UP Trail 2 & 8

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mj54

New member
I haven't ever been on trail 2 and only on 8 from west to Bruce Crossing. Are both of these primarily railroad grades?

We are coming up in couple of weeks and looking for some new trails to ride from our typical ones from Ironwood up to Copper Harbor. Thought about doing a large loop one day from Bergland to L'Anse to Big Bay then down to trail 8 back to Bergland. Its a lot of miles, but if 8 is easy railroad grade ride entire way, that would help. Also looking at Bergland to Watersmeet to Iron River area and back.

Any thoughts?
 
legend02

legend02

Active member
Trail two is pretty much straight all the way from Hurley to Iron river.

Trail eight is a straight away from bergland to Bruce's Crossing and I
Believe all the way to signaw
 
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ILBoyz

New member
We did the trip from Bergland to Big Bay a few years back. It's a full day so I would start early. Trails were good but I personally like the western up.
 
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Dave_B

Active member
Trail 8 is a grade to Sidnaw. Then you head north/northeast toward L'Anse on forest roads. Trail 14 is pretty fast but after you head south from Big Bay and back to Sidnaw, the trails vary and will be slower.
It's doable and you'll see a little bit of everything.
Bergland to Watersmeet to Iron river is mostly grade and forest roads. Should have no problem pulling that one off. Part of 2 does cut through Wisconson just FYI if your in need of permits.
 
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whitedust

Well-known member
2 To Florence past IR all grade past IR opens up gets to be REALLY COLD RIDE & drift area beware after IR!
 
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snobuilder

Well-known member
Get a map and plot your route to include trail 3, 107 and 15, they are a couple of the best reasons to ride the UP and run N & S between 2 and 8....if it was RR grades only, I'd qwit riding up there.
 
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whitedust

Well-known member
snobuilder said:
Get a map and plot your route to include trail 3, 107 and 15, they are a couple of the best reasons to ride the UP and run N & S between 2 and 8....if it was RR grades only, I'd qwit riding up there.
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Maybe he like grades.... I had a bud that only rode grades hated anything else he blasted e then w on trail 2 all day long loved it. His motto 90 miles 90 minutes fill it up & do it again & again many many miles of triple digits luved the high speed stuff. I would ask him please at least slow down for bridges no way a speeding bullet... crazy man. lol ...Xmotorcycle dragster laydown on machine & let it rip with big ****eating grin.
 
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Hoosier

Well-known member
whitedust said:
Maybe he like grades.... I had a bud that only rode grades hated anything else he blasted e then w on trail 2 all day long loved it. His motto 90 miles 90 minutes fill it up & do it again & again many many miles of triple digits luved the high speed stuff. I would ask him please at least slow down for bridges no way a speeding bullet... crazy man. lol ...Xmotorcycle dragster laydown on machine & let it rip with big ****eating grin.
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Wow, that's an expensive way to ride! Probably dropping $40/hr in gas and oil....

We do what we can to stay off the grades as much as possible.
 
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whitedust

Well-known member
Hoosier said:
Wow, that's an expensive way to ride! Probably dropping $40/hr in gas and oil....

We do what we can to stay off the grades as much as possible.
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Yep back in 2004 on a couple of doo 800s never got better than 12 miles to gallon carried oil in caddy just station to station & back again. I would take him on twistys & all he would do is moan & groan too much work just did not float his boat. Just shows some people like grades & all about speed with this guy. Too me Trail 2 is a bullet track most sleds haul a$$ slower pace on 8. Past IR I have seen slow old ladies doing 30mph very light traffic on that end but groom & drifts iffy conditions have to be more careful at high speed.....but nice open views.
 
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mj54

New member
Thanks for the input. The reason for post was to try to determine what we could do from Bergland or if we needed to trailer somewhere. The grades typically are smooth rides so we don't look at grades as tough rides, which allows us to ride further. They are simply an access to where we really want to ride. We estimate the trip from Bergland to Big Bay and back will be 275 miles, which is going to be tough without some easy riding in the mix for some of our group. We have been up there several other times and we just wanted to get to a few different areas. May end up trailering to Sidnaw to start this ride.

Snobuilder, you hit it on the head for why we want to get to these areas. We have heard that these trails are some of the best to ride, so we plan on getting there and riding the three you list in one day. Again, we were just trying to figure out what we could handle for mileage and the grades back and forth to the desired areas make it more feasible to ride in lieu of trailer.

I do however look forward to riding the grades too. That is part of the great UP experience.
 
dfattack

dfattack

Well-known member
I don't understand why people despise the grades so much. to put on a lot of miles sometimes you need a break from the twisties. In addition they help you get to where you want to go fast. Just think of them as the main super highways helping you get to where you are going. I personally like getting on the throttle after a long trail of twisties...in fact I would say long stretches of twisties bother me more than long stretches of grade.
 
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Hoosier

Well-known member
dfattack said:
I don't understand why people despise the grades so much. to put on a lot of miles sometimes you need a break from the twisties. In addition they help you get to where you want to go fast. Just think of them as the main super highways helping you get to where you are going. I personally like getting on the throttle after a long trail of twisties...in fact I would say long stretches of twisties bother me more than long stretches of grade.
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To each his own of course. If you like them, that's great! I just find them boring after a few miles...would rather ride 150 miles of turns and hills or forest roads than 300 miles of straight-aways.
 
dfattack

dfattack

Well-known member
I agree. Just got back from a 70 mile loop up trail 2, 113, 16,116 and all was good. All ridden in the Florence/Crystal Falls area.
 
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