An Adventure in Toting Home Fabric on My Bicycle

[kajero]

I don't remember the trail, but it is along a river. Maybe that can you find it. We went to visit my daughter while she was a student at U of Mary. This was a little side trip.

[emily_in_nc]

I don't remember the trail, but it is along a river. Maybe that can you find it. We went to visit my daughter while she was a student at U of Mary. This was a little side trip.

Thanks -- we'll be researching cycling opportunities there, and it seems like the campground where we have reservations is on a river, so we might be right there! We'll only have one day to ride, but we'll certainly take advantage of it, weather permitting. :-)

[DonnaS]

If you'd like some trail suggestions in Bismarck, let me know. The two nearest campgrounds are General Sibley in SW Bismarck and Ft. Abraham Lincoln State Park south of Mandan... both are on or close to the Missouri River. Lincoln has some good single-track trails, but both have easy access to the area's MUP system.

Donna S

[emily_in_nc]

If you'd like some trail suggestions in Bismarck, let me know. The two nearest campgrounds are General Sibley in SW Bismarck and Ft. Abraham Lincoln State Park south of Mandan... both are on or close to the Missouri River. Lincoln has some good single-track trails, but both have easy access to the area's MUP system.

Donna S

Thanks, Donna! We have reservations at General Sibley Campground for two nights, so will have one day to ride. I'd be happy for any trail suggestions that we could access from there. We ride on roads too, so long as they aren't terribly full of traffic and bike-unfriendly. We'll get single-track in Teddy Roosevelt NP so don't need to ride that in Bismarck; would prefer paved trails or roads. My DH is really good at doing internet research to find trails and roads we can ride, but if you have any particular suggestions, I'd be happy to take them!

[DonnaS]

Easy to get on the MUP from Sibley... just bike north on Washington Street to Burleigh Avenue, where the trail starts. Two fun options, or you can combine into one ride with a little backtracking.
1. Ride the trail north, hitting Sertoma Park, Riverboat Park, Keelboat Park, and ending in Pioneer Park. A great option from the trail end at Pioneer is to cross River Road and get back on the trail and climb the hill... tough 1/2 mile climb but totally worth it for the view of the Missouri River from the bluff. Backtrack down the hill and retrace your route. The camels can be found along the Sertoma Park loop. Total round trip mileage is under 20 miles.
2. Ride across the river to Ft. Abraham Lincoln State Park. Both the Expressway Bridge and Memorial Highway Bridge have paved MUP paths. Round trip is about 25 miles. Great things to do at Ft. Lincoln... museum, Indian village, Custer Home tours.

Maps of Bismarck and Mandan trails can be found on the Bismarck Parks and Rec web site and the Mandan Parks site. For the Ft. Lincoln trail, check the TrailLink web site.

[emily_in_nc]

Thank you, Donna; that is great intel! I will definitely hang onto it and use it when DH and I are planning our riding. Can't wait!

[emily_in_nc]

Donna,

Thanks again for taking the time to write up some great Bismarck cycling tips. I hate to say that we kinda did our own thing, because we needed to make a few stops (Best Buy, as I needed a new camera), liquor store, grocery store, and farmer's market. So we rode north from the campground, got on the trail, and basically did a big loop all over the city, on the paths and s a few roads. Really fun! We especially enjoyed the farmer's market on Sweet St. (don't remember which park it was of the many we passed) and bought some nice produce; and we also went to the Capitol for photos and the sidewalk art show. And ate a lot of food at the food court!

I hate that we missed the camels (I totally forgot!) but we still had a great time riding around Bismarck. We ended up with only 27 miles, but were out nearly all day (10 am til around 3:30 pm) with all the stops.

Thank you again!

P.S. I'll eventually be blogging our ride, though I am behind on my blog. I'll post it here once it's published, though. We took lots of photos!