Idaho Or Bust

West — By ATV Mag on March 13, 2009 at 12:00 pm

Athens, Alaska, Paris or Prague, we’ve all got places we want to go before kicking the bucket, and Idaho was on my list. Years ago I’d visited St. Anthony, in the southern part of the state, but I’ve wanted to go back and check out the panhandle area, which I’ve heard has some of the best scenery and mountain riding anywhere in the country.

My opportunity came this summer after my friend Cliff and I decided to bust out of Minneapolis on a 10-day road trip out west. We planned it out in advance, and decided to hit Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.

Seeing my opportunity to cross off a “must visit” location, I suggested adding an ATV ride in Idaho to the itinerary. Although he’d never ridden in the mountains, Cliff thought it sounded like fun, so it was set.

Dawn’s Highway
Cliff’s economical Scion xA was packed to the gills, but we’d saved enough room for comfortable motoring. We didn’t plan out our days; we were just going to wing it. On the second day, winging it meant taking the wrong highway for nearly 100 miles. No worries, we could at least see the mountains in the distance, and eventually made it another 300 miles to the east side of Glacier National Park — just in time to grab a drink and watch the sun set over the porch of the historic Many Glacier Hotel.

We set up camp and explored Glacier for two days. There’s a lot to see at this awesome place — crystal-clear streams, the amazing Going–to-the-Sun Road that dissects the park, snowmelt that turns into waterfalls right before your eyes, “fresh” evidence of bears, secluded mountain lakes, bright red vintage tour buses and packs of white mountain goats.

Effective travelers know how to keep on schedule, but we didn’t have one. Instead, we woke up on our fourth day, went on a quick hike then headed out of the park and into Idaho. It’s hard to top Glacier’s scenery, but once we saw the beautiful, green Idahoan countryside and its rolling mountains, we both had ATVs affixed on our brains and were excited to do some high-country riding.
Soon we approached Coeur d’Alene, an enclave of wealth. This picturesque place is surrounded by wooded mountains and meandering valley lakes — a wonderful town to drop anchor for a couple of days. And, if it’s good enough for John Elway, the Travoltas, Oprah and Lance Armstrong to own vacation homes here, we should be able to have fun, too.

After checking in to the hotel and grabbing some food, Cliff and I did our best to scare up some trouble downtown. Scanning the hills around town, it was hard to tell where our guides would take us in the morning — but they all looked good, so we slept with dreams of dust clouds, pinned throttles and winding trails.

The Hitchhiker
Yogi Naresh and his brother Jeremy from Adventure Sport Rentals provided us with Polaris Sportsman 500s and accompanied us on our ride through the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, the fifth day of our trip. Local residents Mark and Tera Magill, of , would be our tour guides, graciously explaining points of interest, the area’s topography and showing us hitchhikers the way.

The Magills live for northern Idaho’s harsh winters and endless trails, and their video production company specializes in ATV riding movies. They ride their Can-Am Renegades thousands of miles each year, and bolt on track systems when the snow gets deep enough. Our crew of six was geared up and ready, and 75-degree temperatures and clear skies were good omens for the coming day.

Our trail, part of the Canfield Mountain Trail System, quickly headed out of town and we took our first pit stop within 15 minutes to check out the view. To the north, the tall lodgepole pines framed a flawless view of Hayden Lake. Looking to the south, you’d swear you were looking at a mirror image of the same lake.

In actuality, we were seeing Lake Coeur d’Alene, which snakes through the mountains for 30 miles, at a maximum depth of up to 183 feet. Vast, serpentine waters combined with such heavily forested mountains are a unique combination that should dazzle anybody with decent eyesight.

The Big Burn
The trails wound under the canopy and through the dark woods, which periodically gave way to panoramic views of the surrounding valleys. At our next stop, checking out the sights, Mark shared the story of the Big Burn, which charred three million acres in Washington, Idaho and Montana over two days in 1910 and killed 86 people — the largest fire in recorded U.S. history. Its widespread effects were enough to cause the thermometer to drop 19 degrees in 10 minutes, 800 miles away in Denver, and its repercussions can still be seen in the forest.

Nature heals quickly, though, and towering pine trees once again populate the Idaho forests in all directions. As for the trails, they’re well kept, wide and smooth — high-speed ATV riding at its best.

Later, we came upon an abandoned watchtower once used for spotting forest fires. There were no “keep out” signs, so we climbed the very rickety stairs to the top. Upon closer inspection, the tower was in a terminal state of disrepair, but the view from the top was tremendous. If you ever come upon it, I wouldn’t recommend braving the ramshackle staircase; you’ve been warned.

Motoring On
Further down the trail, we dipped down into the valley and rode a flat stretch where quads shared the gravel roads with vehicular traffic. There were a few campers and fishermen enjoying the day, but we hardly saw any cars, and it made for a good opportunity to open our Sportmans up and cover some ground. Streams gurgled along to our right, with thick forest on the left.

While there weren’t many other humans to be seen, we did come upon a moose. He or she was quick enough to evade this paparazzo’s camera, but we had a solid three seconds of pensive eye contact. We went our separate ways, but the encounter was notable — I’d never seen a moose before!

The trails narrowed once again as our group gained elevation. After consulting maps and a GPS unit, just to be sure, we found our misplaced bearings and made it to our trailside destination, the bright red Wolf Lodge Inn.

Adventure Sport Rentals has guided tours that stop at the Wolf Lodge Inn, for good reason. The steaks are gigantic and grilled over an open flame (this is no Burger King). Its unique, woodsy ambiance, combined with a stone-and-wood dining room creates a very memorable dining experience, and a surprisingly good meal right off of the trail. Also, the specialty beans are quite tasty.

Someday Soon
After dinner we doubled back the way we came, briefly following a paved road past some unassuming hillside ranches. Back on the trail, our guides wanted to show us a specific overlook, allegedly a stunning place to view the sun setting over Coeur d’Alene. We had to push it fast to make it in time for nightfall, which was entertaining by itself.

Seeing the surrounding area spread out before us at sundown was an appropriate point in time to reflect on the day’s ride. Never before have we ridden in such a picturesque setting, and the company and dinner were similarly unbeatable.
As for the rest of our trip, Cliff and I left Idaho and continued on to our final destinations: Missoula, Yellowstone, Grand Teton and, finally, straightedge Salt Lake City. Ever try to get a drink in that town? Well, that’s a different story. After about 2,600 one-way miles, we had seen a lot of prime country, but our ATV ride was the highlight of it all.

Idaho may not be just over the river and through the woods for everyone, but it’s well worth a visit, even if you have to make a road trip out of it. Us traveling fools had an exceedingly enjoyable time up in the panhandle area, and felt it was worth every mile we drove to get there.
As for me, I’ll be back to Idaho someday, and hopefully it’s someday soon.

Check out the whole Idaho photo gallery by clicking here.

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