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Anyone with recent "Lolo Pass," experience?

6K views 31 replies 15 participants last post by  David Morrow 
#1 ·
The "boys," (most of us over 50) are planning our 10th annual ride, and the thought of Lolo Pass (AKA 12) is rolling around our heads.
Anyone been through there within the last year?

I'm looking for a fairly recent road report plus some restaurant suggestions, if you have 'em. m
 
#3 ·
Was through last summer. Not worth it IMHO. Not much to see but trees and river, twisties aren't that tight or technical.

I would recommend a road trip hitting the different grades in and around the Pullman/Lewiston area. I spent the better part of one morning doing laps of the Spiral Highway.....
 
#8 ·
Hi Michael,
I think Lolo is a challenge to enjoy at the posted limit, but I don't think it's as bad as the others here are sayin'. I had the misfortune of getting a ticket 3 miles in, so the rest of the ride was not terribly spirited. I'd suggest you try this route to the north:

http://www.fjrtech.com/wfo-8/RIDE_Secret.cfm

And please tell me how it goes, as I'd like to head that way myself.

Cheers!
 
#9 ·
Hi Michael,
I think Lolo is a challenge to enjoy at the posted limit, but I don't think it's as bad as the others here are sayin'.
That's probably a fair statement, but I would go further and say even 20-30 over is kind of a yawn.

I guess for me, by the time we had arrived to that day, me really excited about Lolo, after hearing others rave,
I had pretty high expectations. That and the fact that we had hit some spectacular roads every day up to that
point, many of which were challenging, technical, and had fantastic scenery, Lolo was a let down.

Not my video, but a quick youtube search pulled this up, which gives you a good indication of what it was like:

 
#10 ·
The road to ride off of Lolo is hwy 11 Greer to Weippe , also the ride to Elk City is mind blasting. The roads around Grangeville also much better than Lolo. Stay in Lewiston (Red Lion) for a couple of days and ride the roads in the area. Spiral Hwy, Rattlesnake Canyon, Old Idaho Hwy 7 , Winchester grade just to name a few.
 
#14 ·
It's been a couple of years but there was a small, but very nice cafe across from the Three Rivers Resort. And there was a nice old place up near the summit; again, old but nice and much bigger IIRC. Sorry for being so vague but I didn't see any other restaurant comments.

I'd also agree that some of the other roads in the area are better. Lolo is nice, but a bit over-rated IMHO. If you're in the area, ride it anyway so you can see what the fuss is all about.
 
#23 ·
"Having" to get from Point A to Point B is different than just going for fun. Not a lot of options
between Spokane and Missoula are there? I guess there are options, but more extended, 100k?

My comments were based on hitting Lolo as a "ride", not actually having to get from one end
to the other.....ours was a side leg. If you have to get somewhere, that's a bit different.
 
#24 ·
Apples and oranges. The road down to Lewiston is through rolling Palouse farm hills, but with a half dozen seriously twisty grades hidden off the main route here and there if you know where to look for them, cumulating in the Old Spiral Hwy north of Lewiston. Then a pleasant amble through the forest along rivers through Lolo. If you know where to go, it's twisty heaven in the morning and a more relaxed cruise in the afternoon. Lots of time.

I-90 is about as good as interstates get in the US, much faster, much more traffic, less than 1/3 of the time.

The St. Marie/St. Joe river road is a good detour to split the difference.
 
#25 ·
I quite enjoyed Lolo, but the rumours are all untrue about riding double the limit, after all, I only ride a V-Strom :evil

Compared to the road to Atomic City (100+ miles in a straight line), it's exceptional. Compared to Old Spiral, it's relaxing but not a complete snoozefest. I agree with Elevation, great road to take if it's on the way somewhere, not so great (CHIA) if it's your destination.
 
#26 ·
Done and done.
Lolo Pass was a very nice ride indeed, but there were other highlights. Flowery Trail Road, which runs east out of Chewelah WA.
Don't know why I haven't discovered this road before, and am damned disappointed I just found it now.
Also "P1," from Kendrick to Orofino ID. P1 makes you work for it as you're going south east though. Exceptional scenery and road (read: quality asphalt) for the first half climbing out of the valley into the softly hilled plateau. The payment comes at the other end, with the downhill side. Corners are top notch, made extremely challenging by the most perverse set of tar snakes. Montana? Haven't found a bad road yet.
Thanks for your posts to my Original folks!.
 
#27 · (Edited)
I just rode it two days ago and thought about your question and made some mental notes.

The west side is mostly like the first half ( west to east ) of the Hope - Princeton. Speed limits of 50 & 55 MPH. Road surface about the same as the H-P. Near the summit is the Lolo Hot Springs Resort and restaurant. Near the summit, you cross into Montana and the speed limit goes up to 65, then 70 MPH.

As advised by many others above, I'll confirm that there are way more, way better places to ride. If you're going that way, by all means satisfy your curiosity. But I would never go out of my way to ride that road. Ever. Way, way over-rated.

Great sign for a Lolo area RV park

Nature reserve Tree Natural environment Biome Forest
 
#29 ·
"a serious day's ride away". It took me two days to get to Gainsville from Kits. I do remember being passed by a Geezer in a pick up with a gun in the back window. That's when I knew I was in Montana, and I was a pretty slow rider.
 
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