Lolo Trail Crossing

This was the second try. On the first, in mid-June, the Corps found snow eight to ten feet deep, cached its baggage beyond Hungery Creek and turned back in what Lewis called the expedition's only retrograde march. They waited for guides, and young Nimiipuu men led them over on snow frozen hard enough to bear the horses, keeping to the main ridge and avoiding the detour Toby had taken the autumn before. Their last night in Idaho was near Powell; on June 29 Lewis bid adieu to the snow, and they bathed at the hot springs.

What the plaque says

Lolo Trail Crossing When Lewis and Clark came up this ridge, June 29, 1806, they ran into "a shower of rain, with hail, thunder and lightning, that lasted about an hour." But they got out of deep Lolo Trail snow after they reached Rocky Point (directly across from here) and descended to Crooked Fork, below this turnout. They reported that then they "ascended a very steep acclivity of a mountain about 2 Miles" crossing this highway here to reach their old trail to Lolo Pass. 334 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• DeVoto Memorial Cedar Grove — 5.3 mi
  Thousand-year-old cedars on the Lochsa headwaters, where the editor of Lewis and Clark's journals asked to be scattered.

More markers nearby

• Lolo Summit — 2.9 mi
• Whitehouse Pond — 10 mi