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The Route of the Hiawatha follows the Milwaukee Road's old main line down Loop Creek canyon in the Bitterroot Mountains, from the East Portal of the St. Paul Pass Tunnel on the Montana line down to Pearson on the North Fork of the St. Joe River. The ride begins with the 1.66 mile tunnel under the state line, then descends a steady rail grade through eight more tunnels and across seven high trestles, the tallest about 230 feet above the creek. The surface is firm fine gravel giving way to coarser gravel lower down. Most riders go downhill from East Portal and take the shuttle back up from Pearson. A trail pass and a light are required.
Route of the Hiawatha
Your comfort. Prognosticated.
-Cory
In a typical year the Route of the Hiawatha has about 113 to 156 days of excellent weather for popular activities such as hiking, dog walking, running, biking, e-biking, birding, and walking, with July, August, and September the best months.
Hourly comfort scores for the next 15 days of weather, tuned to your activity and your own thresholds.
Plan your visit to this trail. Get the best windows for a comfortable outing.
Enjoy the Route of the Hiawatha!
There is too little deciduous tree cover along the Route of the Hiawatha to measure a peak color window. The trail has 0% deciduous coverage, with the majority being quaking aspen.
Taft, Montana began in 1907 as an unnamed work camp for the men boring the St. Paul Pass Tunnel. A visiting Secretary of War called the camp a sewer of sin, and the town took his name anyway. At its peak it held about three thousand people and somewhere between 20 and 50 saloons. The camp served the Milwaukee Road, which was pushing its Pacific Coast Extension through the Bitterroots. Heavy boring at St. Paul Pass began in 1907, and the tunnel was completed in December 1908. Trains began running in 1909. In August 1910 the Big Burn swept the Bitterroots and wiped out Taft. Milwaukee Road engineers ran trains through the flames to Avery, picking up hundreds of stragglers from Grand Forks and Falcon along the way. Once the trees grew back, the line became famous for its scenery. After World War II the Olympian Hiawatha streamliner sped through the canyon between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest. Passenger service ended in 1961. The railroad went bankrupt and abandoned its Pacific Coast Extension in March 1980. The Forest Service opened the first 13 miles of the Route of the Hiawatha on May 29, 1998. The St. Paul Pass Tunnel reopened to riders at the end of May 2001 and was rededicated on June 23 that year. Lookout Pass Ski and Recreation Area runs the trail under a Forest Service permit. In 2010 the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy inducted it into its Hall of Fame.
Route of the OlympianNorPac Trail
