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2 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Sport - Touring

Rode this road from St Regis to St Maries today with 4 other bikes (a Goldwing 2up, 2 Harleys and a NC700). The gravel section is all in Montana and is 10 to 12 miles long.
Conditions have changed since the last review because there was lots of loose gravel on the hard pack underneath. I'm thinking they spread fresh gravel at some point. If you don't like gravel, you won't like this section of the road currently.
With that said, the Idaho portion of the road was incredible and would be worth riding the paved section to the MT border and then riding back if you despise gravel.

2 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Cruiser

My Wife and I rode this road from St. Regis to St. Maries in August of 2017 two days after the eclipse. She rides a big Indian Chieftain and has a strong distaste for gravel. Based on another review of the gravel conditions, I almost did not risk leading her across this road. Turns out, the gravel portion of the road was graded and fairly well packed and neither of us had any problem with it. We did have to stop to let the dust settle whenever we met an oncoming logging truck but it really wasn't an issue. Once we hit pavement, this turned out to be one of the best rides we found in Idaho. The pavement was good, the curves were big sweepers and the scenery was fantastic! Perhaps best of all was the total absence of other vehicles. Great ride! Don't let the gravel scare you away.
Big Red

2 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Other

Ride update. This route is amazing, but a few notes need to be made. **WARNING** If going west and starting from St. Regis you need to know you will riding uphill on a dirt, dusty, loose gravel (NOT HARDPACK) road for 15 miles, up to the top of the mountain, to the Montana/Idaho border. Inexperienced rides and those without physical stamina would be better served taking I-90 or the Lolo pass (U.S. Rte 12). The 15 miles on a sport bike, tourer or sport tour will be exhausting. Dual sports will love this road. Having said all this, you will be rewarded when you get to the top and to the Idaho border. Beautiful views stretching for miles. The road in Idaho is amazing!! Well maintained for the first 20 miles or so. A few rough patches here and there as you get down in elevation and ride along the river. This is a bit of a technical road. Lots of blind corners, but it is a lovely ride, especially at a spirited pace. Not much traffic. I only passed 1 car in the first 30 miles. After you get to Avery, you will find a few more cars. I highly recommend this route in conjuction with the Lolo pass if you want to do a loop, but plan on a 12 hour day with some stops and grabbing a good bite of food in Missoula.

7 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Sport - Touring

This is a great ride! Much nicer than Lolo! Deserted! Tighter turns, backwoods adventure at high speed!

16 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Touring

Fantastic ride. The scenery is great and the road conditions were perfect.

0 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Sport - Touring

We did this as a return route from Lolo - and this was a FAR superior ride. The dirt was well packed, just a little marble-ly in places but no issue. Empty road, amazing scenery, sweet twisties.

43 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Sport - Touring

This is indeed a great ride that we did in conjunction with Lolo. The only problem we ran into was the bridge that you cross the river shortly after hitting the pavement in Idaho was being rebuilt so we could not get across. The helpful flagman suggested that we could take the detour road. When I asked him if was any worse than the gravel we rode on from St. Regis he said it was about the same. In reality it was graded out of the mountain side and would have been great on a dirt bike but not so great on road bikes. We did make it with no mishaps or flats though. Definitely want to do it again.

2 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Touring

John Fenner described the road perfectly. It was my favorite local ride when I lived in Post Falls, Idaho. Native cutthroat trout fill the St. Joe river and, although it's catch and release, you should camp overnight at one of the campgrounds along this route. Most of the campgrounds are small and right on the river. The twistiest part of this ride is Gold Creek Rd which is where the road leaves the St. Joe river to wind up to the border with Montana. Follow the St. Joe River Road to its end at Spruce Tree Campground and enjoy a place that feels a million miles away from anywhere.

45 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Touring

From Montana border to Avery 47 miles of twisties ..2 sections of that had less then half mile of straights. Foot board scraper Fantastic ride

3 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Other

This is a fun ride on an ADV bike. You have 2 options from St. Maries to Avery. One side of the river has a nice paved road. The other is an old railroad grade, which is a really fun ride on an ADV (both sides are nice). Calder (mile 24 IIRC) has a good little restaurant. Avery (about mile 48) has food and a couple options for food (one with great Huckleberry ice cream). From Avery to Gold Creek is an absolutely fantastic street/adv road. Nice twisties for about 30 miles, all following the scenic St. Joe. From Gold Creek, I recommend dropping south to the historic Red Ives ranger station. From there you can come out over Heller Creek (ADV only) in Superior. Alternatively, go back N. to Gold Creek, and head east to Superior. There is about 12 miles of somewhat loose gravel this way. Not an issue on an ADV, and very doable on a street bike if you have experience on dirt roads.

45 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Touring

Once past Avery longest straight section was 3/4 of a mile. Otherwise curves, a few sweepers, mostly scrap the foot pegs.

24 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Sport - Touring

This is a great ride as many of the other reviews have stated. The first time we did the full ride we came from St. Regis down the hard pack gravel road, gravel added since then, and hit the pavement at the Idaho border. There were signs saying some road was closed, couple letters and the number 50 if i remember correctly. unfortunately there was never a road sign that matched that description and it wasn't until shortly after we hit the pavement that we found it was the road we were on. The first bridge which was being replaced and so no crossing there. We asked the flagman, through the dope smoke around him, what our options were. He said there was a route around the bridge that we could take and only one vehicle had got a flat that week using it. Asking how it compared to the gravel road we had just ridden he said it was comparable. Obviously he was pretty high if he ever did follow the detour route as the previous gravel was an interstate in comparison. I think a grader had hacked it out of the mountain the week before. No signage either unlike what our helpful flagman had indicated. VTX 1800, Bandit 1250, Vstrom 1000, and several other street bikes all made it safely, with no flats, to St. Maries. Have done the route once more that way and as an in-out from St. Maries just on the pavement. Relatively interesting bar and museum in Avery if you need a stop en route.

51 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Adventure Touring

Great scenic cut-toff route way to go from Idaho Falls to Moscow

60 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Touring

I continue to come back to this ride. I've never ridden the gravel east end though.

327 McR Points

Motorcycle Type : Touring

Fabulous riding, scenery, and skill level.