North by North West Self Guided Motorcycle Tour

Take a deep breath of northern air as you step outside the airport terminal and transfer to your downtown Seattle hotel. In the distance, your first sight of Seattle’s famous Space Needle. You’ll have time to grab a bite to eat and have a drink. Get a good night’s rest because tomorrow you begin the first part of an exciting journey.

If you’re getting in a day or two early, we suggest you rent a car or pick up your motorcycle in advance and pay a visit to Neah Bay, the northernmost town on the US West Coast or take a ferry to Vancouver Island and explore the beautiful island. You might even want to make it a little round trip, take the ferry across the coastal waters of British Columbia to Vancouver; from here its 140 miles back to Seattle. Or spend time and overnight in downtown Seattle and explore Seattle’s unique cultural heritage...

And you’re off. If you see any crop sprayers we’ll be surprised, but if you do make sure you hide – just ask Cary Grant. You’ll take the interstate to Everett to clear the suburbs, and then backroads to the Skagit River and east into Cascades National Park. The ride is a taste of things to come as sweeping empty roads take you through beautiful unspoilt mountain scenery

More stress free riding in fresh mountain air today. Sticking to Highway 20, you reach Kettle Falls, then follow the Pend Oreille, cross into Idaho and pick up Highway 2 to Bonners Ferry and our riverfront hotel.

This morning is an amazing ride on backroads through the Kootenay National Forest and along the shores of Lake Kookanusa to Eureka on the Canadian Border. Then you head south following the Stillwater river to Kalispell, in the centre of the flat, Flathead River valley, surrounded by the Rocky Mountains.

This morning's ride is a highlight anywhere in the world, the spectacular 'Going to the Sun' road through Glacier National Park, across the Continental divide (and watch out the sun will be in your eyes!) You then drop down into Browning, main town for the Blackfoot tribe and the Museum for Plains indians. After an optional detour you head across the prairie surrounded by the lush green grassland landscape all the way to great Falls, on the banks of the Missouri river. Maybe allow yourself a little time to visit the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center.

This is what relaxing riding is all about, as you discover that Montana is both big and empty of people. In 2 days and 500 miles you won't have left the state, and seen just one sizeable city (Great Falls, pop. under 60,000!)

Back into the mountains with a vengeance this morning as you ride one of America's most iconic biking roads - Bear Tooth Pass. Always cold, even in mid-summer, when snow and high winds are still a possibility, it has been described as 'the most beautiful drive in America' and on a clear day it is breathtaking (literally, rising to 10,948 ft 3,337m). And on the other side - Yellowstone, what a place to end the ride!

So much to see and do - words cannot describe the beauty of Yellowstone, you just have to see and smell it!

It’s a short ride today, but there is no way we could leave the Rockies without enjoying the beautiful Tetons and the ski resort of Jackson, surrounded by spectacular mountain scenery.

This morning you leave the Rockies behind and drop down to the Snake River. If you remember your school geography, you can get to the Gulf of Mexico from here by following the river east to the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. It’s a strange change of scenery as you cross the Snake River Plain to the eerie Craters of the Moon National Monument with its raw volcanic rocks and formations. Your ride then takes you to the ski resort of Ketchum, where Ernest Hemingway committed suicide.

You take a scenic ride through the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and then a winding descent follows the Payette River back to your old friend the Snake River.

This morning you take Highway 20 West through the river-scoured Malheure Gorge and across eastern Oregon’s high desert (yes, really). You can then take the shorter route along the winding Crooked River Highway to your stop in the small town of Prineville; or visit the amazing colours of the Painted Hills, one of Oregon’s ‘Seven Natural Wonders’..

You head north through the Warm Springs Reservation to Mount Hood, at 3426 m one of the three major peaks in the Cascade Mountains. You then drop down to the Hood River and then you’re heading for Mt St Helens, the most active volcano in North America, before following the Lewis River to your hotel. Mt St Helens is less than 4000 years old – much of it is younger than the Great Pyramids of Egypt – and erupted continuously for over three years starting in 2004.

You ride into Mt St Helens NP to get a good look at this live volcano from the Johnson Ridge Observatory. Quite amazing. Then you retrace your tracks through the park and head for Mt Rainier. Also a volcano, this is the most glaciated mountain below the Canadian border, almost a perfect dome, and a healthy 4392 m high. A night in the park is a truly memorable end to your very own wilderness adventure.

After a morning in the National Park a short ride on country roads brings you to the Seattle suburbs, where you’ll return your trusty Harley-Davidson.

It’s time to return to reality. You’ll be returning home with a completely new understanding of America after these two weeks of riding in the wilderness.