7/24/2021. Hiawatha scenic Rail to Trail Bike Route

Sandy found this trail.  It is one of the Top 10 Rail to Trails in the United States.  It is also in the “Rail To Trail Hall of Fame”.  It is along the Idaho/Montana Border just off Rt 90.  It is 15 miles long.  Mostly downhill so you are riding the brakes instead of peddling.  In the 15 miles there are 10 Railroad tunnels (the longest being 1.6 miles long) and 7 sky high Railroad trestles (highest is 230’ above the ground). 

Here are my thoughts after riding the trail

• Most Rail to Trail bike trails are paved.  This one is not.  It is similar to an old logging road.  15 miles of river rock small stones, dirt road, and wash board surface.  We road our tandem with no shock absorbers so we felt the entire 15 miles.  Would have been a much more enjoyable ride on a Mountain Bike with Front and Rear Shocks
• The 1.6 mile tunnel was L-O-N-G.  You don’t realize how long 1.6 miles is until you are in a dark tunnel with only the headlight on your bike for guidance and a rear light hoping nobody runs into the back of your bike.  Also some of the tunnels were raining water so the slick wet clay created a challenge to hold up the front of the Tandem.  I could feel the front end sliding which is an uneasy feeling with Sandy on the back and the tunnel being pitch black.  I mean D-A-R-K!!
• The Trestles were high with only some wire fencing keeping you from falling over.
• When not on a Trestle or in a Tunnel, the sides of the road were unprotected from going off the edge.  I did see an older lady get spooked by a young kid flying by her on a bike and she went off the edge.  Thankfully there were some pine trees that stopped her decent, but she still fell 10’ down the hill before stopping.
• We rode the trail on a Thursday fully expecting not to have a lot of other riders on the trail.  Wrong!  They do limit the numbers, but there were probably 500 riders on the trail.  Including a Boy Scout Troop out of Lake Oswego, Oregon with probably 50 kids and maybe 10 adults.  They were having a great time, but I am sure were hell on wheels racing down to the bottom.  Something I would have done in earlier years :-)
• At the end of the trail we paid to have a bus take us and our bike back up to the top of the mountain.  We didn’t realize that 160+ people ahead of us and another 160+ people behind us paid for the same bus ride.  It took us about an hour to get onto a bus.

All above being said, it was a good time.  I would do it again but on a bike with shocks.  I would shoot for earlier in the week to hopefully avoid the big crowds.  I would want a brighter front light.  The LED light I had was just adequate.  Also I had  put the maximum air pressure in my tires thinking it would be a paved 15 mile trail.  Next time I will put the minimum allowable air in the tires allowing the tires to take-out some of the wash board effect.  As it was Sandy and I felt every bump throughout our entire body.  

The trail is worth riding.  The sites are amazing.  Very little peddling. Where else do you get to bike through old Railroad tunnels and over old Railroad trestles.

Boy did we both sleep good that night.

Here are some pictures