Part 6 | Motorcycle Portland, Oregon to Yellowstone

Anaconda to West Yellowstone: After a long winter of limited motorcycle riding, a ride from Portland, Oregon over the Continental Divide to Yellowstone might be just what the doctor ordered. This is the sixth part in the Portland, Oregon to Yellowstone series.

After another 50 miles on I-90, we were ready for more off-interstate motorcycling. We cut south on MT-41 and US 287, and cruised through numerous picturesque small towns on the road to Virginia City. You definitely feel the mountains coming and we saw rain showers holding menacingly over the mountain passes. Virginia City is an old mining town set up with an eye for tourists. But turning south on US 287 in Ennis, the famous fishing of the Madison River became the focus. The highway follows the Madison up, up , and up to Quake Lake, formed when a 1959 earthquake caused a massive slide blocking the outflow of Hebgen Lake.

Just a few miles past Hebgen Lake is the town of West Yellowstone, one gateway into Yellowstone National Park.