Good Parking At Trailhead

It’s an experience traveling the Magruder Corridor road, part of a 100-mile narrow road. According to the US Forest Service brochure, the road constructed by the CCCs in 1930s has changed little over the decades. It shows, and the narrow rocky in places road is used heavily by snowmobiles in winter and 4-wheelers in summer. There are no services available along this route or the adjoining roads for 130 miles. The portion of the Magruder Corridor road approaching Burnt Knob from the east is narrow, but it is very scenic and at high elevation. Much of it is over 7500’ high for northcentral Idaho roads.

Mineral Peak is an inactive US Forest Service Lookout and active Communication site.  It sits near the boundary of the Rattlesnake Wilderness and Rattlesnake National Recreation areas.  Summits views are good of the Rattlesnake mountains and a couple of distant cirque lakes.  Access is via trail up the Rattlesnake Corridor, approximately 16.5 miles or via a poorly maintained high clearance rough road approximately 5 miles off the East Fork Rattlesnake and Gold Creek Roads.

Crescent Butte should be a simple drive-up just off Highway 97 south of La Pine about 17 miles. The roads in the area are quite confusing, and the main track is quite dusty in the summer. Thoughtful consideration of these directions and Google Maps is recommended.

This old US Forest Service Lookout has good trail access from the trailhead on the North Fork of the Blackfoot River.  The trailhead is a popular access point into the Scapegoat and Bob Marshall Wilderness Areas for kayakers in the spring, fly fishers, backpackers, stock users and fall season hunters.  The summit has spectacular views of much of the Scapegoat Wilderness and high summits within the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area.

Trail Miles:  4.5 one way

Elevation Gain:  3700’

Water:  No water is available along the trail.

As far as summits go, Peak 2416 is pretty uninteresting.  On the edge of a clearcut that is about 10 years into regrowth, operators are left with little choice but to activate off of the old logging road that rises close to the summit.  That said, with an adventurous spirit and a small amount of navigation mojo, this summit is pretty easy to get to and activate.  It would be an excellent outing for someone that is still cutting their teeth

Indian Ridge is accessed by trail beginning on the Selway River near Indian Creek Campground. This US Forest Service primitive campground is famous from the humous outdoor book INDIAN CREEK CHRONICLES where the author, college student Pete Fromm spent a winter watching over an Idaho Fish and Game artificial salmon rearing channel. The well- marked summit trail climbs through towering centuries-old ponderosa pine open-forest and some recent fire snag forests.

Here's an easy drive-up summit that you can do on the way to the coast. Any vehicle can make it on these well-graded roads.

University Mountain with an adjoining lower non-SOTA summit, Mount Sentinel overlooks the city of Missoula.  Access is by three main routes, a road (closed to motor vehicles) or two trails.  It is a communication site for several Agency repeaters and a popular summit in summer and winter for hikers, mountain bikers and cross-country skiers.  The subordinate summit to the west is a launch site for hang gliders.  Visitors can be expected on any of your SOTA activations here.

Bare Cone Lookout is a popular drive-up destination, motorcycle, quad 4-wheeler and auto, on the Bitterroot National Forest. Visitors travel here to visit an active US Forest Service Lookout and to experience the outstanding vistas of managed forest, wild forest landscapes and the rugged southern end of the Selway Bitterroot Mountains. A trail passes near the summit. The trail is on the historic southern route of the Nez Perce people, access to hunting bison on the vast Montana plains to the east.

Castle Rock is a popular hike from Nez Perce Pass on the Bitterroot National Forest. It can also be accessed from a trailhead near Bare Cone Lookout to the east. Both routes are about the same distance and terrain. The last 200 feet is a scramble to the summit over loose rock and bedrock from either a notch in the cliffs on the west side or more open loose rock routes on the east side. Most folks will be using both hands and feet on this one. Summit views are tremendous to the north where you’ll be looking into the rugged southern mountains of the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness Area.