- Distance: 60.9 Miles (98.01 km)
- Rating: 3-A, Mostly fairly gentle but with a smattering of tricky corners. Resurfaced in 2006 so the asphalt is awesome. Ratings Explained »
- Travel: Either direction for best results
- Start: Soda Springs, Idaho
- End: Etna, Wyoming
- Fuel: Available in Soda Springs, Idaho and Alpine Junction, Wyoming
- Along the Way: The old historic Henry Store (built in 1908 when the area was a major center of livestock operations) has closed its doors to the public but we've stopped here for canyonchasers photos since we started riding past it in 1994.
- Highlights: Another empty and lonely western highway that has been forgotten by travelers looking for the shortest distance between two points. As a result, don't expect to see many people in the area. This is one of our most beloved canyon roads.
- Advisories: Be on the lookout for some crazy blind corners - blind from hillsides or some unexpected elevation changes. Range cattle can be expected on the Soda Springs side and sheep can be expected on the Wyoming side.
View Larger Map of Tin Cup Canyon
Summary
This road has been a CanyonChasers staple since the very beginnings. We've only ever known it as Tin Cup Canyon, but its recently been renamed "Pioneer Historic Byway" by the fine folks of Idaho Tourism.
Leaving Soda Springs, you'll think you're on the wrong road. Its a lonely straight section that bobs up and down through swaying wheat fields, but only for about 12 miles where the road makes a gentle turn to the east and the fun begins.
The road follows the apron of scrubby, rocky, small mountains that were too harsh to plow. It bops up and down and through a series of blind corners with unpredictable apexes. Look to the west for a quick glimpse of Blackfoot Reservoir before the riding gets kicked up a notch. Short sections of tight corners are placed in between long empty straights, great for passing if you ever see anybody else.
A really nasty 270 degree corner dumps you out into an empty valley and you'll think the fun is over, but as you enter into the dollop of a town, Wayan, Idaho, the road will start to climb and changes in character dramatically. Soon you'll be strafing stands of aspen trees through long sweeping corners until you drop back down into a narrow canyon where the road finds the least direct route between here and there and you'll be tossing the bike from side to side like a 50's be-bop song; only without the poodle skirt and saddle shoes.
The road will end at a T-intersection telling you to turn right if you want to go to Jackson Hole. Ignore the sign and turn left onto State Line Road (it follows the state line between Idaho and Wyoming). When you reach a stop sign, turn right and it'll take you out to Highway 89 that will take you up towards Yellowstone National Park.
Do you have a better photograph of this Road?
If you do, email us your photograph and if we use it, you could win the Ultimate Collectors Edition of Faster, Faster and Faster and The Doctor, the Tornado and The Kentucky Kid a $40 value that has the Directors Cut of all three movies, remastered in 5.1 digital surround sound! More than seven hours of content!
Email photos to contest at canyonchasers.net with the name of the road in the subject line. (Or just click on that link and we'll fill in the subject line for you.)
Rate This Road
Have you ridden this road? How would you rate it? With one star meaning you thought this was a super-lame road with very little value, to five stars meaning that you felt like this was the mother of all roads - a road by which other roads should be judged.
Return to the Treasure Maps Main Page »
Ratings Explained
The CanyonChasers road rating is two parts. The first part, numbers 1 through 5, describe how technical the road is, with number 1 being a gently sweeping road and number five being very technical with challenging corners. The second part of the rating is a letter, A, B, C, D and F. The letter describes the quality of the road surface with A being perfect, pristine smooth and F being degraded, bumpy and crumbly. Rolling joints, tar-stips or "gummy worms" will drop the road one letter grade.
This road information is for planning and recreational purposes only. You may find that construction projects, traffic, or other events may cause road conditions to differ from the CanyonChasers ratings. Ratings may not be applicable to all riders, all bikes and all skill levels.