Pedaling Through the Soul of Montana: The Best Backroads to Explore by Bicycle

Montana, a state where the sky stretches endlessly and mountains stand as sentinels against time, offers some of the most breathtaking backroads for cyclists. Here, you can discover new corners of your soul and different ways of being. Each pedal stroke takes you deeper into a landscape that is both ruggedly beautiful and serenely enchanting.

# 1. **Gravelly Range Road** (Madison County, MT 59729)

The Gravelly Range Road is not just a route; it's an odyssey through one of Montana's most untamed regions. Starting near Ennis (a town known for its fly-fishing culture), this gravel road snakes through alpine meadows and dense forests before revealing panoramic views that seem plucked from an Ansel Adams photograph.

As you ascend towards Black Butte Mountain, you'll feel like you're riding into Norman Maclean’s "A River Runs Through It." The air here smells faintly of pine resin and freedom—an intoxicating blend that reminds you why Hemingway wrote about such places with reverence.

# 2. **Going-to-the-Sun Road** (Glacier National Park, MT 59936)

This iconic road might be more famous than obscure but deserves mention for its sheer majesty. Winding through Glacier National Park, it offers vistas so stunning they could make even Fitzgerald pause in awe.

Cycling up Logan Pass feels like ascending to another realm—a place where glaciers carve valleys and mountain goats peer curiously at passersby. As Robert Frost would say, Two roads diverged in a wood, but here there’s no choice needed; Going-to-the-Sun is the path less traveled by bike yet makes all the difference.

# 3. **Beartooth Highway** (Red Lodge to Cooke City - Carbon County & Park County)

Dubbed "the most beautiful drive in America" by Charles Kuralt—and he wasn't wrong—the Beartooth Highway challenges cyclists with steep climbs rewarded by sweeping views over jagged peaks covered in snow year-round.

Starting from Red Lodge (known locally as Gateway to Yellowstone’), this route winds upwards past glacial lakes reflecting skies so blue they seem painted on canvas until reaching nearly 11k feet above sea level at Beartooth Pass itself—a humbling experience akin only perhaps crossing paths with Jack Kerouac on his own journey westward seeking enlightenment among nature’s grandeur rather than city lights or jazz clubs filled smoke dreams lost souls alike...

# 4. **Smith River Valley Loop** (White Sulphur Springs - Meagher County)

For those who prefer solitude over spectacle—or simply wish escape crowds altogether—the Smith River Valley Loop provides ample opportunity reconnect oneself amidst rolling hills dotted cattle ranches stretching horizon beyond sightline imagination alone suffice describe beauty found herein...

Begin White Sulphur Springs—a small town famed hot springs healing properties dating back Native American times—and follow winding country lanes alongside tranquil waters flowing gently southwards toward Eden Bridge take moment reflect upon words Wallace Stegner once wrote: We simply need wild country available us...for it can be refuge something larger ourselves.

# Websites:

- [Visit Montana](https://www.visitmt.com)

- [Glacier National Park](https://www.nps.gov/glac/index.htm)

- [Beartooth Highway Official Site](http://beartoothhighway.com/)

# Twitter Handles:

- @visitmontana

- @glaciernps

- @beartoothhwy