Us 2 mackinaw to Kalispell

[stew47]

Hello everyone. I’m planning a glacier trip and will be taking southerly route from ne Ohio to Kalispell and have planned stops. Should be good. I was talking about trip to friend and he said go through mich and take 2. I have taken route 2 on a fishing trip to iron mountain mich. beautiful. How many have traveled us2 from mi to Montana? Worth it? Places to boondock along the way?

[pianotuna]

Lots of us use cell phones for gps devices. Once the map is downloaded it continues to be usable. However, if the map needs to be updated--then cell service becomes essential.

I don't have a satellite phone--nor do I know anyone who does.

agesilaus wrote:
GPS coverage is completely separate from cell phone coverage. Different satellites.

[agesilaus]

Well you hardly need GPS in Montana anyway, it would be impossible to get lost.

[stew47]

Thanks for all the great stuff!!! I actually am pretty excited about using a map book, Cb and ham radio haha

[agesilaus]

GPS coverage is completely separate from cell phone coverage. Different satellites.

[Matt_Colie]

Matt_Colie wrote:

2- Believe them about limited (nearly non-existent) cell service.
This means that if you are using a smartphone for navigation and you have not preloaded the areas, you will have GOTZ.
Matt

pianotuna wrote:
Hi Matt,

What is GOTZ?

If you have a Canadian cell phone there is a usable signal without a booster from Sault St Marie to Williston (and probably farther--I just have not driven that portion).

Piano,

GOTZ is what you have when you if you have less than 1 bar....

Admittedly, we were not on RT2. We also do not have a Canadian phone. (Though they try to bill us for Canada when we are downriver - south of Detroit.)

We were tracking the south shore of Superior on the way to the International Garden from Whitefish Point. Even with a 3erp repeater and a good antenna on the roof, we still were out of coverage for a considerable time. In my log, I wrote that it was so bad I was worried that we might loose GPS coverage. Not all of this country as urban cell coverage.

Matt

[pianotuna]

Hi Matt,

What i GOTZ?

If you have a Canadian cell phone there is a usable signal without a booster from Sault St Marie to Williston (and probably farther--I just have not driven that portion).

Matt_Colie wrote:


2- Believe them about limited (nearly non-existent) cell service.
This means that if you are using a smartphone for navigation and you have not preloaded the areas, you will have GOTZ.
Matt

[jplante4]

We did US2 from Mackinaw to Williston ND last Sept. We were headed for Glacier but it caught on fire ad the campgrounds were evacuated, so we headed south from Williston. We had no issues with cell service on Verizon.

It was a relaxing drive, but the MN/ND part was pretty boring.



However, the drone of the road is broken up every 1/2 hour or so by a town. You can tell a town is coming because the speed limit goes down, usually only to 50. Unlike the interstates, you actually see towns. We had a lot of fun reading each town's motto on the "Welcome To..." sign.

ND has some great state parks, We stayed at Devil's Lake



and Lewis & Clark.



Fuel was available as every town along the way.

If you'll be stopping in Superior/Duluth, try to spend a few nights at Burlington Bay in Two Harbors. We didn't stay there but found it when we were exploring.

We stayed in Iron Mountain MI, Superior right next to the highway, then Bemidji MN, Devil's Lake and Lewis & Clark.

If you stop in Bemidji,



try Itasca SP and visit the headwaters of the Mississippi.

[Matt_Colie]

Two things here:

1- I did not know that could do that. That will get bookmarked.

2- Believe them about limited (nearly non-existent) cell service.
This means that if you are using a smartphone for navigation and you have not preloaded the areas, you will have GOTZ.

Some years back, we were through those areas and even with a 3 watt cell repeater (booster), we were still at ZERO Bars a lot of the time.

Matt

[Clarryhill]

HEY Stew, have taken that route a couple times, and actually much prefer it on a cross-country sojourn. If you have the time it gets even more beautiful beyond Kalispell meandering on to the West coast.
Happy camping!

[naturist]

Took 2 from Mackinaw to the Pacific in 2009, but stayed in campgrounds only. It was a great road except for the first 10 miles in Montana, which had been completely dig up in order to widen to 4 lanes. That was a single narrow track on bare dirt. Following a guide truck, and you didn’t dare deviate lest you sink in to the axle. I’m sure that section has been completed by now. Lots of quaint tiny towns along the way. Do it, it’s a great road.

[Lynnmor]

If you want to get away from interstates, Rt 2 is the way to go. I only boondocked at one campground.

[pianotuna]

Stew47

Here is a route map from freecampsites.net with LOTS of places to stay.

https://freecampsites.net/#!Mackinaw+City,+Michigan+49701,+USA~Kalispell,+Montana+59901,+USA&query=r...

[theoldwizard1]

Only into MN. Not much there.

[agesilaus]

We took the ND thru MT section. Or some of ND anyway. It's a lonely road with few campgrounds, cell phone service only in the widely separated towns. The towns all have service stations and some sort of market.

I believe you'll have to depart Rt 2 and go south for boondocking. There are a long series of parks and recreation areas along the Missouri River. At the east end it is close to Rt 2 but goes south west from there. Ft Peck is one.

We actually plan to reverse the route from Bonner's Ferry ID thru to Michigan this summer.