My dad has never been to Montana. I aim to fix this. He’s traveled around quite a bit. Even out west. But he’s never been to a state that he and I are both sure that he’d love.

There are a few places where you can rent motorcycles for the day/week/month out here in sunny Seattle. Trying to ship my dad’s bike across the country would be troublesome and him riding out here himself takes a lot of time. So if a motorcycle trip were to be planned, he’d have to rent.

And in order to convince him, I have planned a trip. Like the Oregon trip that I planned for myself, it mostly includes places that I’ve never been. But it also has a few favorite roads.

This is a seven day trip, with about 350ish miles per day. One or two of the days have 450ish. In 2008, I rode across Montana on US Route 2. This trip takes us most of the way across that huge state, but a little south of that corridor.

Let us begin…

The first day takes us mostly on US 12. We travel around Mt. Rainier and pick up 12 to the southeast of it. We’ll cross Naches Pass, go through Yakima and will be following an old alignment of the Yellowstone Trail, one of the first cross-country highways. We’ll be riding along I-82, but mostly will be on side roads that are also old alignments. After Richland, we’ll leave the interstate area and be on our own, mostly on US 12. That will bring us to Walla Walla, a side stop on the Oregon Trail. The Whitman Mission is here and we’ll stop to say hi. We’ll stay with US 12, crossing rolling prairie lands until we stop for the night in Lewiston, Idaho!

After an exciting morning ride on the twistie Old Spiral Highway, we’ll rejoin US 12, which travels southeast and then northeast through Idaho, along the banks of the Clearwater River. We’ll enter the foothills of the Rockies and begin our climb. We’ll cross into Montana through Lolo Pass. Missula, Montana is just up ahead! Staying with US 12 takes us over open grasslands with the Rocky Mountains peeking over the horizon. We’ll stop in Helena for the night.

Day three finds us in Helena and it’s time for more Big Sky Country, riding east on US 12. After coming through the mountains, here is where Montana turns flat. It’s not like a Nebraska flat, though. It’s gently rolling hills and widening rivers. We’ll ride through forgotten towns like White Sulphur Springs and Twodot and finally leave US 12, turning south towards Custer, crossing I-94 with Route 47. We’ll take a slight side trip to a little town called Crow Agency – home of the Little Big Horn Battlefield. I’ve always wanted to see that. We’ll double back and take Old US 87 west to Billings, where we’ll stay for the night.

We were on US 12 for a lot of this trip, so for Day Four, let’s explore a one of its spurs (though it no longer actually touches US 12). US 212 will take us through flat lands towards the Rocky Mountains. Upon reaching Red Lodge, US 212 is also known as the Beartooth Highway and was called “the most beautiful drive in America by Charles Kuralt. By the end of this road, after crossing into Wyoming, when we reach the Chief Joseph Highway, we’ll be well on our way to the Rockys and over 10,000 feet above sea level. We’ll then dip down to Cody and head west of US 20 through Yellowstone Park. Idaho Falls will be our stop for the night.

The fifth day will mostly feature roads that I’ve traveled before. I was on this road twice in 2008 and would love to show it to dear old dad this year. This road would be US Route 20 through Idaho. I’m a huge fan of Idaho and this baron, dry landscape, scarred with lava is one of my favorites. You can see some pictures of it here. When we hit Mountain Home, we’ll take US Route 30 through Boise, following the old Oregon Trail, and into Oregon. Baker City will be our stop for the night.

This day will end with us at the Pacific Ocean! But first, another one of my favorite roads, Oregon Route 7 and then US Route 26 through John Day. I rode it in 2008, so check it out here. The desert will be around us for much of the day, through fossil beds and ghost towns, until we cross the Cascade Mountains. We’ll skirt to the north of Bend and then up and over two sets of mountains. The Pacific greets us in Newport, our home for the night.

The last day of any trip should be short and simple. Not too short that you’ll be tempted to do it on the next to last day, of course. But short. Since we can pretty much only go north, we’ll take US 101 up the Oregon coast. We’ll be right along the ocean for a lot of it and taking side roads to keep us closer to the water. The town where they filmed The Goonies, Astoria, will be our last town in Oregon. We’ll cross the Columbia to Lewis and Clark’s winter camp, continuing up 101. In Raymond, we’ll take a westerly loop on Route 105 and then reattach to US 12 then Washington 8 to Washington 3 through the towns of Elma and Shelton. What better way to end a trip than a ferry ride. This one goes from Kingston to Edmonds. Once across, we’ll be a only a few miles from home and the end of one of the coolest trips I’ve ever planned.

So how’s that? What do you think? Sound like a great trip or what? Dad, this is just a rough draft, so if you’d like to change stuff, go for it. If you’d like to skip Yellowstone and hit Jackson, that’s cool. If you want to head to Bozeman, that’s fine too. I’m up for pretty much anything.