steep elevation to climb, along with some that were less tall. But when I rode it there was very little traffic. There was intermittent rain the day I rode it, so it was not very scenic given the weather.

skookum

I've never ridden this road, although I have driven it several times and I can confirm there are big hills. I looked at a couple of online route mapping apps to try and figure out the actual grade of those hills, but I couldn't make it work well enough to figure it out. I'm half tempted to drive down there, bring a bike and ride it just to see how steep they are.

indyfabz

Waterton Village to U.S. 89 via PR 6 and Chief Mountain Highway is not an easy stretch.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28788102?beta=false

Then when you get to U.S. 89 you will likely have a stiff headwind to St. Mary.

That lack of traffic is what we encountered in '09. There was only one car in front of us and one behind us when we reached the U.S. border. This was the largest onslaught of traffic we encountered:

Doug64

As the other folks pointed out, there are some steep sections. There are less steep areas and even some nice downhill in the section from Waterton to the junction of Highway 89. I was riding behind my wife when I took the pictures, so we were on one of the gentler sections. I can't take photos and ride the steep sections at the same time very well