Michael McCoy

I was born in Wyoming amidst the cowboys and sagebrush, grew up in Iowa surrounded by soybeans and corn, and graduated from the University of Wyoming with a degree in anthropology. Several summers of archaeological research led me to the far corners of Wyoming, Montana, and Mexico; then a cross-country bicycle trip led me down a new, unexpected career path when I went to work for the Adventure Cycling Association in Montana. My most recent cycling-related achievement was mapping Adventure Cycling's Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, a 2,700-mile off-pavement "bikepacking" route that follows the Continental Divide from Banff, Alberta, to Antelope Wells, New Mexico.

I've also worked as a ranger at Devils Tower National Monument and as a wildlife researcher in northwest Montana's Kootenai National Forest. There my duties ranged from the prosaic, such as counting piles of elk droppings, to the far more exciting -- like helping to relocate orphaned grizzly-bear cubs from Glacier National Park.

I've explored every national park and monument, national forest, and national wildlife refuge in the Northern Rockies. I've covered -- by car, foot, bicycle, horseback, or cross-country skis -- more than a million miles in the region during the past 35 years. This I've concluded: I like it here.

My guidebook Montana: Off the Beaten Path is in its sixth edition, newly branded as part of Globe Pequot's "Insiders' Guide" series. It's threatening to reach 50,000 copies in sales. (Of all those thousands of readers only one person hasn't liked the book, and he posted a review at amazon.com!)

My book Journey to the Northern Rockies, which is part guidebook and part travel narrative, has garnered thumbs-up reviews from a broad range of publications, including Navy Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Bloomsbury Review. And Classic Cowboy Stories, for which I served as compilation editor, was a featured item in the holiday 2005-06 Sundance Catalog.

My advice on travel in the Rockies has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Outside, USA Today, Elle, Business Week, the Washington Post, and many other publications. I've also discussed travel on the air on CNN and ESPN.

In addition to my books, I've written for dozens of other publishers and magazines, including the National Geographic Book Division, Fodor's, The Discovery Channel/Insight Guides, Men's Journal, Runner's World, Northwest Airlines World Traveler, Midwest Living, American Cowboy, Canoe, Mountain Living, Historic Traveler, Bicycling, Mountain Bike, Montana, and The Iowan. "The Year of the Outback," a story I wrote about a South Australia mountain biking adventure, was an award-winner in the Outdoor Writers of America's 2004 writing competition.

That's more than enough about me. Cheers to you, and safe travels!