Kalispell, MT through Lolo Pass to Kamiah, ID

277.9 Miles | 5:40 Riding Time

It’s Friday, June 28, 2024, and it’s Day 79 of my cross country motorcycle trip.

Ever since I got to Pacific Northwest, people have been asking if I’ve ridden Lolo pass. To be honest, I had never heard of it before. It’s a section of scenic RT-12 that runs from Lolo, MT across the continental divide and into the Idaho panhandle. Yes, they still call it a panhandle, even though it runs North-South. It’s not far from here, and that’s the plan for today.

I had a few errands to run before heading out. I stopped at the local Postal Annex store and shipped my old camera in for service. I also had to sign and send in my tax return. Yep, I was a knucklehead and forgot to sign it. The IRS sent it back to me. Donette sent it to me on the road, and now I’m sending it back to them. Doh!

With that out of the way, I headed south, and passed the county courthouse, which was a beautiful old building. I got a suggestion to take the local road on the east side of Flathead lake, and wasn’t disappointed. It met up again with the road I was taking anyway on my way to Missoula, which was pretty. When they call Montana “Big Sky Country,” they aren’t kidding. It seems to go on forever.

Through Missoula and on to Lolo, MT, where the sun started breaking through and the scenery got much greener. Stopped for lunch at Lolo Hot Springs, then continued on to the Lolo Pass visitors center on the border of MT and ID. I got my stickers and stamped my national park passport, and took a photo to send to my dog-buddy, Lolo (that’s our friend’s Shelty in the photo). Hope you got some treats, Lolo.

Getting back on the bike, I cleaned that bug off the camera lens that’s been creating a splotch for the past hour. The sun was out, the sky was blue and I passed that famous road sign, “Winding Road Next 99 Miles.” Or, as I’ve also heard, “99 Miles of Smiles,” for bikers. Wow. That road was designed for motorcycles. Lots of sweeping turns, gorgeous views and the river running beside. No hairpins. No cliffs. Nothing “technical.” It was 99 miles of pure, relaxing road-joy. Go, if you can!

I didn’t have a plan for the evening, but I saw that there were a few motels and hotels in the valley, along the Clearwater river. I stopped at the first one, which looked OK, but checked out the website of another place, and saw they had a room. It was only another couple miles down the road, so I went there, and it was fantastic.

The Hearthstone Elegant Lodge, is perched on the hillside across the street from the Clearwater river, with views of the river. They only had one room left, and it was the “honeymoon suite.” It was certainly a little larger than I needed, but I’m glad I took it. The lodge has a deck that overlooks the river, and you can hear the birds, the river, and the other critters making their noises. I sat on the deck, caught up on my blogging, and enjoyed the sunset.

The Route