Where to tour in the U.S. for the month of July?

skunderwood

A friend and I have the month of July to do a tour this summer, but we can't decide where to go...so I'm wondering if any fellow bike tourists can offer us some advice.

We want to go to a region that will be relatively cool (nothing over 90 degrees) and plenty of wilderness for camping. We both live in the San Francisco area, and have toured quite a bit around California, so we're looking for something in another state. Has anybody done a summer tour they would recommend?

coolworx

Vermont and New Hampshire are beautiful that time of year - low 80's for highs, 50ish in the mornings. Ohh and there's plenty of places to camp - both official, and ehhhh... ummmm... not so official.

Just make sure you have your hill climbing smile on.

http://www.vermontlifecatalog.com/book/b-25-bike.html

eric_the_red

Think outsde the box, so to speak, there's lots of wilderness up here in BC, never gets above 80 or so and your dollars go further.

skunderwood

eric the red,
BC had actually crossed my mind as a potentially great place to tour. if we left from vancouver, and eventually returned to vancouver - what places would you recommend for a 3-4 week loop tour?

yoe400800

Skunderwood-

Im planning on going from Portland to San Fransico this summer... Any advise on dates, places to camp, hostels, or anything at all... This will be my first tour

eric_the_red

If you're looking for wilderness you may want to try cycling from Vancouver to Bella Coola, taking a ferry to Port Hardy, cycling down Vancouver Island to Nanaimo or Victoria and taking a ferry back to Vancouver. Or if you want to go longer cycling up to Prince Rupert and taking a ferry to Port Hardy is another option. Both these routes can also be done in the reverse directon.

The roads to Bella Coola and Prince Rupert both go through grizzly bear territory though, maybe more wilderness than you're looking for

The Okanagan valley is also nice, but may be a bit hot and crowded in July. With 4 weeks you could probably do Banff and Jasper, it's cooler in the mountains, but there will be lots of climbing. That area also tends to get busy in July.

Have a look at this site, more info there
http://broughton.ca/bcakfaq.html

steve egner

I just finished a ride on Washington State's Olympic Peninsula. It offers National Park access, rugged mountain views with world-class hillclimbs, roaring river gorges to cross, strikingly clear lakes, and is flanked by the Pacific and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

I loved it.

It would be an easy jump from Port Angeles to Victoria on Vancouver Island. Port A offers low cost passenger, bicycle, and auto ferry service. The Island is a wonderful place to explore, as was suggested in an earlier post. The farther North you go, the more rugged it gets. I like to have some access to civilization, and find the Island's West coast quite appealing. Tofino, Uclulet, and Barclay Sound are beautiful destinations.

Steve

skunderwood

Last spring I toured from Mendocino down to San Francisco, so I can offer you some advice about that stretch. I didn't take Highway 1 (the way a lot of cyclists do, you'll have to ask someone else for advice if you want to go that route), instead I cut in at the Navarro river and went into Booneville on Highway 128. Hendy Woods State Park is a lovely place to camp. If you want some crazy hill climbing, you could climb the Comptche grade over to Orr Hot Springs. This is one of my favorite hot springs in Northern California. It's not a "drop-in" kind of place. You have to telephone in a reservation in advance to soak there. It's super challenging climb, but if you love hotsprings, it's absolutely worth it. If you have extra cash, stay for a night. You can stay in the communal house, or in your own cabin.

You'll climb over the grade and descend down into Ukiah. From there go south, skirting around highway 101 on the frontage roads. The wine country in this area is truly beautiful, and you'll see lots of other cyclists. Interesting sights include the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Talmage, just outside of Ukiah and the Hopland Solar Living Center in Hopland.

In Sonoma County, you can camp out at Lake Sonoma and head through vineyard country towards Santa Rosa. There are so many wineries to taste at, you could get toasted real quick - so watch out. AND, watch out for the drivers, especially towards the end of the day - when a lot of them might be a little tipsy. Luckily people are used to watching out for riders in this area, since there are so many cyclists.

I did a lot of "guerilla camping" on this ride. After a tour I did in Spain and France (where I camped for free the entire ride and had no problems at all), I was surprised how risky it was in this zone. People are a bit paranoid (there's a lot of pot growing in this particular area), so just be careful, and try to find real campgrounds to camp in (especially if you're a woman, like me)

Good luck out there ~ and I'm sure if you posted another thread on the forum looking for tips about this particular route, you'd get many more responses.

Sarah