Keep the Show on the Road! Posted June 7, 2010 Report Share Posted June 7, 2010 I am restarting the National Parks Highway (NPH) project that was set aside a year ago when my daughter had a medical problem. That has been resolved successfully, so in the past week I have returned to the quest. I hope to launch a scouting mission in a couple of weeks that will take me along the NPH from end to end.....depending on where you consider it ending! I will use as my guide the 1917 official National Parks Highway map. I have created below a crude map comparing the Yellowstone Trail (YT) and the National Parks Highway in 1917. The NPH is in red and the YT is in yellow. Where they are the same, I have used orange. The 1917 National; Parks Highway map described it as running from Chicago to Portland, Oregon. The route west to east starting in Portland was first along the route of the Pacific Highway from the Columbia River to the Puget Sound, with a branch to Mt Rainier National Park. (Portland, Kalama, Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle). The National Parks Highway and the Yellowstone Trail were "kissin cousins," for much of the distance between Seattle and eastern Montana, but there were significant differences over the years. Using 1917 routes for both, the NPH and the YT went from Seattle over Snoqualmie Pass to Ellensburg. At Ellensburg the NPH went north to Wenatchee and then east generally along what is now the US 2 corridor to Spokane, via Waterville, and Davenport. The NPH and the YT reconnected in Spokane. (Between Ellensburg and Spokane the YT took a southern loop via Yakima, Walla Walla, and Colfax. but after 1926, it used the route of the NPH via Davenport and Wenatchee). East of Spokane the NPH and the YT shared one route via Coeur d'Alene and Missoula, but the NPH also had two ( !!) northern alternates that took it further north, one via Sandpoint ID, and into Glacier National Park (It was after all the National Parks Highway!) and another through Thompson Falls. The YT and NPH reconnected near Missoula. The NPH went south via Phillipsburg to Anaconda, whereas the YT went via Deer Lodge. The two routes converged a few miles east of Anaconda and both were together again at Butte and remained on the same roadbed as far as Fallon, MT. The NPH took a northern route almost directly east via Glendive, Bismarck and Fargo then southeast to Minneapolis/St Paul, where the YT and the NPH again met. The NPH took a route southeast from Minneapolis to Milwaukee via Madison. Between Milwaukie and Chicago they shared the same route. I am hoping to "launch" the middle of week after next. I probably won't redo the Pacific Highway segment south of Olympia on the trip as I have done it many times,. And I will not linger along the segments I have reported here before to Spokane. Because John Ridge and others have carefully mapped and described the Montana segments of the Yellowstone Trail (orange on map), I probably won't spend most of my time there, but will look closest at the sections east of Glendive where the YT and NPH go their separate ways.. My "plan" is to cover perhaps 200 miles a day so I will gain only a first impression of the route, with enough time for photos, videos, and a little exploring. I will stay off the interstates as much as possible, but will not follow every abandoned section. In addition to the NPH official map, I have used the 1920 Automobile Blue Book Transcontinental edition to reestablish the route. I have some other guides but haven't gotten to them yet.....this is definitely a work in process! I may not return along either the NPH or the YT as my son in at Ft Riley in the Army and I may swing down to visit him. I have a friend in the sign business and I have in the back of my mind having him make signs duplicating those put up in the teens. I don't think I could get away with nailing signs to telephone poles, but I'm thinking that chambers of commerce, restaurants, and some motels might display the signs. I can see a plan later on where both the NPH and YT got "blazed" again....but I haven't (until now) mentioned it to John. I'm willing to consider paying for the signs if my friend can make them at a reasonable cost. I'm thinking plastic or coated signboard, not enameled metal. But that is in the future. Right now I just want to drive the old road and get a feel for the route. Your thoughts, suggestions, experiences, advice, and insights are welcome and sought. Dave Keep the Show on the Road! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennyG Posted June 7, 2010 Report Share Posted June 7, 2010 Wow! This looks great. It's really cool to see folks actually hitting the road. In addition to this top shelf outing, mobilene was out and about last week end, next week the Bremers are heading to Kansas (where I should meet them), Steve Colby's out every week or so, and I know I'm missing some. Good to see ARMF folks on the road. I'm really looking forward to your NPH (and YT) discoveries. Since I haven't even been in most of the states on your route, I can't offer much but I do want to honor your request, so: thoughts: I think the trip is a fantastic idea. suggestions: While in Wisconsin, have a Steven's Point. experiences: I found it easily around Madison. advice: Go with the Special Lager for something good and reliable. insights: Their website shows a Point 2012 Black Ale that I'd just have to try if I was there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keep the Show on the Road! Posted June 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2010 Wow! This looks great. It's really cool to see folks actually hitting the road. In addition to this top shelf outing, mobilene was out and about last week end, next week the Bremers are heading to Kansas (where I should meet them), Steve Colby's out every week or so, and I know I'm missing some. Good to see ARMF folks on the road. I'm really looking forward to your NPH (and YT) discoveries. Since I haven't even been in most of the states on your route, I can't offer much but I do want to honor your request, so: thoughts: I think the trip is a fantastic idea. suggestions: While in Wisconsin, have a Steven's Point. experiences: I found it easily around Madison. advice: Go with the Special Lager for something good and reliable. insights: Their website shows a Point 2012 Black Ale that I'd just have to try if I was there. Denny, Thanks for the come back! I didn't know there was a state where you hadn't been! I'll keep my eye out for a Steven's Point! Dave Keep the Show on the Road! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennyG Posted June 8, 2010 Report Share Posted June 8, 2010 By any chance have you been following Jim Marx's bicycle trip that I mentioned in this earlier thread? His last report was a couple of days ago from near Wallace, Idaho. It seems possible that you might encounter each other on the orange road in Montana before you take the red road and he takes the yellow road at Glendive. As an aside, while figuring out where Wallace is, I saw that both you and Jim will probably be going through a decent sized city about a hundred miles west of Helena, MT, and would want to know that the fellow we spoke of in that thread about Cedar Key once started a song with the line "I guess it all blew up in Missoula". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobilene Posted June 8, 2010 Report Share Posted June 8, 2010 Dave, this is awesome! It sounds like you're just planning to take a survey of the route -- 200 miles a day is pretty speedy and does preclude detailed study. How much of the original route do you estimate still exists? jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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