Route suggestion: Ainsworth Hot Springs to Lewiston

[eej1]

Any suggestions on the best roads to take from Ainsworth Hot Springs, BC to Lewiston, ID? This will be on a weekday in July.

 

I am considering taking 3A to 6 in BC, then 31, 20 and 41 into Coeur d'Alene. Or maybe take the ferry across to Kootenay Bay, 3A, 1, and south on 95 into Couer d'Alene.

 

Then I can either take 95 all the way to Lewiston, or take 97, 3, and 6 back to 95.

 

Any suggestions on these alternatives is appreciated.

Thanks,

Eric

[MikeRC]

Eric:

 

Kinda shows the dearth of Canadian members on the site, right?

 

In general, the really good roads go east<->west and the north<->south ones follow river valleys and are usually less interesting.

 

OK, so I basically se it as three choices.

 

a) Follow BC31 south to the Balfour-Kootenay Bay ferry (only runs every hour - check the schedule) then BC3A south to Creston and the straight shot on BC12-US95 all the way to Lewiston. You get about 48 miles of great riding from Kootenay Bay to Creston, then a little bit just south of the border, then again for about 50 miles north of Lewiston. You also grind through Sandpoint and Coeur d'Alene at about 10 mph. But it is the shortest.

 

b) As above, but at Creston head east on BC3 to Cranbrook and Elko, then south on BC93 to US93 (Montana) to MT37 along Lake Kookanusa,US2 to just east of Troy, south on MT56, SE on MT200 to Thompson Falls then MT471/ID4 to I-90 to ID3 (Exit 34) and over to US95. Probably takes 2 to 3 hours longer and gives about 2000 more grins. Be really careful on MT471/ID4 - no speed limits posted for the (frequent) decreasing radius corners.

 

c) BC31 Kaslo to New Denver (one of my 3 favourite roads in BC) BC6 south to Castlegar, BC3 to BC3B to Rossland to BC22/WA25 to Northport. From there, there are a number of options to get to Colville (WA25, Clugston-Onion Creek Rd, Colville-Alladin-Northport Rd). Now head south on US395 (boring) to Spokane and then use either WA27 or US95 to Lewiston. Haven't tried the WA27 route but others have recommended it. Or why not include part of WA 20 from Colville back to Tiger then south on WA20/ID41 to US95?

 

My preferred? Route b>c>a. But it's your time.............

 

Mike Cassidy

[eej1]

Thanks Mike!