Right on the Montana-Idaho border is the Hiawatha Trail, a bike route that follows an old train track through several tunnels and across a handful of trestle bridges. Since we were driving right past it on a trip to Washington, Pepper and I decided to take a look. We hung our bikes off the back of the CR-V and headed out.
The first tunnel is 1.6 miles long and straight as an arrow. You can actually see a tiny pinpoint of light in the distance. Because it’s dark and damp, the tunnel is also really cold– I’d guess somewhere in the 40’s. It’s interesting to be riding through 70-degree sunny weather and enter the freezing darkness.
Oh hey, a waterfall!
The trail was really easy… it’s literally fifteen miles of a 2% downhill grade. Other than the tunnels and trestles, which are flat, I think you could coast nearly the entire way. So it’s definitely not a bike trail that you’d take for exercise. But you might take it for the views, which are spectacular.
From this lookout you can see a logging road (center) and in the far distance, part of the bike trail (left):
We stopped for a light lunch on one of the trestles.
It’s cool to look down nearly 200 feet and see the trees in the valley below. This time of year, the fir trees have their “spring tips”– the light green growth of new needles.
After a leisurely two-hour ride down, with plenty of stops, we rode the shuttle bus back to the top of the trail and put up our bikes. The tunnels are all wet and muddy, so we were pretty dirty at the end of the day.
We agreed that next time, we’ll start at the bottom and ride up the trail, then turn around at the top and coast back down. We’ll get some exercise and still have a chance to enjoy the views!