Sparwood to Eureka. Need options and advice.

[bakerjw]

Top of the day.
Over the last 3 years, I've ridden south out of Banff back down into Montana on the TD route. Some trips better than others. Some ending on highs and others at depressing lows. I mostly know all of the routes from Elkford back down to the states and have put tires on most of them. This year is going to be a bit different though as my wife and I are in preliminary stages of planing on riding it on our mountain tandem.
Riding our tandem means that we will not be at as fast of a pace as I've been able to manage before. In the past it was about making time, this time it is about sharing the ride. Saddle time will likely be reduced too.
Day 1  - Banff -> Bolton. If she feels good, keep going perhaps. I would probably skip the West Spray Lake road even though it is a favorite.
Day 2  - Bolton -> Elkford or possibly Sparwood.
Here is where it gets tricky as I have a couple of options.
Road option - A bit boring but easier and I am leaning to this route.
Day 3 Elkford/Sparwood -> Fernie/Elko. Fernie is a nice place to stay and hang out.
Day 4 Fernie/Elko -> Eureka

The gravel option does not even consider Koko claims.
Either Flathead or Lodgepole pass to Cabin pass.
At the turn to the Wigwam service road, continue on up over Galton. This would be hard but doable and I know that I would get some fussing about it. OTOH she would be thrilled to be able to tell people that we had done this together. The wall would require some determined teamwork. The descent would be very measured.
My biggest question concerns the Cabin Pass road. It looks to me like from the Wigwam turnoff, the road continues on up toward Fernie to where Lodgepole branches off. Are there any routes that head over toward highway 93? or to Elko? If there is an option there, I would take Flathead, Cabin and the option.

Once we make Eureka, we'll do Whitefish Divide to Tuchuck, Tuchuck down to Columbia Falls via Polebridge or over Red Meadow into Whitefish proper or Cricket's place. I have a friend in Whitefish and we will likely plan a few days in WF to see sights, catch up with my friend and enjoy ourselves. Grab a rental car, ship the bike home, etc...

This is all preliminary at the moment. We might just fly into Whitefish and spend 7 or 8 days doing loops in the local mountains.

[Iowagriz]

J - you lost me on your description from Fernie to Eureka. If you are looking at options, there are what I know.

1) Normal race route - lodgepole road to butts cabin, cabin pass, etc.
2) Maybe 1/2 way up the lodgepole climb (which was tough), Wigwam road appears to save you some climbing by avoiding Cabin Pass, it comes back to the race route as you head down the flathead for the climb up the wall
3) as you turn onto Wigwam, before you cross the river, you will see a road on the map that heads west towards Elko.  For more details on that, look into maps from the BC1000 route and trip reports as I think it might include some singletrack.  I do think it would tend to be mostly downhill.  From Elko, stay on the BC1000 route until it crosses back over hwy93.  This would save you some hwy riding and likely be more scenic.

Good luck

[bakerjw]

3) as you turn onto Wigwam, before you cross the river, you will see a road on the map that heads west towards Elko.  For more details on that, look into maps from the BC1000 route and trip reports as I think it might include some singletrack.

That was the info that I was looking for. I will check that out. Thanks a million.

ETA. I checked it out.
That might work very well.
From Sparwood go over Flathead Pass down to Butts Cabin for the night.
Then over Cabin Pass down to WigWam and head North to connect to the road.

[bakerjw]

With the input from Iowagriz...

Banff to Spray lake.
Cross the dam and take the highway to Bolton.
Bolton over Elk Pass to Elkford.
Elkford to Fernie on the highway for a short day with rest and food.
Take the BC1000 route from Fernie to the Wigwam Forest Service Road intersection.
Then decide....
Continue on to Elko and push to Eureka down the highway?
 -or-
Take the Wigwam Forest Service road down to the single track to Galton Pass.
Camp out before the single track and take on Galton in the morning and make Eureka the next day.

Only time will tell. But I have a plan with flexibility built into it.

[Iowagriz]

Sounds like a great tandem trip. What time of the year? I hope to get out there again at some point this summer.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

[threepin]

When are you planning on riding this?

some options:

sparwood to whitefish
If the road over akamina reopens this year: from sparwood, over flathead pass down the north fork left over akamina pass into watertown then down the chief mountain highway to the sun road west to west glacier, then Backroads (let me know if you need/want specifics) to whitefish -  parks, big views, more traffic

polebridge to whitefish
From polebridge enter glacier and take inside north fork rd south to apgar
Park trails and roads to west glacier. Backroads as above to whitefish - inside north fork is closed to cars for the middle 7? miles so almost no traffics couple of steep rideable hills and a push through a brief section where a creek occupies the road add some spice.

Eureka to whitefish-wend your way south through the salish mountains staying west of highway 93, these mountains are more mellow and lower than those to the east with far more road options -very little highway riding is necessary- i can provide some options

I like the route from sparwood over flathead thence over cabin- and back north toward elko- have not been the latter bit since scouting the re-route way back when ( I am the guy to blame for the wigwam wall). I think between the push up the wall and riding brakes all the way down galton I would enjoy the road north more with a tandem. From Elko the original route to eureka west of 93 is quite pleasant and you could stop over by the lake if you chose.

[bakerjw]

Fantastic insight and believe me, it is greatly appreciated.
We are looking at very late June with 4 to 5 days to get back into Eureka. Then a few days to get down to Whitefish. This is my 4th time flying into Banff and I finally get a chance for my wife to experience it with me. My first time was a solo ride and she was worried the entire time.
Here is the tentative route down to Eureka. -> https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29589659

I am a strong rider and can put in 90+ mile days but my wife is not as strong of a rider as I am so I have to temper expectations. The goal is to enjoy the time together and put in miles without having it kill us. If that means we stop on the side of the road for a bit, then we stop. but she is like me, if we can put in miles, we put in miles.

I told my wife that leaving Banff around 5:00AM we would likely make the Bolton Trading Post by noon the first day. Her response was that we should just keep going. I doubt if we will make Elkford day 1, but I hope to get as close as I can. Ideally I'd like to get into Fernie early afternoon on day 2. We will be taking the highway from Elkford to Fernie so that is not out of the realm of possibility.
At Fernie, we will decide how to proceed. Might end up being the highway to Eureka or stick to the route for an easy 42 mile day. Or perhaps take the BC1000 section to Elko.

She was unsure of the wall but I convinced her that we could do it. I wonder how many tandem teams have ever done it.

From Eureka, I was going to follow the regular TD route up over Whitefish to Tuchuk or roll down to Polebridge. As with all of it, a lot of it depends on how we are both feeling. I had planned on heading over Red Meadow and stop down at the bike retreat before tooling into town the next day. The Polebridge route sounds intriguing and I'd like to hear more about the route.

Once we hit Whitefish, I plan on picking up a rental car for a couple of days to go see what there is to see and enjoy the area. I applied to a job up there earlier this year I like the area so much.

By chance, do you know Dan Adair. A couple of years ago, I had to bail on my ITT and he offered to give me a ride. I made it to Kalispell and stayed at Wheatons. He gave me a lift to the airport and we've been in touch ever since.

[Iowagriz]

J - after my last trip, i thought a perfect amount of distance for a beginner group would be 75miles each day.  Which allows:
-Banff to a cabin that is just over the pass from Bolton (I don't have my maps on me, cabin is similar to Butts, free but 1st come basis)
-that cabin to Sparwood
- to Butts Cabin
-to Eureka
- to Red Meadow

I don't have the exact distances in front of me, but I think those were close to 75 each day.  You get a shower every 2 days (Sparwood and Eureka) which makes some in groups happy.  If not needed, go further to primitive camping.

[bakerjw]

I suspect that 70 to 80 miles a day will be our limit. If we push a bit the first day, then the rest of the Canadian portion will take care of themselves. Elk and Galton are the 2 major climbs back to the states that way.

I'm hoping to meet up with some people that we met last year in Fernie. We had a real good time with them so that's why I am foregoing Flathead and Cabin. It also puts in civilization for a while to get a good shower and nice relaxing meal.
On my route, it is 42 miles to the start of the Galton single track where I expect to camp and then 26 to Eureka. Last year me, my son and a coworker camped alongside the Wigwam river and it was the most remote night camping that I've ever had.

A couple of others on here have been quite helpful with answers and advice.
shemseger lives in Elkford and has pointed out a few campsites along the road.
wedelmaster lives in Canmore and has been helpful with route questions in the past too.
And of course threepin

When I do rides like this, I try to meet up with forum members for a cold one or a chat.

[threepin]

I will never forget the night we spent beside the wigwam , we had been using bikes and skis to scout the route and the day we camped we had seen more bears shit per mile than i have before or since.

Our dogs were with us and they were freaking out the entire night, was not very restful.

There are some great loop rides near whitefish as well so if you have extra days let me know

[bakerjw]

Will do.

If this all falls through, we've talked about flying in to Glacier to take a week or so riding out through various areas. I know that there are a lot of great rides up there.

Whatever happens, we certainly need to meet up for dinner and a couple of pints.

[threepin]

that would be fun
Any idea of your timing?

[bakerjw]

Well.... It is a done deal now. Flight is booked. Reservations are made.

June 25th, we leave the foothills of the Appalachians and fly into Banff.
This is my 4th time into Banff and my wife's first. It is a rather exotic destination, so I booked us for 2 nights so that we can have some time to get the tandem assembled, hit some shops and take in the beauty. It will also allow us to acclimate and hit the trail very early on the 27th.

[BilliLing]

Hi Bakerjw! I'm Lilli. . . .new to the forum, but I'm going to be setting out around the same time from Banff--planned depart on June 24. I'll be taking it pretty easy in terms of milage (40-60 miles per day); from the sound of things, you might just catch up with me in a few days! It'll also be my first time in Banff. If it happens to work out down the road, I'd love to meet up and have a beer with you and your wife. I'll be soloing, so always good to find some company.

[bakerjw]

Great! Always nice to know that someone else is headed out around the same time. Is it your first time up there? If so, you are in for a special treat.

We're doing some modified routes as can be seen in the links at the bottom. Basically, we ride to Spray lake, cross the dam and then take gravel and highways to Elk Pass and down to Elkford. Highway to Fernie and then go down along the WigWam to Galton. Over Galton and into Eureka. That's 209 miles in 4 days. Day 1, I really want to push to get to Elkford and then take it easy the next few.

Not knowing how well my wife will do, I've got it planned for around 320 miles over 6 days with Elk Pass, Galton Pass and Whitefish Divide (my favorite). She might surprise me and we could conceivably get into Eureka in 3 days.

This is my 4th trip up so if you have any questions, feel free to PM me. Or ask any of the other posters on here. There are some from Canmore, Elkford, Whitefish, etc... It is always valuable to get notes from locals.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29589659
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29667316