Biking from Home to Manley Hot Springs

Last year Eric and I had done a bike ride to Hutlinana Hot Springs from Eureka.  When out there I realized that I had never been all the way to Manley Hot Springs at the end of the Elliott Highway.  We didn’t have time to check out Manley, but I wanted to go back. Since then, I kept thinking that it would be fun to ride all the way to the end of the road.  It’s lightly traveled past the Dalton Highway.  Lots of ups and downs, expansive views.  It seemed like it would be a great bike ride.

I checked out Google Maps and it was 155 miles from my house.  Hmm, I should be able to do that in a long day.  I could bike out one day then bike back the next.  It would be a good training weekend.

I decided I should do it this year. I’m still training for the 350-mile DKXL (although I’m guessing there is less than a 50% chance that the race will occur or that I’ll be able to go), but why not go for a long bike ride anyway?  Back in March, I had discussed my possible plan with some patients of mine that have a cabin in Manley, and they offered their cabin for me to stay in.  There was no reason not to go.

The weather looked good for the weekend.  Not too windy, chance of afternoon thunderstorms, not too hot or too cold.  I talked Eric into driving out.  He could go for an exploration hike on the way and then meet me out in Manley.   That way I wouldn’t have to carry my sleep or cooking gear and would only need to carry food for one day.  And I would have a bail out if I needed or wanted it.  (Spoiler alert – I did want it.  My legs were more tired than I expected and halfway there, I decided I would let Eric drive me home.  I knew I wasn’t going to want to get up at 5 AM Sunday morning and then have even more climbing on the way back with a headwind.  And get home at 8 or 9 PM and have to get up early the next day for work.  I shouldn’t have given myself that option! I wimped out.  Oh well, I'm not losing sleep over that!)

Quick stop at the Colorado Creek Trail head

Great views pretty much all day

It was a great ride.  I started right from home at 6 AM.  The clouds started building by mid-morning and all day I was surrounded by rain showers and thunderstorms.  Amazingly, I had only about 5 minutes of sprinkles, not even enough to put a jacket on.  I could see dark clouds coming toward me and could hear thunder but then I would move just out of reach and the storm would go in front or behind me.  Never on me!  And a lot of the day I had a tail wind. It was my lucky day.  Eric drove through several heavy rain showers on his way out and even had to hide under a tree for 10 minutes during his hike. I biked over wet roads with puddles, but I stayed dry.  Woohoo!

Dramatic skies all day with billowing clouds

Storm clouds to the right

Storm clouds to the left

Storm clouds straight ahead

For anybody thinking of doing this ride, there is a LOT of climbing.  My Strava said 11,500 feet of climbing.   The first half is paved, and the second half is a really good gravel road.  I could have taken my commuter bike.  The only chunky rough gravel was in the last 10 miles before Manley. I took my mountain bike because it’s comfortable, all of my bags fit on it for carrying gear,  and I wasn’t sure what the road would be like.  But a gravel bike would be perfect.

Traffic was light even before the turn off for the Dalton Highway.  Only a few big trucks went by.  And once I turned off on to the gravel, it was really quiet.  Maybe one car every hour. It was a really pleasant ride.  I didn’t see much wildlife except for a beaver in a beaver pond before Wickersham Dome.

Cresting one of many hills

Turning onto the gravel road.  Half way there!

Unfortunately the Roadhouse was closed and up for sale

There are plenty of places to get water along the way.  You pass a road side spring near Grapefruit Rocks, between mile 35 and 40 (I didn’t notice the exact mileage), Globe Creek at about the same distance, W. Fork Tolovana River at around mile 70 after the turnoff onto the gravel section, and Hutlinana Creek before Eureka at around mile 125.  Unfortunately, the Manley Roadhouse is not currently open and there was a sign up that it is for sale.  There is a gas station in town but it’s only open M-F 12-4 PM so plan to be self-sufficient!

The ride took me 13.5 hours including stops to eat and rest.  The bugs were bad enough when I stopped that I needed bug dope but weren’t a problem while moving.  I don’t know if the hot springs were actually open.  I went by the sign for them but didn’t stop.  At that point, I wanted to get to town so I could either eat at the Roadhouse – no dice since it wasn’t open – or eat my freeze-dried meal. After that, I just wanted to go to bed!  I’ll have to see if the hot springs themselves are open the next time I head out there.

Eric takes my picture as I make it to the cabin triumphant that I finished.

Since I had decided not to bike back, we were able to sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast and drive back home.  I would highly recommend doing this ride sometime. Breaking it up into 2 days might be more pleasant but I like to go long.  Plus, it was a great training ride, even if I only rode one way.