Interesting / Fun stops along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route

[MaxProphet]

Hi,

I am interested in compiling a list of unique / interesting / fun stops along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route from the standpoint of a casual rider/tourist.  I think I have the breweries down.  Other examples include neat/unique restaurants, bakeries, any must-see landmarks, shops, lodging, and hot springs.  Bonus point to anything that has kind of tailored itself to service the needs of riders of this route.

If you have any gems you’d like to share I am all ears!  Thanks!

-Kevin

[THE LONG RANGER]

Well worth to go slightly off route and take a ride on the Cumbres and Toltec narrow gauge railroad!

http://cumbrestoltec.com/

Gondola rides in Breckenridge!

http://go2breckenridge.com/breckenridge-gondola/

Copper pit in Butte!

http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/berkeley-pit

[SEC]

Elkhorn Hot Springs, MT- amazing and fun cool old school lodge
Bannock State Park, MT- cool mining town
Fernie, BC if you go that way- esp good northbound cos it's the best food ever
Summer store in Canon Plaza, NM
a cool alt route in the Jemez, NM that allows you to camp near water and do some single track is a canyon called chihuahuenos 

[Hayduke]

Folks have fun on the Great Divide Route?

.....I just assumed it was all about sleep deprivation induced hallucinating, oozing saddle sores stuck to rancid chamois shorts and tearful trailside break downs. Who would have thought? :- )

[THE LONG RANGER]

Somewhat congruent to this topic, I've been mapping out alternatives to the official route. My last one was a pretty big alt, but I've made another that's far less committing, adds a bit of singletrack, and shows you another, I think prettier view of the South Park area:

http://longranger.justinsimoni.com/2017/06/21/making-the-great-divide-mountain-bike-route-even-greater-the-peaks-trail-in-summit-county-south-park-alt-out-of-hartsel/

[Iowagriz]

Glacier Park side trip, especially Going to the Sun Hwy (restricted hours for riding portions)

There is a way to turn right as you hit the pavement at Whitefish Lake, that road goes south and then east and dead-ends.  Before the dead-end, you turn south, cross RR tracks and would have a push uphill. But, then you are into the singletrack trail system that can go to the Whitefish Bike Retreat and ultimately a backway into Whitefish.  I've only ridden down that way.  I imagine the initial up would be a solid hike with a fully loaded bike, but the singletrack is mostly smooth and would be a blast.  Cricket would have more details.

Lots of Gold History in Helena and mining history between Helena and Butte.

Just north of Helena and off route 1-2 miles (steady downhill) - is Marysville.  Mostly a ghost town with a great steakhouse.  Would be a worthy sidetrip, but the elevation gain/loss looks substantial.

[mathieu]

Ovando!

[tkmoult]

San Antonio Springs on FR 376 a few miles south from the intersection of FR 376 and FR 144 just on the west side the Valle Caldera in Santa Fe National Forest.  About 10 miles off route.

Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort and Spa 2 miles south from the intersection of NM 111 and US 285, about 17 miles off route south of Vallecitos.

[threepin]

i agree on Bannack, not only is it interesting the campground looks pretty good and there is a good source of water there, park is quite close to the route too

as far as Glacier side trips two possibilities are:
1 cross into the park at polebridge a couple of miles south of the turn up to red meadow pass, ride the inside north fork road (closed to cars for a lengthy section) then route yourself to apgar then west glacier , when leaving west glacier head west on the bike path paralleling us 2 then turn right on Belton stage then  eventually right on Blankenship rd  and left on the North fork rd, this will take you to columbia falls to rejoin the route.

2 when in the upper flathead instead of turning west toward cabin pass you can head east to akamina pass and then into alberta and waterton park.
after leaving waterton head through the chief mountain customs  and south toward st mary's. At St mary's head east on the going to the sun road ( in this direction the bicycling restrictions don't apply till you are down along Lake Macdonald. At apgar you can either do as above and head to ward columbia falls or take the inside north fork rd to pole bridge and then head north from pole bridge on the outside north fork rd to rejoin the main route at the red meadow rd.

The back way to the bike retreat would be a bit stiff loaded and strictly speaking that crossing is private property though i have not heard of anyone having an issue, there is an alternate route that is much less steep and takes dirt roads but is harder to navigate. Too, from the Retreat to whitefish is an un friendly stretch of highway 93. In a couple of years the side trip will be much better with a section of the whitefish trail to be built and a new bike trail to parallel 93 to be installed.

[Salubrious]

I thought the restaurant at Echo Lake Montana (Echo Lake Cafe) was pretty good.

There's a nice Mexican restaurant just off the city center in Helena. Contrary to rumor there are (or were) two restaurants keeping normal hours in Basin.

Elkhorn Hot Springs are off the descent into Polaris.

The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone are pretty obvious.

There are a number of non-commercial hot springs in the Jemez Springs area that are on public land. In the other direction (west instead of east) is Chaco Canyon.

North of Salida is Princeton Hot Springs, over the Poncha Pass and south on the pavement about 20 miles (5 or so miles south of Villa Grove- might be easier going there from Sauguache) is Joyful Journeys hot springs. Both are pretty commercial. But Ojo Caliente has gotten that way in the last 5 years too.

Abiquiu is one of Georgia O'Keefe's homes. There is a museum dedicated to her work there and you can tour her house and studio.