Day 16 Missoula, MT to Diamond S RV park, Ronan, MT, 60.4 miles

Coming out of Missoula I gained a greater appreciation of the Adventure Cycling Association’s routes. So far I had been following their Lewis and Clark route from the Oregon coast. This morning I was following my own route and just on the edge of Missoula it had me turn onto a Railroad right of way road that proved less than ideal. When I hit pavement, about an hour later, I resolved to be a little more discerning.

The name of the game for the day was where will Carl camp tonight. That’s another thing that the Adventure Cycling Association’s maps help you out with. As the day went on, I rode onto the Flathead Indian Reservation (1.3 million acres!) and discovered that it is hard to camp afforably on the reservation. You needed to get a $100 permit and then pay a camping fee approaching another $100. When I stopped to soak my feet in a stream and eat lunch, I ran into a local rafting guide that had stopped for a swim in the swimming hole. He was very kind and called his boss to ask if I could camp on the rafting company’s land but the answer was no.

I came through a pass and had a dramatic view of the mission mountains. There was a rest stop, and I stopped to get some water. But the only place was a spigot and I was not sure if it was potable water. Then I ran into a couple road construction supervisors that were taking in the view, they had some water on the truck that they were kind enough to give me a couple bottles and they gave me a vague suggestion for camping.

Then further down the road I came across an open gate that said No trespassing but it also said hipcampers welcome. Hipcamp is a website where people list places to camp usually for a fee, think camping Airbnb. I had the app on my phone and I looked to see if this was listed but it wasn’t. I went to a store to ask who owns the land and they said it was part of the reservation and they had never heard of Hipcamp. They pointed me to a store across the road and said they might know more, they didn’t. But they did know there was tent camping down the road at an RV park. So I got back on my bike and started cruising, it was getting late.

I arrived at Ronan, MT and the Diamond S RV park was on the way out of town. The woman in the office, who I assumed was the owner, was very kind and gave me the bicycle rider discount and set me up with a site that had a hammock and view of the mission mountains. Thank you! I had a wonderful stay at the Diamond S RV park and would recommend it to everyone even if you don’t have an RV.