One of my favorite road rides is Teton Valley View Road (N 500 W). Some of the best valley vistas and not much traffic make this a beautiful ride.
From Hatches Corner (Leigh Road) where Highway 33 makes it’s first direction change heading north to west, to Badger Creek Road (W 1000 N) is about five miles.
This is one of the few roads in the valley that has some fun terrain changes in the form of small hills and corners. A nice change from the straight line bike path from Driggs to Victor. But the best part is the scenery.
Starting out is flat ground, most of it still being farmed. Some of the older farm homes are still lived in, with a sprinkling of newer homes thrown in between. Then it opens up to rolling grazing land, full of old west sage brush and a view of the Tetons that is awe inspiring.
Teton Valley View Surprise
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On today’s ride, we noticed a garage sale at James Beard’s. James is a local native who moved to Alaska right out of high school. Over forty years later he moved back to settle his parents estate at 7275 N 500 W. He’s got some neat stuff for sale in his big shed every Friday and Saturday through the summer.
We saw a full collection of Zane Grey classics in mint condition, a great looking wool army coat, brand new hiking boots, and our favorite… the hand carved table pictured here. My wife couldn’t resist picking up a really nice framed butterfly art piece for five bucks, even though she had to drive back after our ride to get it.
Next time you want a great short ride, head north to Teton Valley View Road. If it happens to be a Friday or Saturday, you’ll get to stop in and see what treasure Mr. Beard might have for ya!
