Day 1: Touring Missoula

June 12, 2025

I arrived in Missoula a little after 2 PM after driving 262 miles from Ritzville, Washington. The time jumped ahead a hour when I entered Mountain time zone. It rained a little bit while I ate a burrito at an outdoor food truck.

After lunch I returned the rental car at Enterprise Rent a Car in industrial west Missoula. The car-free bike tour began at about 3 PM. All I want to do today is explore Missoula a little bit. I spent two nights in Missoula during a 2013 tour. I'm somewhat familiar with the town.

Missoula has several short bike paths on both sides of the Clark Fork river. But none of the river paths go more than a mile or so. It's a shame that the riverfront segments don't form a long path. Missoula is otherwise an extremely bike-friendly city, with an extensive network of bike lanes and paths.

Missoula is the home of the University of Montana. The university gives the city a cosmopolitan culture. I like most college towns, but I especially like Missoula.

The Clark Fork river flows to the Pacific Ocean. The path is kind of confusing because the name changes to Pend Oreille river, and it goes into Canada a bit before flowing into the Columbia river.

Missoula seems to be prosperous but it's not growing as rapidly as Montana's other university town, Bozeman. Missoula is still larger, but Bozeman's population is surging with an inflow of wealthy digital nomads.

Missoula is very close to the Bitterroot range. I couldn't see the mountains very well, looking south into the sun.

Looking south towards the Bitterroot range.

Downtown Missoula has a large riverfront park.

Carousel at the downtown park. It moves very fast.

Small amphitheater in the downtown riverfront park. A Pride Month event was just wrapping up.

Clark Fork river. The local paddler's play wave.

Adventure Cycling Association headquarters.

The office. I signed the guest register. My first visit was in 2013.

My only image of the photo that Greg Siple took of me in front of the white screen in 2013. From a fund raising letter.

After wandering around downtown I continued a couple more block east on the riverfront to tonight's lodging. Goldsmith's Riverfront Inn. A 5-suite inn. I reserved the smallest suite which doesn't have a full kitchen, but it has the only private riverfront deck.

Tonight's home. Former university president's house.

My bedroom has a bay window with a river view.

After settling into the room I went 1 block upstream and crossed the river to explore the university campus.

I sat out a short but intense rain shower in an overhang outside the football stadium. When leaving I noticed an open gate at the stadium, so I went inside to have a look. It's small by big city standards, but the 25,000 seat stadium is the biggest in Montana.

A gate was open, so I walked into Montana Grizzly stadium.

My main destination was the grassy plaza on campus that has good views of the ancient shorelines of ice age lake Missoula. It was my first time to see Ryman Memorial Hall and the grizzly sculpture.

Ryman Memorial Hall, University of Montana. Shorelines of ice age Lake Missoula are visible on the hillside.

Bike/ped bridge that connects my inn to the campus.

After exploring the campus by bike, I parked the bike at my inn and walked a few blocks west towards downtown to have dinner at a pizzeria on the ground floor of a new high rise condo.

In the evening my friend Jeff Birkby came to visit. I told him about the deck but he already knew about the place. He knows the owners and he bought his bike next door. Every year he travels to his birthplace of Iowa for RAGBRAI.

Cyclist and hot spring consultant Jeff Birkby came by for a visit. My photo is on the cover of his Washington and Oregon hot spring guide.

My inn is extremely close to Missoula's top bike shop. The covered walkway is the entry to both businesses.

Today had a high of 80F. It was somewhat humid and there were two significant showers and other periods of spitting rain. Missoula is 2900 feet elevation. Not super high, but it still gets Rocky Mountain style rain showers. Missoula is where the Pacific Northwest ends and the Rocky Mountains begin. I'm ready for a Rocky Mountain adventure, with wilder and more unstable weather than what I'm accustomed to in the Pacific Northwest.

I felt pretty decent today despite being sleep deprived after the late night wildfire detour. I'm glad I didn't need to work hard today. I should be recovered before tomorrow's long ride.

Distance: 8.6 miles
Average Speed: 6.8 mph
Ascent/Descent: +149/-142 feet

Today's ride: 8 miles (13 km)
Total: 8 miles (13 km)

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Michael HutchingInteresting to get some detail of Missoula. The only time I’ve come across the place is in the movie ‘A River Runs Through It’ and also when we once warmshower hosted a 79 year old, Ethel from Missoula. Someone we’ll never forget. She told us that she’d asked her husband for a bike on her 60th birthday and he gave her a rocking chair. That was the end of the marriage she declared fairly emphatically. Anyway she managed an intrepid tour of much of the North Island on her small folding bike and returned to Missoula in one piece. Happy travels!
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