WABDR - Washington Backcountry Discovery Route

Eight nights on the Washington Backcountry Discovery Route, all 688 miles of it, ridden as a truck-supported group. Riders bring their own bike at the base price, or rent one from a range of small and mid-sized adventure machines.

Portland and the Bridge of the Gods start it, crossing into Washington and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, with Triangle Pass, Trail Peak and the Guler ice caves, which are lava tubes that hold ice right through the summer. Packwood follows, then Bethel Ridge above the Naches valley and Ellensburg.

Table Mountain and the Lion Rock Lookout come next at around 6,000 feet, then Cashmere, Chumstick Peak, Roaring Ridge and Lake Chelan, a glacial trench that is among the deepest lakes in the United States. Chelan takes a night.

Cooper Mountain and the Methow ridgecrest follow, then Conconully, Baldy Pass, Tiffany Mountain, the Loomis State Forest and the Skull and Crossbones Road, which is about as rough as the name implies, before the route finishes at the Nighthawk border crossing into Canada and a transfer to Seattle. Prices are quoted in US dollars. The Backcountry Discovery Routes were mapped specifically for adventure bikes and this is the original one, which means the terrain is consistently technical rather than occasionally so, and the support truck carrying luggage and spares is what makes eight consecutive days of it manageable. The option to bring an own bike at the base price is worth noting too, since a rider’s own suspension settings count for something on terrain like this.