Route of the Hiawatha Scenic Mtn Bike Trail

Beautiful scenery and trail

I had ridden trail of the Hiawatha several times this year, and during our last visit we took the shuttle back up for the first time only to have our bikes mistreated and damaged. While they were removing my fat bike from the 'transport' a bus not equipped with hangers big enough to accommodate my wheels/tires it got stuck on another fat bike. I watched the employee get frustrated with the bikes and yank on mine, lifting both up and shaking them until one came loose. This particular visit I had several work colleagues with me and didn't want to make a scene, so I sent an email with pictures of the damage after assessing it when we got home.nnAfter contacting the resort and managers several times I received no responses, it seems as though they'll take your money but not respond to calls/emails. I've waited several months for their response before writing this, but it looks as though their service reflects the treatment of people's personal bikes there.nnI would not recommend anyone use their services, they've likely damaged many other bikes in the same manner and taken accountability for none. The staff is unresponsive, negligent, and apparently too short tempered to do their job correctly.nnUPDATE: It has been over a year and I still have not been contacted by the GM nor anyone else from Silver Mountain.

A must see if you come to MT! The trail was easy and mostly downhill. Scenery was amazing! If you can bring your own equipment. The equipment we rented was not good. Brake and light problems. The customer service was first rate. Will do again next year! (With my own bike!)

Fabulous bicycle ride through scenic forested mountains. This rail trail follows the path of a historic railroad, and includes tunnels, one over a mile long, and bridges, some over 200 feet high. There are very informative plaques along the way to educate us on the way the railroad was build, the history and demise of the company that built it, and the culture and experience of riding the rails. The normal ride is fifteen miles slightly down hill one way, with a shuttle ride back to the top. There is a charge to use the trail, a charge for the shuttle ride and various other paid options like bike and light rental (for the long and very dark tunnel). Friends who rented bikes reported that they were not in good repair and both parties experienced mechanical failures on the trail. We used our own bikes and choose to ride both directions, for a total of about 30 miles. The surface of the trail is gravel and dirt, so road bikes are not recommended. The uphill grade during the second half of the ride was not too bad, and we appreciate having two looks at everything. Caution, the long tunnel is cold, so bring a jacket. It's also wet, so expect to get muddy. Caution, This trail starts in Montana and ends in Idaho. Northern Idaho is in the Pacific time zone, and Montana is in the Mountain time zone. So although the trail head at East Portal is in Montana, they use Idaho time. We showed up an hour before the staff. However, the trail is not physically locked, and you can pay the trail Marshalls along the way.

Arrived a little later than we were planning but when we went to pick up our light rentals, we asked when the last shuttle would be and she had said 5:45. After hearing that, we didn’t feel rushed and could finish the trail in the 2.5 hours it takes. While riding the trail we stopped to take a couple pictures and drink some water, an employee asked if we were planning on taking the shuttle and we said yes. She told us that’s fine but we needed to keep riding. It made us feel that we couldn’t stop anymore and rushed so we didn’t get to stop to take any more pictures. This was our first time here so we were looking forward to being able to take pictures along the way. As we continued riding in a hurry, there were at least 30 people ahead of us on the trail. She made us feel like we were way behind schedule and we rushed to the bottom only to have to wait for the shuttle and everyone else that we passed. Very disappointed with the lack of communication and us being rushed when it wasn’t necessary. We missed out on a lot of great picture opportunities.