Motorcycling the Northwest
Some favorite motorcycling routes through the forests and valleys of northern Idaho, eastern Washington and Oregon.
HOME This story was published in the Lewiston Morning Tribune of Lewiston, Idaho, in 1996 under the byline Mohsin Askari
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A rider winding up Rattlesnake Grade between Washington and Oregon on a Yamaha Venture Royale. Photo is by Steve Hanks. |
They look fashionably dangerous, though most are regular folks. Sometimes they travel in loud groups. A few still have an unsavory reputation.
But all motorcyclists have an indefinable air of freedom about them as they rumble down the highway.
This may be because of another attribute: an almost unerring ability to ferret out roads that carve through some of this area's most stunning scenery.
Which is why five motorcyclists were asked to map out their favorite routes for this story. (The Tribune's own Paul Emerson, the managing editor, owner of a 1983 BMW R100 RT, was excluded: the most scenic route he's taken lately has been Snake River Avenue.)
For many motorcyclists it's the journey that matters, not the destination, which is why there is really no ending to these travels. In some cases you return the same way because it's the only way, in others you take a different route back home.
In all cases a good map is needed, because the routes are not precisely mapped out below, they only mention places to go through and highway numbers are mentioned in only a few cases.
All the routes present plenty of opportunity for a picnic or, if you prefer your lunches indoors, there are cafes at decent intervals. Some are mentioned.
And, while motorcyclists will say that it is the only transport that will let you enjoy these journeys, they can be an enjoyable experience in or on almost anything - automobile, bicycle or motorhome.
Click for map
Whitey Hartman's Whirld
Whitey Hartman (only his mother calls him Glenn) grew up with motorcycles, from the days of snorting, leaky, smelly, unreliable but still lovable machines to today's sleek marvels.
A former park ranger, he is mostly known as a retired motorcycle mechanic who can do things with his hands, with a little help from machines, that most mechanics won't even attempt.
In the 51 years he has been riding them, fixing them, sometimes cursing them, he has owned between 255 and 265 motorcycles - it is probably difficult to remember the exact number after the first couple of hundred.
Hartman prefers small machines, and these days owns a 1983 Honda XL 200. He is a familiar sight in the area, his generous body draped over a straining motorcycle.
Why go somewhere on a motorcycle?
Hartman's logic is iron-cast.
The object of going somewhere, he says, is to get away from it all. And on a motorcycle you can take the least amount and get away from the most.
Hartman's picks:
One short trip is down Rattlesnake Grade, winding down to the Grand Ronde River from Field Springs State Park, which is just beyond Anatone.
On the way, a compulsory stop, says Hartman, is at Field Springs to get a cold drink from the spring there. To find the spring, he says, take all the right turns on paved road in the park.
Another must is at the bottom - rhubarb pie and/or rhubarb milk shake at the restaurant on the banks of the Grand Ronde.
Starting the same way but going on to Joseph, Ore. From there to Oxbow Dam, a quick side trip up to Hells Canyon Dam and back, and then winding on to Cambridge, where you connect with U.S. Highway 95 and head back. This is a crowded full day, preferably a two-day trip.
There are many places to stop on the way, but Hartman suggests going a few miles to a viewpoint just before Oxbow, where you can look down into Hells Canyon. This can be reached by taking the first road east after crossing the Imnaha River.
A day trip to Kendrick, then Deary, Bovill, Santa and on to White Pine Drive (Highway 6). Past that he suggests going to Troy and returning through either Moscow or Kendrick.
The Burgeoning Wordsmith
Dennis Burgess of Craigmont is service manager at Clarkston's Mac's Cycle. Owner of a 1988 Kawasaki Voyager with 135,000 miles on it, he has had the privilege - he questions if that is the right word - of running into a deer at highway speed and surviving.
He managed to keep the Voyager up, but it suffered heavy damage to the fairing from the impact.
Judging from his choice of words, if he wasn't mechanic-ing, Burgess could well have been wordsmithing.
"Get in touch with yourself, leave your worries behind, change to a slower pace'' - these are some of the phrases he uses to describe the joys of motorcycling.
His choices:
Take U.S. Highway 12 to Missoula, Mont., and back, probably a two-day trip but can be done in a day.
He suggests stopping at Coldgate Licks, which is a rest area some 20 miles west of Lolo Pass. Smell the flowers, watch the elk and deer if there are any around, take the two-mile nature hike, get back to nature a little bit, he says.
Syringa is a good place for lunch.
Go up the old Winchester Grade, which is posted about a mile south of Culdesac. A slow twisting road, at the top it provides views of the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley you don't normally get to see. Winchester has at least one cafe for a leisurely meal.
Down Rattlesnake Grade and then on to Rimrock Cafe, overlooking Joseph Canyon, which is several miles beyond the Grand Ronde.
Take a date on a warm summer night, Burgess suggests, and have dinner at the cafe.
The Collector
Russ Barton, a retired Lewiston firefighter, is co-owner, with his brother Phil, of Barton Brothers Cycle in Lewiston Orchards.
He mostly rides a 1987 Harley-Davidson FXRT, but has a superb collection of vintage motorcycles. Among them: two Excelsiors, 1911 and 1913, an Indian Scout from 1925, a Harley from 1926, plus Triumphs, Ducatis and other makes that define the history of motorcycling.
His picks:
A 300-mile run through Walla Walla, turning south of Milton-Freewater on to Highway 204 to Elgin. From there it's to Enterprise and back up Rattlesnake Grade.
Barton suggests a trip to Wallowa Lake from Enterprise, a short run to a stunning mountain fringed lake. A while back the deer in the park were so tame they would take food from your hand.
U.S. Highway 12 to Kooskia, then turning toward Stites, going on to Grangeville and returning on U.S. 95.
North to Potlatch, then taking White Pine Drive to Bovill and returning through Deary and Kendrick.
A Pig with Points
Pat Samsel of Lewiston is an automobile mechanic who has been involved with motorcycling safety in the area. He has been a Motorcycle Safety Foundation motorcycle instructor for 11 years, and has offered classes periodically.
He now rides an impeccably maintained 1979 Suzuki GS 850, a motorcycle he jocularly calls an old pig with points. Points were ignition contact breakers used before electronic ignition came in, and caused no end of trouble for early motorcyclists by burning up or fouling. The Suzuki is not like that.
His selection:
U.S. 12 to Missoula, and then heading east on the highway to Coeur d'Alene. There he suggests heading south on the road that winds down the east side of Lake Coeur d'Alene to St. Maries, then taking White Pine Drive to U.S. 95 and back.
For his second choice Samsel goes a little farther afield, to the Going-to-the-Sun Road that cuts across Glacier National Park in Montana. It takes about a day to get there, through Missoula.
Take U.S. 12, turn off on to Cottonwood Creek Road just past Myrtle, go through Gifford and Reubens to U.S. 95, then head to Craigmont, Nezperce, Grangeville, Kamiah and back.
You can see the seasons change, he said, if you take this road at different times of the year.
Samsel suggests taking a lunch, and stopping somewhere along the way.
Founder's Day
Duane Ash of Lewiston is founder and president of the local chapter of Gem State Voyagers, a motorcyclists' group, and has organized motorcycle rallies for a number of years in Lewiston. He rides a 1991 Voyager.
His first choice was similar to Hartman's, through Oxbow, although he suggested camping in one of the campgrounds near the dam.
To Wawawai State Park, for a peaceful evening ride and back. Club members often make this ride, taking dinner with them, he says.
To Dworshak Dam on U.S. 12, and returning through Southwick, Cavendish and Kendrick.
