Next in the BDR series - IDBDR

The tough thing is my limited range, if I get 80 miles in and need to turn around I'm screwed..

We are going to do the northern half of the route starting around the second week of July. We are thinking of Elk city to Clark Fork. Can anyone direct us to a safe place to park a couple vehicles somewhere near there? One will have a trailer in tow.

We could stage somewhere around Grangeville or even Kooskia if there was a good dirt route to Elk City from there. I don't know the forest roads in that area. Joe

I bet you could find a place around Elk City. You can ask around or call the Elk City Cafe and ask them.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try them this morning. I am also considering a start from Orofino and using forest roads to get to Elk City. Are there good routes on dirt or gravel?

Riding Season is just around the corner!
Three of us are planning to ride the ID BDR from North to South (Starting at Wallace [ July 12] and stopping at 90*F, wherever that is). Planning to write some trail updates as we go and looking forward to seeing updates from other adventurers. Looking forward to meeting others on the trail and swapping stories!

Not sure that’s possible, there was a bad washout a couple years ago. Was up there last weekend.

Check out 3 rivers lodge...good place to start return from, just past Kooskia in Lowell I believe, We have done trips out of there for a few years running.

Yes, it seems like it's been closed for three years now. Of course the road crews could have addressed it; those folks are amazing. Your best bet would be to check with the Elk City Ranger Station. We've been using OHara Creek Rd to get from the Selway River up to Elk City.

Jay

Didn't know they connected. Hmmmm......

Update:

The Elk City road at the end of the Selway River Road is closed to motorized traffic. Ohara Creek Road goes to Elk City but was blocked 13 miles up by trees. We cut across intending to come down Swiftwater Road and back to the Selway, but were stopped again.
There might be snow higher up, we went through a bunch. You're not getting from the Selway to Elk City any time soon. You could go through Pierce (?) to Wrecked Liver, but that's in the opposite direction.

Where can I find info on whether the passes are clear of snow? I tried searching the web but all I could come up with maps with symbols for the passes. I could get their names, but no status. We are looking at the second half of June.

Your best bet is calling each local ranger station. Although one year they asked us to report to them whether or not we could get through the blue cabin section because they didn't know.
Jay

Excuse my ignorance, but it sounds like you are referring to the Magruder area in this post, is that correct? I'm familiar with some but not all of the reference points.

Will see you on the trail. Six of us riding south to north starting July 18.

No worries. The section in question is not specifically part of the IDBDR. It was an alternate way of getting between Elk City and the Selway River, Selway Falls to be exact. Jay

No way. Trinities, elk Creek pass, and mcgruder will be July 4 like most every year

According to the sign above Ice Springs, The top of the Trinities won't open til July 15...

CK

I assume the same for the Lolo Motoway? I had to skip that last year because of rain.