CENTENNIAL VALLEY, Montana -- America's Great Divide Mountain Bike Route is a series of rural backroads from Banff, Alberta, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico that together form a premier route for adventurous bicyclists and, increasingly, motorcyclists.
Following a network of primarily unpaved backways, it traverses some of the most rural regions of the Rocky Mountain West.
At its northern end, it parallels the Continental Divide -- and the Continental Divide Trail for hikers -- as it winds through western Montana, not far from my home in Idaho.
Judging by the number of ride reports by adventure motorcyclists -- ADV riders, they are called -- it seems that more and more backroad travelers are taking the route each year. As an ADV rider and backcountry driver myself, I became curious about the route in the summer of 2009, and decided to have a look.
