Hi, looking for an alternate route off 93 between Whitefish, Mt. and Eureka.  Loaded touring so want to avoid the Great Divide route.  I see some side roads, but can't get any information on them.    Thanks for any info.  Keith

Keith,

I don't know if you've seen this recent journal - https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/sisterhood/serpentine-sweep-to-stillwater/

Jim and Genny have family in the Whitefish area and bicycle there frequently. If they haven't found an alternate to Highway 93, I doubt it exists. However, rereading Genny's entry, it doesn't seem as if 93 is currently a bad ride. It might not be your favorite day of the trip, but not every day can be a favorite.

I would suggest looking at their map and see where their routing might help you out. Jim is very good at finding least traffic roads.

Looking at your route map, it seems as if 93 is an essential connector piece. We recently rode into Canada on the east side of Glacier, and would do that ride again. West Glacier/East Glacier/Babb/Waterton/Pincher Creek/Sparwood, etc. 

That does hook up with your intended route, but I'm not convinced 93 is so horrible as to make such a drastic route change. We've ridden into/out of Eureka three times on various trips and never felt 93 was terrible. The piece I didn't like was the initial exit from Whitefish, uphill, no shoulder, potential heavy traffic. I did it once with traffic, and after that learned to leave town very early. Going into Whitefish is easier because it's downhill/faster.

Your trip looks great. I'm looking forward to following along.

It looks like there's a new bike path next to US93 for the first mile or so west of Whitefish, then you're stuck riding the busy, shoulderless highway for a couple miles. You can get off the highway at Twin Bridges Road and get over to Farm to Market Road, which is paved and shouldn't have much traffic. Once that brings you back to the highway, you have to ride on 93 for 28 miles to Fortine. Parts of it have a decent shoulder, and parts don't. I rode Meadow Lake Road, Barnaby Lake Road, and Tobacco Road between Fontine and Eureka a few years ago, and they were quiet, pleasant paved roads. The other alternatives you have mapped out are gravel or dirt, I think.

Henry, thank you for taking the time to reply.  I just heard so many bad things about 93, and wanted to avoid trouble.  I appreciate you and the others here for your information.  Cheers!

Kelly, thank you for sharing your knowledge with me; I think I'll go back to 93 and the alternates you offered.  Like I mentioned to Henry below, I don't like trouble so ....  Again, I really appreciate all of the HELP!  (ALSO, thank you for the link ....)

The route Henry mentioned is the ACA route for the Northern Tier. I rode it in 2021.  93 is busy and can be unpleasant due to little shoulder space, so you really should use the ACA route to avoid as much of 93 as possible.