During our August trip from Dallas to Seattle, it was possible to once again visit the Centennial Valley in Montana, the Big Hole Valley in Montana and the next day make a trip through the wilderness of Idaho and Montana on the Magruder Corridor wilderness road.
My grandfather had homesteaded in the Centennial Valley in 1916 and from an early age, I had been attracted to the vast openness of the valley which contains over 350,000 acres.
My fascination with the Lewis & Clark expedition's history as well as the Nez Perce battle near Wisdom, Mt in the valley brought me to the Big Hole Valley on many occasions.
Jay Stoner, the Payette band director for many years, often spent his summers with his wife, Minnie, roaming the Idaho wilderness along the Salmon River and I had always wanted to drive the Nez Perce trail from Montana to Idaho on what is now known as the Magruder Corridor. Jeff Head has an excellent description of his trip with his son a few years back on the internet but he drove it from west to east which many think is the easiest trip.
On the previous day, the smoke and haze was so bad in the Jackson Hole Valley that the Teton Mountain range was obscured. To escape the smoke and haze, we headed to Idaho Falls for the evening. The following picture of the sun setting was taken about 15 miles from Idaho Falls showing the polution from the range fires in eastern Idaho.
After a great night's sleep at the Hampton Inn in Idaho Falls, a hearty breakfast and publishing Friday's Market Musings, the F-150 needed a car wash to clean all the dust and bugs from our trip from Fort Dodge to Idaho Falls during the previous two days.
After an early lunch in picturesque Idaho Falls, it was north to Island Park, Idaho on U.S. 20 where some of the world's great trout fishing happens.
Taking advantage of the last gas for 200 miles, the F-150 was topped off at Mack's Inn in Island Park. In about 15 miles the pavement would stop as the next 200 miles would mostly be on dirt and/or gravel roads. Continued on up U.S. 20 for a few miles to the intersection with 87 at the top of Henry's Lake where several fishing boats were plying the water. A map of our route through the Centennial Valley is shown below.
Then it was the turnoff to Staley Springs on a paved road until the gravel started at FR055 and then FR053 westward to Red Rock Pass where Montana 509 starts. Red Rock Pass is the Continental Divide and also divides Idaho from Montana. Water to the east flows west to the Pacific and water to the west flows east to the Gulf or the Atlantic.
Both states maintain the road up to the Red Rock Pass and then Montana is responsible for the Centennial Valley which is a Montana super-highway. It gets a roadgrader over it once a year whether it needs it or not.
On one occasion in the 1970's driving our Chrysler New Yorker, we were the first car into the Centennial Valley over Red Rock Pass on July 4th and had to drive through about a foot of snow to get through. When we got to the Hell Roaring Ranch lower in the Valley, the cowboys were surprised that an automobile had made it.
Hell Roaring Creek is the beginning of the Missouri River and is owned by the Huntsman Family of Utah, I believe. It is located above Upper Red Rock Lake which is in the National Wildlife Refuge. Trumpeter swans make their nests in the refuge each year.
About 10 miles from Monida, we finally saw the first car in either direction after traveling almost 70 miles on a dirt road and it was a group of kids that had been kayacking some of the streams off the mountains.
Rejoining I-15 at Monida, the F-150 was turned north for a few miles until just before Dillon, MT, we left I-15 and turned west on MT 278 to head towards the Big Hole Valley. It is known as the land of 10,000 haystacks and was the home for the Hamilton Ranch now consisting of 34,000 acres.
At Wisdom, we would turn west to head out of the valley over MT 43 past the Big Hole National Battlefield before joining US 93 north to Darby and Hamilton where we would spend the night.
The trip throught the Magruder Corridor on the following trip can be accessed by clicking here.
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Fred Richards
August 26, 2012
Corruptisima republica plurimae leges. [The more corrupt a republic, the more laws.] -- Tacitus, Annals III 27
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Last updated - August 28, 2012