Notes: The routes will be updated with details and possibly changed before the ride. Also, the elevation profiles below use different scales; make sure to check the scale when judging climbs and comparing days. It’ll make you feel better. 

Lodging Baggage/Shuttle Service: If you book lodging with one of our partner properties, we'll drop off and pick up your baggage, and provide scheduled passenger shuttle service. Use this list to book with our partners: ID 2025 Lodging List.

Day 0 – Saturday, July 12: Check-in, Cheney

Site: Salnave Elementary and Salnave Park

Quick quiz: Have you ever been to Cheney? (Probably not.) Do you know how to pronounce it? (Probably not: it’s CHEE-nee). But it’s a great little college town, home of Eastern Washington University, and situated on the northern edges of the famed Palouse wheat country. All our riders will converge on Cheney this day, reliving old memories with old friends, and looking forward to new adventures and new friends to come.

Day 1 – Sunday, July 13: Cheney to Plummer – 58 miles, 2,660 feet of gain

Site: Plummer Schools

While this day may not feature any bike trails, it sets the tone with a zig-zag network of quiet country roads. The ride starts out through the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, and then crosses through towns we’re sure you’ve never been to: North Pine, Spring Valley, Latah, Tekoa, Willard… these are the classic “Blue Highways” that embody the western United States and its wide-open spaces. You’ll ride into Plummer ready for more days of miles like these. (Oh, and there's not actually a long section of gravel - it's a mapping glitch.)

Day 2 – Monday, July 14: Plummer to Wallace – 66 miles, 1,500 feet

Site Site: Wallace Jr/Sr High School

The Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes is considered one of the crown jewels of the rails-to-trails movement in the U.S. It starts by winding through sparse forests, and within 8 miles the scenery transforms to a jaw-dropping lakeside trail. You’re literally on the shore for the next 10 miles – oh, except when you’re riding over an isolated, long and very cool bike-ped bridge with not a road in sight. Then it’s a stop in bustling Harrison, a town as bike-friendly as it gets. From there it’s miles and miles of big views and well-tended trailheads, finally rejoining civilization for the last 15 miles into Wallace.

Day 3 – Tuesday, July 15: Wallace Layover: Dobson Pass Loop – 54 miles, 2,770 feet

Site: Wallace Jr/Sr High School

Wallace has a truly fascinating history – mining capital, last town with a stoplight on a U.S. freeway, onetime home to numerous houses of ill repute – and it embraces it all. From the authentic Western downtown to the four separate museums, it’s a great town to delve into. But maybe do that after you take an eminently pleasing loop up over Dobson Pass (not the toughest pass around) and then down to the Coeur d’Alene River, which you’ll follow back to the trail you rode in on yesterday.

Day 4 – Wednesday, July 16: Wallace to Coeur d’Alene – 55 miles, 2,680 feet​

Site: Kootenai County Fairgrounds

It took some creative routing to make this one work – but when you experience the payoff, you’ll know it was worth it. It’s part bike trail, part backroads and a little bit freeway (yes, but with ginormous shoulders and a rest stop in the middle of this route segment). Then comes the beauty part: riding above the lake on Yellowstone Trail as the scenery spreads out below you panoramically. Coming into CdA, you’ll sample the extensive network of bike trails in and out of this popular destination.

Day 5 – Thursday, July 17: Coeur d’Alene Layover: Spokane Lollipops – 64 miles, 3,840 feet

Site: Kootenai County Fairgrounds

Not making Coeur d’Alene a layover town would have been unforgiveable, so we obliged with a fun layover route that lets you poke your nose around some of the scenic spots between CdA and Spokane. This route includes both big rollers and multiple bailout points, as it wanders here and there on the most interesting roads we could find. That includes the meadow valley of the Saltese Flats, which feels like remote ranchland even though it’s 10 minutes into town. This day is a bit of “choose your own adventure” as you decide how much of the route to see.

Day 6 – Friday, July 18: Coeur d’Alene to Cheney – 62 miles, 2,040 feet

Site: Salnave Elementary/Salnave Park

Hey, how about we ride on three bike trails in one day, and get from CdA to Cheney with almost no roads? Sounds good – and it is. Starting on the North Idaho Centennial Trail out of CdA, head west and see how the trail engineers connected the segments to make this work. Once you cross the line into Washington, the Centennial gets even better – better pavement and better scenery. Riverside sections, pine groves, the Gonzaga campus, and then the chance to wind through the core of this major city without worrying about cars. Let yourself stop and check out attractions and views; this day is not about how fast you can get done. The last leg is yet another well-executed bike/ped option, the Fish Lake Trail, which extends most of the way back to Cheney.