13. Lochsa Historical Ranger Station
Built in the 1920s, this station could not be reached by road until 1952, and all the buildings and furnishings on display were either made from local timber or were packed in.
When forest fires raged through this area in 1934, residents of the ranger station jumped into the Lochsa River to escape the flames; miraculously, the ranger station itself survived. A walking tour through the site visits the eight original buildings and a museum of U.S. Forest Service memorabilia, one of the finest collections of its kind and tribute to those who dedicate their lives to trees.
14. Colgate Licks Trail
Lochsa means “rough water,” and the Lochsa River really delivers, especially for the next few miles. Ever-narrowing canyon walls squeeze the river into a series of exhilarating roller-coaster rapids so rough that even the most experienced white-water boatmen are tested to their limits. About 27 miles upriver, you can walk the Colgate Licks Trail, which leads to two natural hot springs. Bring along a camera, for the mineral deposits at the springs attract a variety of wildlife, particularly at dawn and dusk. You might spot elk, deer, and possibly even a bear.
15. Powell
Thirteen miles short of the Montana border lies Powell, a rest stop where food, fuel, and lodging are all available. (Fill the tank: the next service station is more than 50 miles away.) Traveling westward in the fall of 1805, the explorers Lewis and Clark paused here — also for a rest. Starving, exhausted, and soaked by persistent rains, they reluctantly were forced to butcher one of their own colts for food. Clark commemorated the event by naming a nearby stream Colt Killed Creek.
Another corner of this wilderness recalls the name of an award-winning author, conservationist, and historian — Bernard De Voto – who camped beside a branch of the Lochsa while he edited the journals of Lewis and Clark. Just upstream on the riverbank, a grove of majestic red cedars is known as the De Voto Memorial Grove.
16. Lolo Pass
This high mountain pass, perched at an elevation of 5,233 feet, was once traversed by local Indians, who migrated in a seasonal pattern back and forth between their bison hunting grounds in present day Montana and the fertile fields that spread across the wide prairies of Idaho.
A visitor center at the pass offers historical accounts of Lewis and Clark, whose expedition made an arduous trek over these windswept peaks, part of the craggy Bitterroots. (Once over their ridges, you will want to adjust your watches to the mountain time zone, an hour later.) Beyond, the roadway makes a twisting descent toward Lolo Hot Springs,
