Beartooth Highway - 2011 Trip - Day 5

Start Location: Sidney, MT
Ending Location: Mandan, ND
Miles Today: 278
Trip Miles: 1567
States Visited: 5
Provinces Visited: 0
Low Temp: 57.6° F
High Temp: 76.2° F
Min Elevation: 1642'
Max Elevation: 2458'

Route Map:

Well it's been 4 days since we posted the maps so I'm not sure how much I'll remember but I'm sure this will be pretty brief.

We left Sidney and headed north on route 200 and then route 58 until we met up with ND Route 1804.  Route 1804 and its mate 1806 were named after the years that Lewis and Clark traveled throught this part of the country.  The Lewis and Clark Expedition is a big deal in this part of the country.  Half of the roads have signs indicating they were part of the Lewis and Clark Trail and it seems like there are Lewis and Clark Interpretive centers everywhere we go.

Route 1804 is listed in motorcycleroads.us and sounded like it would be a fun ride.  The first town we entered was Williston and the first 70 miles, from Williston to Newtown, were heavily traveled by huge construction type vehicles.  Mike told us that Williston is ground-zero for the oil boom currently going on in North Dakota.  North Dakota, mainly because of the boom, is one of the few states that does not have huge deficits these days and is actually in the black.  After Newtown the traffic was very light and we thoroughly enjoyed the remainder of the ride and the chance to spend the day off of interstates.  Shortly after lunch we picked up route 83 directly into Bismark and then crossed the river into Mandan.  We got into Mandan late afternoon to begin a thoroughly enjoyable stay.