Becky,

I live near Missoula in Western Montana and Bruce's email below pretty much hits the highlites of north central idaho riding.  If you are going to head further north there are some additional options but not much better.  The roads around Avery, id and over into Montana are nice. Take the paved road past Avery from St. Maries to the stateline road until the cut across into Wallace, Id is a nice option.  Then take the little road out of Wallace to the north that goes over Thompson pass back into Mt.  There are some tracks in there that are more akin to ATV paths anymore.

I have ridden a lot of the paved and dirt tracks around here on my GC and it handles them all pretty easily. Pages 2-4 on my flickr page have photos of the riding around the Joseph area from last summer...
http://www.flickr. com/jgreer916

-john

On Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 11:14 PM, Bruce Andregg <bcandregg@mac. com> wrote:

Mixed/asphalt trip:
Four of us did the Old Lewis & Clark Trail from Missoula along Hwy 12 
west to Orifino, then down to Elk City and Magruder Corridor/Nez Perce 
Trail then over into Anaconda via Scalkaho Pass, very nice rides, the 
GC did fine over the remote passes,V-Strom? , you need good rubber 
though the road/trails are abit primative.

Asphalt:
Hwy 12, there is a sign "winding road next 77 miles" or something like 
that-along the Lochsa, Selway rivers.

Hwy 95 south of Grangeville along the Salmon to Riggins to New 
Meadows, west to Oxbow Dam, then up through Joseph and Enterprise Ore 
and north east up Rattlesnake Grade/Pass to Lewiston, then East on Hwy 
12 to Missoula

Have fun!

Bruce

On Jul 6, 2009, at 1:49 PM, Paul wrote:

> I rode from Orofino, ID over the Nez Perce Trail to Hamilton, MT and 
> back through the Magruder Corridor to Elk City, ID. Beautiful 
> scenery, but more challenging than me and my bald tires could 
> handle. If you're up in the pan handle, look at the area around Lake 
> Pend Oreille and the Priest River, Thompson Falls, MT to Metaline 
> Falls, WA.
> Paul
>
> --- In Cagiva_Gran_ Canyon2@yahoogro ups.com, Russell Mcfarland 
> <czmx@...> wrote:
>>
>> Don't know about areas to avoid but I would DEFINITELY spend some 
>> time in
>> and around Stanley on Hwy 75. It's almost in the dead center of 
>> Idaho and
>> would be a nice route up to the northen part of the state. It's on 
>> the
>> Salmon River in the Sawtooth Mountain Range. Prob'ly one of the most
>> beautiful places I've ever been. Let us know how the trip goes. And 
>> don't
>> run off and leave the V-Strom. Rusty.
>> On Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 2:45 PM, desmo99 <desmo99@...> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I am planning a trip to northern Idaho late August. I will be on 
>>> my G.C.
>>> and the boyfriend on a V-Strom. Any favorite roads or areas to 
>>> avoid?
>>> Thanks,
>>> Becky
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
>
>

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