Route of the Hiawatha :
Idaho
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Description:
Spectacular Scenery

It was called one of the most scenic stretches of railroad in the country. When the Milwaukee Railroad was operating, the trains traversed through 11 tunnels and over 9 high trestles, covering a 46 mile route that crossed the rugged Bitterroot Mountains between Idaho and Montana. The "Route of the Hiawatha" is most famous for the long St. Paul Pass, or Taft Tunnel which burrows for 8771 ft. (1.66 miles) under the Bitterroot Mountains at the state line.

Development of the Idaho Section

In May, 1998 the first 13 miles of the trail were opened to the public for hikers and wilderness biking. This stretch of the trail between Roland and Pearson currently goes through 8 open tunnels and travels over 7 high trestles following the mountainous terrain along the Loop Creek drainage. The portion of the trail from Moss Creek to Pearson is open only to non-motorized traffic. The ride from Roland (just below the West Portal of the St. Paul Pass, or Taft Tunnel) to Pearson is a very gentle ride on an unpaved gravel road. Being on a railroad grade, this portion of the trail follows a very easy 1.7% downhill grade from 4160 ft. at the West Portal to 3175 ft. at Pearson, for a total drop of a little less than 1000 ft. in a distance of 13 miles. For those riders not interested in riding the trail up the gentle grade from Pearson back to Roland, there is a scheduled shuttle bus that provides transportation for riders and their bicycles.

Opening of the St. Paul Pass, or Taft Tunnel

The St. Paul Pass, or Taft Tunnel opened for trail traffic with a Grand Opening ceremony on June 23, 2001. This cavernous, absolutely flat, dark tunnel under the Bitterroot Mountains connects Idaho and Montana, and is 1.66 miles long. Motorized vehicles are not allowed in this tunnel. The main parking area is at the East Portal of the big tunnel, 2 miles from Taft Exit 5 off I-90, just follow the signs. The distance from the East Portal trail head, which is the top trail head, to the bottom trail head at Pearson is approximately 15 miles.

With the opening of the St. Paul Pass tunnel, riders have some additional options. They can park their cars at the East Portal parking area (which is in Montana) to access the Idaho portion of the Hiawatha trail via the tunnel. This is what most visitors do. Another choice is to drive up and over the tunnel for 5 miles via FS Road 506 and Roland Summit and park at the Roland trail head. This is a good option for those wishing to bypass the big tunnel. Highlights of the St. Paul Pass tunnel include an interpretive sign, located mid-tunnel on the right wall, that shows the Idaho/Montana state line and discloses which crew first reached the center of the tunnel in 1907, plus there is a beautiful waterfall at the West Portal of the tunnel.

Lookout Pass to the East Portal of the St. Paul Pass, or Taft Tunnel (going east)

From the Lookout Pass parking lot (el. 4730 ft.), the trail follows the old Northern Pacific railroad grade approximately 10 miles to the Taft Site (el. 3630 ft.). Along the way the trail crosses the St. Regis River 3 times, passes through one tunnel, and goes under Interstate 90 twice before arriving at Taft. Then from Taft, the trail rises gently at an about 2.1% grade for 2 miles to the East Portal of the St. Paul Pass, or Taft Tunnel (el. 4160 ft.).

Montana Section (going east from the East Portal trail head)

Now that the St. Paul Pass, or Taft Tunnel has been opened, another 31 miles of trail are being planned stretching all the way to St. Regis Montana. This portion of the trail will include one more tunnel and 2 trestles, and will be for use by bikers, hikers, all terrain vehicles, horses, as well as automobiles.
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Parking & Trail Access:
There will be a nominal fee to ride the trail. This fee will go to pay Trail Marshals to be out there everyday making sure that The Route is clean and safe. The fees are as follows:

Day Pass: $8 Adult; $4 Child, 3-13 years (children under 3 are free). All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Season Pass: $25 Adult; $12 Child, 3-13 years.

Shuttle Service: There will be a shuttle that runs daily during the season to provide transportation to and from each end of the trail. The cost for the shuttle is $9 for Adults and $6 for children between 3 and 13. In general, the shuttle will run from 11 to 4 on weekdays and from 10 to 5:45 on weekends and during peak summer months. The shuttle takes about 45 minutes to travel between the two trailhead parking lots where there are restroom facilities.

If you are coming by car:

From Lookout Pass (location of Bike Rentals) or Missoula, Montana, go to the Taft Exit #5 of I-90 and turn right at the bottom of the off ramp. You will then turn left at the stop sign, go past some large gravel piles, then a quick right over a small white bridge, another quick left and right to Rainy Creek Road #506. There is one intersection part way up Roland Pass, go forward, don't turn. Follow this road up and over Roland Pass going forward at the top of Roland Pass and down to the historic townsite and trail head of Roland (7 miles from I-90).

From Wallace, Idaho, weave your way through town heading south out of the residential area (you can stop at the Wallace Inn/Best Western for maps or directions) to the Moon Pass Road #456. Stay on the main road over moon pass to Loop Creek and the Pearson Trailhead (about 20 miles from Wallace).

From the East end of Avery, Idaho, head north on Forest Service Road #456 for 9 miles to the Pearson Trailhead.
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Seasonal Restrictions:
See www.skilookout.com for more information.
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ToolBear on the Route of the Hiwatha - Sept. 2009
By toolbear on September 30, 2009

TOOLBEAR ON THE ROUTE OF THE HIAWATHA

What a fun ride! Put this on your Must Do list.

T.B.’s RATINGS – 1-5*s

3* Trail surface: hard packed gravel road with loose surface rock averaging about .75” diameter. In short, average well-maintained forest road. Not for high pressure roadie tires. Fat tires do fine. Try 55#.

4* Facilities: Vault toilets at the trail heads at both ends of the St. Paul tunnel, at Adair at the Big Loop half way down, and at the bottom trail head. These are done in an attractive 19th Century Depot style. The same style is used for the information kiosks. Did not see any water points.

5* Scenery: Tunnels, trestles, mountains. It’s a great place for pictures. Check out the videos and decide for yourself.

6* Interpretive signs: They have excellent interpretive signs the whole length of the trail covering the history of the rail road and the area. These are very well done and quite educational. I was two hours on the trail and two and a half hours stopped, reading signs and taking pix. Allow enough time to browse.

http://www.skilookout.com/hiawatha/trailinfo.php

Finally! A trail where I could get a shuttle uphill for a change. This was the cherry on top of a week riding the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes.

The trail pass is $9, and so is the shuttle bus ticket. Money well spent. You can get them at the Lookout Pass ski area or drive up to the trail head, go through the tunnel and get them from a trail ranger (they will find you). This is a comfy downhill trail through some very interesting scenery. They have one of the largest concentrations of RR tunnels and trestles in the West. Plus, they have done an excellent job on the interpretive signs which run the length of the trail. I took more time reading the signs and taking pix than pedaling downhill.

TUNNELS…

Have enough light.

I learned this in June on the Bizz Johnson. My Planet Bike front light just gave me vertigo. That sent me to the lights section on Bike Forum to read the mail. I bought a Coast LED lenser from Lowes. It’s bright and it can focus. The word on the forum was that you can buy a really bright flashlight and work out the clamp, giving you a dual purpose tool. They were right. I looked for something claiming more watts and lumens than the others. This is getting better each month.

It worked just fine on the 1.66 mile St. Paul tunnel – and all the others were anticlimatic. (Just remember that you do the SP twice.) I could adjust the focus to show what I wanted to see and the beam illuminated the tunnel very well. Riding the tunnel was a snap. It was hose-clamped to the Planet Bike clamp. Other folks that day had used tape, zip ties, etc. Just in case … I had a bright head light on the helmet – velcroed through the vent holes. Of course, there was a full set of spare batteries in the gear. Not needed.

Another thing you might like: fenders.

The St. Paul tunnel is long, dark, cold and wet. There are culverts on both sides running a lot of water. These are marked with yellow reflectors. Avoid them. Even so, there are drips and dribbles from the roof and wet spots. It is cold in there and I was the second one thru that day.

I had a GoreTex jacket over a fleece vest and kept thinking I should stop and zip it all up a lot more. Just kept on, however. With a full set of removable fenders, I had mud down below on the bike. Those with the manly mountain bike look (“Fenders are for sissies, dude!”) had the manly mountain bike mud stripes all the way up their backs. One guy, on getting back out, was seen washing his jersey in the brook. One note on rug rats in trailers – they are in the mud slipstream in the SP tunnel. They might not like that too much.

FINDING A TRAIL RANGER…

I watched them arrive for the day and set up. It appears that one is topside at the Roland trailhead to handle the shuttle bus unloading and such. Another is down at the bottom doing likewise and the third is going up and down the trail, checking tickets, etc. Ride on; they will find you.

ENJOY THE RIDE…

I sure did. This would be great with kids. Boys would love to see how they built and ran the road. What lad, regardless of age, could fail to be interested in the gigantic cantilever crane (30 tons of rails for ballast) that inched out as they built the trestles, lowering girders?

While I was down below, reading every sign, twice, Dear Wife at the trail head was having a Schadenfreude Moment. One, then two, then three school buses arrived and belched forth kids of assorted ages. (“All headed for ToolBear. Yes!)

First I knew about the “special groups” was when three of the more aggressive boys (well ahead of the pack) came whizzing out of a tunnel like wasps out of a drain pipe. They screeched to a stop to announce that I might want to get a move on (flee) as dozens if not hundreds of kids were behind them, all headed this way. (Vision: Mongol Horde.) Then they admired the Gutterbunny, proclaimed it a “cool bike” and went pounding off downhill.

Too many signs to read to flee. Successive swarms overtook me, all riding Hell-bent for Election. There must have been a prize for first down in class. But, but. Don’t you want to learn about the 1910 fire that burned 3,000,000 acres of forest and 89 people? About the silk trains? About the copper mine up that canyon? About the train signals? About… oh, never mind.

I had a fear that the shuttles would be backed up for hours, but not to worry. The operators had it well in hand with extra busses and moved the crowds uphill swiftly to off load at Roland. I had lunch at the bottom, then boarded a shuttle.

My, you can see a long way down when sitting on the outboard side. My, that road seems narrow. Glad it’s not raining. Glad I came. Do it again? Sure.

Ride on.

ToolBear




Be prepared!
By mirandar23 on September 04, 2009
The scenery is gorgeous but the bike rentals at Lookout and the trail marshalls leave a lot to be desired. The rentals are expensive and poorly maintained. We had TWO breakdowns. Unfortunately, no repair gear is included in your rental, not even tubes! When I asked about repair gear at the rental shop, I was told not to worry about it because the trail is patrolled by marshalls that will be able to help you out. Not so! We sat for 90 minutes and never saw one. Thankfully some good samaritans happened by and helped us out. There were supposed to be four marshalls patrolling the trail but they were apparently understaffed.

It's a great trail but bring your own bikes and equipment. The prices charged at Lookout Pass are far too high for the poorly maintained bikes you get. And be ready to handle any situation on your own as the trail marshalls can not be depended on.
hiawatha trail (idaho/montana)
By janicedulemba on October 16, 2008
Thanks to the writer who informs me there ARE pit stops on the trail. I didn't see any when i've been there a few previous years, but next time, i'll be sure to look for them.
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