Elk City Wagon Road

The road ran 53 miles from Harpster, built in 1894 and 1895 mostly along the old pack trail, which had been in use since 1861; what made it a wagon road were switchbacks up the steep pitches and corduroy, logs laid side by side, across the swamps. In 1904 a second road, 58 miles from the railroad at Stites by way of Newsome, reached Elk City. Towns along the route held the road's centennial on July 15, 1995, and surviving segments were listed on the National Register in 2001.

What the plaque says

Elk City Wagon Road A scenic 1895 wagon road from Harpster to Elk City gave freighters and travelers better access across high ridges and rugged terrain to isolated mining camps Sections of the steep, narrow road run close to a much older Nez Perce trail that led to Montana's buffalo country and the Snake River Plain. Nez Perce travelers have utilized the route since obtaining horses, which made long distance hunting and other excursions possible. Missionary Samuel Parker was guided over portions of the route in 1835 by the Nez Perce. 485 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department Elk City Wagon Road has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior 1895

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Heart of the Monster — 16 mi
  Where the Nimiipuu say their story begins: Coyote, a monster, and the heart he tore loose, still on the Clearwater's bank.
• White Bird Battlefield — 21 mi
  Six Nimiipuu men rode out under a white flag. A shot came from the soldiers' side, and the Nez Perce War began.

More markers nearby

• Harpster — steps away
• Nez Perce War — 6.2 mi
• Mount Idaho — 8.1 mi
• Looking Glass — 10 mi