The Trail of the Hiawatha

Posted 3 years ago by Mike

I have been wanting to ride the Trail of the Hiawatha for years. Finally get to check it off the bucket list. High expectations and it did not disappoint!

Some people bring their own bike and ride both directions – up and down. Or just ride down and buy a shuttle pass to take them back up. Since the trail is dirt and gravel and we only had our road bikes, we did the shuttle and rented bikes. So all we had to do was cruise down and enjoy the scenery 🙂 This was our rest day after all 🙂 The bikes were decent but nothing to brag about. The tires had air, the crank turned, the brakes worked, and the gears shifted. That’s all you really need, right? But we are definitely spoiled with our fancy road bikes — these things were like tanks or pack mules 🙂

Larry, of course, left his backpack at the rest room and started riding away. I grabbed it and brought it to him and it took him a moment to realize oh yeah that’s my backpack. We love you Larry 🙂

The first part of the ride is thru a 1.25 mile long tunnel that is pitch black. The little rental lights barely cut it — luckily I also brought my bike light. It was cold and damp in the tunnel. Cool and freaky at the same time. Once we got going past the tunnel it started to warm up and it turned into a nice, sunny day.

Tunnels carved in rock, trestles climbing out of deep canyons, surrounded by dense forested mountains — words fall short in describing the incredibleness of this ride. This was an old rail line that connected Chicago, IL to Olympia, WA. Lots of signage along the route to describe how the line was built, what life was like working and living along the line, and the tragedy of the Fire of 1904 (year?). An epic bike ride and a living museum, it really felt like we had travelled back to a time forgotten.

Geri had to go to the bathroom so she raced ahead. Going fast on a bike without fenders over wet dirt made for quite the fashion statement 🙂 She had mud all over her pants, the back of her shirt, all the way up into the back of her hair. Oh Geri, sometimes it is advantageous to slow down and smell the roses.

The Trail of the Hiawatha is named after Native American Mythology of a demi-god named Hiawatha who could run faster than anyone else. The railroad company named the train after Hiawatha because at the time it was the fastest way to travel from the Midwest to the West Coast.

This was a gem and a memory I will hold dear for the rest of my days. And the trail is in Montana, so we rode across 3 states (Montana, Idaho, Washington) along this tour — pretty sweet.

After the ride, we went to the historic silver mining town of Wallace, Idaho. Larry grew up here. We had dinner at a brew pub that served up beer from Wallace Brewing Company. Emi and I shared a Prime Rib Dip that was excellent. After dinner, we stopped at a coffee shop for a much needed pick-me-up. A couple on mountain bikes geared up for bikepacking was there. I asked about their ride and they told me they did 2 days. Started in Wallace. Up into the backcountry along the Hiawatha, camped for the night, and back to Wallace the next day. I enjoy hearing about two-wheel adventures. It inspires me to want to do more. Keep on riding.