Almost all serious riders are familiar with U.S. Hwy. 12 over Lolo Pass at the Idaho-Montana border.

It is worthy of anyone's Top Three, featuring curves and gorgeous county for 99 miles on the Idaho west slope. The highway signs pointing out this fact are highly photographed with bikes and riders in the foreground. The Montana side isn't half-bad, either.

Once you've covered the descent down the Lochsa (pronounced like "lock-saw") and Clearwater Rivers, the usual objective of a great tour, where do you head afterward?

How about Idaho Hwy. 13 between Kooskia (pronounced like "koos-key") and Grangeville while tossing in Hwy. 14 up to Elk City – what we call "The Clearwater South Fork"?

Clearwater South Fork

Idaho Hwy. 13 Kooskia to Grangeville and Hwy. 14 to Elk City

At Kooskia, Hwy. 12 angles northwest toward Kamiah, Orofino and on to Lewiston, whereas Hwy. 13 runs 26 miles from Kooskia toward the south to Grangeville. Either direction yields fine riding, but off Hwy. 13, just 10 miles from Grangeville and just south of Harpster, Hwy. 14 follows the South Fork of the Clearwater River 50 miles east up to little Elk City. All of this is first class.

Here's how we prefer to run this: Kooskia to Harpster, then Hwy. 14 up the South Fork of the Clearwater to Elk City, then back downriver to the "Y" in 14 where staying left will take you up the Mount Idaho Grade and into Grangeville; then back out of Grangeville on Hwy. 13 and down the Harpster Grade and back to Harpster.

However, this is best examined in two segments: Hwy. 13 from Kooskia to Grangeville; and Hwy. 14 to Elk City.

Hwy. 13 - Kooskia to Grangeville

We first ran this 26 stunning miles of motorcycle road about 10 years ago. It angles south, then west.

We'd coffeed in Kooskia, then headed south toward Grangeville with Oregon's Hells Canyon and Wallowa Country our ultimate objective. It was a fine morning with exquisite weather. Traffic, as is usual, was light. Our rider least experienced in mountain riding was on the point and we were having some fun, not really pushing it.

Corners are continuous and tight but well banked and radiused. Some are posted at 45 MPH, others at 40, 35 and 30. Just north of Harpster we approached an "S"-curve marked down to 25...

Our point rider rubbed the side-case of his BMW RS against the guard rail in a tight left. He and bike skidded away toward the centerline, then back into the rail hard enough to deflect it outward several inches over the span of several feet.

Rider and bike went down, slid across the center line where the "S" broke to the right, then dropped into the left-hand barrow pit. The bike somersaulted up the grade a dozen or so feet, then back down to the bottom. Speed was not a factor; attention was.

A nice couple helped our injured rider into their Suburban, then headed to the hospital in Grangeville. Diagnosis: broken collar bone, broken ribs and punctured lung; five days of hospitalization; bike became the property of the insurance company to be sold as salvage. Good protective gear saved the day and likely his life.

We recently learned that wreck happened at "Preacher's Corner." Why would it be named that?

Now, this isn't to say Hwy 13 is dangerous. It isn't, really. But the lesson here is clear: this riding produces an intensity factor. A small lapse can have big consequences. Simply keep your focus, maintain a comfortable speed, then enjoy the side-to-side and up-and-down on one of Idaho's best pieces of rollercoaster.

Hwy. 13 is only about 26 miles but will surely take 45 minutes to navigate, traffic notwithstanding.

The section from Kooskia to Harpster – about 13 miles – flanks the South Fork and flatly meanders with it in unison as the valley tapers. Flowing water, steep mountainsides and lush foliage paint a pretty canvas, especially in the autumn.

Any river bottom can hold deer and this one does, in abundance, so keep scanning your ten-to-two and cover your brakes.

But once past Harpster, a rider and the roadway begins a fine climb from 1,575 feet of elevation to 3,339 at Grangeville – almost 1,800 feet over a few miles span before attaining the upper plateau just before Grangeville. This is the Harpster Grade. Oh my my, is this little piece choice!; as good as it gets and that's no exaggeration!

If coming from Grangeville, locate Hwy. 13 from its junction with Hwy. 95 on the west side of town. Hwy. 13 is Grangeville's Main Street and runs through the heart of the business district.

This grade rivals any in the U.S for twisted, dramatic, scenic riding pleasure. Traffic usually isn't a factor. The roadway is well engineered and the surface is good though shoulders are scant. Turn radii are fairly consistent and they come one after another so a nice left-right-left-right rhythm can be established.

Whether on a big, low-slung hog, or a twitchy crotch rocket, the Harpster Grade will turn your crank. It is splendid.

Hwy. 14 from near Harpster to Elk City

While stalled in Grangeville for a few days cleaning up the aftermath following the aforementioned incident, we had a chance to check out some new local roads. A knowledgeable rider affirmed Hwy. 14 to Elk City was worthy.

Yes, being worthy of a Top Ten placement in our favorite Northern Rockies routes.

Though it goes against our penchant for riding loops and avoiding backtracks, we have since enjoyed Hwy. 14 at least a half-dozen times, once even in a compact sedan. That was fun, too!

With an adequate adventure or dual-sport bike, a rider can continue past Elk City to ride the Magruder Corridor, 101 miles of "primitive" (in other words, "unmaintained") gravel and jeep roads between the Frank Church River of No Return and Selway-Bitterroot Wildernesses, to emerge on the West Fork of the Bitterroot River, then intersecting Hwy. 93 near Darby in Montana's Bitterroot Valley. (See Magruder Corridor sidebar.)

There are few services between Kooskia and Grangeville, and none from Hwy. 13 up Hwy. 14 to Elk City. The little "city," though, has