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 For a week in August (plus a few days before and after) literally hundreds of thousands of riders gather in the tiny town of Sturgis, South Dakota. Sturgis Bike Week is one of those events that you just have to see to believe. We visited Sturgis for the first time in 2007, and it was such a success that we're doing it again, better than ever. We leave Las Vegas on July 27, taking the "Scenic Route" to Sturgis. We'll cross a spectacular corner or Arizona through the Virgin River Gorge, and spend our first night in Springdale UT, gateway to Zion National Park - established in 1919. Zion meant “resting place” to the Mormon settlers in the area. We ride between sheer cliffs of Navajo Sandstone rising 2,000 ft. above the green valley floor. We ride north through the back roads of Utah climbing to over 10,000 feet elevation in the Mt. Nebo wilderness. We'll follow Provo Canyon around the Salt Lake City metro area and into Wyoming, then on to Jackson. The next day takes us into Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. The miles are not demanding, and there will be plenty of time to explore the sights, sounds and smells of of of the most unique (and at the same time amazingly diverse) regions on the planet. Wildlife is plentiful, and we almost always see big game such as moose, buffalo, elk, deer, bear and wolf. Leaving Yellowstone you'll have the pleasure of riding the Beartooth Highway, which Charles Kuralt called the "most beautiful road in America". It also is near the top of every motorcyclist's list of "must-rides". You'll see a real western rodeo in Cody, and then we're off through the Bighorn Mountains on the way to Sturgis. We spend our last night before Sturgis near the Wyoming border in a restored nineteenth century hotel. The owners tell me that at one time a portion of the establishment was in fact available by the hour. Apparently when the cowboys came in to town, they did not need much sleep.
Our final leg to Bike Week takes us through the Big
Horn Mountains with a side trip to
When we get to Sturgis, you'll see bikes (and PEOPLE!) of
every make, model, size, shape, age, color and variety.
Everyone is there to relax and have fun,
Even if you never go back again, it's worth going just once
to say that "I was there". All that being said, unless
you are a true Sturgis die-hard, a few days at Bike Week is
enough for most people, and then it's time to put the
masses behind and RIDE. Fortunately, within a day's travel
of Sturgis the crowds thin out and there's nothing but you,
your bike, and the wide open roads of the western US.
So after three nights amid the excitement of Bike Week,
All in all, you'll see more of the American West that you dreamed possible AND be a part of the largest gathering of motorcycles on earth. Spend twelve days with us this summer and you'll see what we mean!
Reserve your place on any
Full-Service Tour by March 31, 2008 and receive |
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Great American Motorcycle
Touring
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Devil's
Tower.
and
although the crowds are huge, folks are generally
well-behaved. Indeed, "people-watching" at Sturgis is
as much fun as the riding!
we're hitting the road through the Badlands and Rocky
Mountain
National Park, navigating the highest paved road in North
America on the way to Denver.