Route information for riding from Winthrop, WA to Newport, WA.

This covers the route that we took to Bead Lake (outside of Newport). I've tried to supply information on terrain, food, water, and camping areas.

• Overview
  • Great hills (long ascents and descents).
  • Limited facilities. You will need to camp and carry a lot of food and water. For most of the trip we carried about 6liters of water for two people, and we sometimes ran out. You will need a water filter (and iodine tablets as a backup) to treat stream water.
  • Almost no traffic
  • Wildlife and wonderful forests and views.
  • Everyone that we met was nice. Most people waved as we passed by them.
  • Many variations and microclimates. You really get to see a nice crosssection of WA state.
  • 4 days at ~50miles per day and about 4000-5000ft of climbing per day (last day has less climbing, but it is steeper).
  • Possible camping areas:
    • Omak/Stampede Park - Large city park with RV and camping space.
    • Along SR155 around Disautel - A couple of spots along here where you can camp along the road. No water.
    • Coyote Creek (just beyond Disautel Pass) - Hand operated water pump. We only saw a few camping spots, but later on learned that there were tons of them.
    • Keller Campground - We didn't visit this. Colville Indian Agency should be able to provide details on facilities.
    • Bridge Creek road - Details below.
    • Chewelah City Park - We didn't look into this, but heard that it was an option from a few locals.
  • The reservation has tourist information including details on campgrouns. We did not call them to get this information, but wish that we had. Many maps are inaccurate in this region.
• Start in Winthrop
• SR20 to Omak
  • Go over Loup Loup Pass
  • Camping in Stampede Park
• SR155 to Colville Indian Agency
  • Steep hot climbing on first part of road.
  • Tree cover starts around Disautel. Might be possible to find a place to camp. We camped near the first road on the right past Camp Disautel (a tiny town).
  • Coyote Creek Campground (just past Disautel Pass) has a well with pump and bathrooms. Good place to fill up on water. Camping seemed to be very close to the road.
  • Get more water at gas station in Nespelam. No other options for a long time (and one big hill).
  • You can get on Cache Creek Road in Nespelem instead of at the Agency. When we did this trip that portion of Cache Creek Road was closed, so we had to go a few miles out of our way.
• Left onto Cache Creek Road to SR21
  • Lots of climbing early -- limited shade. Nice views.
  • Riding through a long valley with some farming, followed by a very pretty climb up to an unmarked pass (about 4000ft). Good shade on the climb.
  • One of the best descents on the ride at the top of the pass. Nice road, no traffic, and there is a resturant at the bottom with ice cream and ice water.
• Left onto SR21 North
  • Only take this a few miles to Bridge Creek Road.
  • There is camping option at Keller Campground, but that is out of the way (south) and there is nicer camping along Bridge Creek Road. It is the closest established campground though. Some maps indicate a campground called Bridge Creek along Bridge Creek Road, but it does not exist.
• Bridge Creek Road to Inchelium and Gifford Ferry
  • Easy access to water for first 6 miles.
  • Great camping spot on right just before hairpin turn over the creek and mile marker 6. The spot is down an old doubletrack road which is covered with grass. Space for one or two tents, easy water access, rocks setup for cooking, and you can't see the road. Even if you don't camp here fill up on water here because there are no other water options for about 20 miles.
  • Nice climb to the top of the hill at mile marker 12. I think peak was about 3500 feet. Lots of wildlife around here.
  • Rollers along top of hill until the descent which starts around mile 17 or 18.
  • Great descent into Twin Lakes (campground option, not as nice as the spot near mile 6, but better established). Traffic picks up after Twin Lakes.
  • Follow the road all the way to the Gifford ferry. Ferry is free, leaves every 30 minutes. In Inchilium you'll pass a decent small grocery store on the left. This is the last good option for buying food until Chewelah.
• Take Ferry from Inchelium to Gifford
  • There are bathrooms with running water at the Gifford ferry dock.
• Take SR25 north to Addy-Gifford road
  • You'll pass two campgrounds on the left. Fill up on water at Gifford Campground, because there aren't other options until Chewelah (except for a stream which runs alongside Addy-Gifford for a few miles near the start).
• Addy-Gifford to SR3
  • Starts climbing right away. Limited shoulders, but low traffic. Limited shade too.
  • Climb is broken by a ride through a valley with a lot of farming.
  • Peak at about 3500-4000ft.
  • Nice long descent. Take a right and almost immediate left onto Blue Creek Road. This saves a couple of miles.
  • Blue Creek Road goes straight to the highway (SR155?). Avoid the unmarked yet paved turns. Take the highway (gentle downhill) all the way into Chewelah.
• SR395 south into Chewelah
  • Chewelah has camping at the city park, and there are two motels. There is a Safeway here to pick up food.
  • You can find Flowery Trail road by looking for the signs to 49 degrees north (a ski resort). They sign it from SR395.
• Flowery Trail Road to Usk
  • Flowery Trail starts climbing right away. Steep, but one of the nicest climbs on the route. Lots of shade, almost no traffic. Climb is 10 miles long, and fairly constantly steep the whole way.
  • Go down the side road on the left at the top of the pass. Great views! Good place to eat lunch.
  • Descent starts steep, then gets more gradual when you hit the dirt road section. It is steep again on the opposite side. Nice views for much of the way down.
  • The end of Flowery Trail goes through farming country around Usk. Nice smells!
• Usk to Bead Lake Road
  • There is a bridge at Usk across the Ponderay River. There are also a few shops where you can get water and snacks.
  • Take a right just after the bridge onto Le Clerc road. This will take you all the way into Old Town (Idaho side of Newport). Le Clerc road is flat and mostly goes through farming country. Many views of the river and nearby birds and wildlife. I would suggest following this road instead of SR20.

Trip Report (with pictures and overview maps)

alex@phred.org