What could be better than spending a week bicycling through the scenic valleys and over the mountain passes of Western Montana?

Beginning in Adventure Cycling’s hometown of Missoula, we’ll follow the Bitterroot River upstream before climbing over Lost Trail and Chief Joseph passes. We’ll descend into the Big Hole Valley, a basin so broad and sparsely populated, you’ll feel as if you’ve ridden back in time a hundred years. Keep an eye out—you may catch sight of a bear scampering through the sagebrush, en route from one mountain range to another!

From the Big Hole, we’ll climb Big Hole Pass and pedal north along the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway with its lush alpine meadows and lodgepole forests. After again crossing the Continental Divide, we’ll spin through the beautiful Flint Creek and Blackfoot valleys, tracing some of the same roads that professional cyclist and Montana native Levi Leipheimer trained on during his early days. You’ll also experience a number of delightful small towns and soak in hot springs along the way. You may not be able to beat Levi after completing this ride, but you’ll return home fit with a mother lode of memories from a glorious corner of Big Sky Country.