US-12: Lolo Pass to Missoula
Down Lolo Creek from the Idaho line: the hot springs the Corps soaked in, the barricade the Nimiipuu walked around, and the only Lewis and Clark camp with proof in the ground.
The Route at a Glance
This is the other half of the Lochsa drive. That road climbs out of Idaho to the visitor center at Lolo Pass; this one starts there, crosses into Montana at the summit, and follows Lolo Creek down thirty-three miles to the town of Lolo, where US-12 joins US-93 for the last dozen miles north into Missoula. It is about forty-four miles and under an hour of driving. The creek was the eastern end of the old trail over the Bitterroots between Salish and Nimiipuu country, and two parties came down it whose passing can still be found.
About eight miles below the pass, Lolo Hot Springs rises at the foot of a granite outcrop beside the road. The Corps of Discovery stopped only briefly going west in September 1805. Coming home on June 29, 1806, they spent the night, and Lewis found a pool the Indians had dammed with stone and gravel. He lasted nineteen minutes in it, and Clark ten. The springs are a resort now, with pools open to the public.
Twenty miles farther down, a reconstructed log breastwork stands in the pines at Fort Fizzle. In late July 1877 Captain Charles Rawn brought about thirty-five infantrymen up from the post they were still building at Fort Missoula, with citizen volunteers, to stop the Nimiipuu coming over the pass. On July 28 the people, with their horses and goods, climbed the ridge to the north and went around him. Twelve days later the Army caught up with them at the Big Hole.
Just before Lolo, Travelers' Rest keeps the ground where the Corps camped on the way out and again on the way home, and where the captains split the party on July 3, 1806, Lewis north toward the Missouri and Clark south for the Yellowstone. It is the only campsite on the whole trail that archaeologists have confirmed, and the Salish, Pend d'Oreille and Nimiipuu were camping at this junction long before the expedition arrived.
The highway is kept open all year, but the pass takes heavy snow and the upper canyon is narrow and winding. The resort at the hot springs has food and rooms, and Lolo and Missoula have full services.
The Drive, Stop by Stop
3 stops along the route, in driving order from Lolo Pass, Idaho to Missoula, Montana.
- 1
- 2
- 3
That's the drive. Take your time, pull over often, and let US-12: Lolo Pass to Missoula do what it does best.
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