Wendover Ridge Trail

One classic Lewis and Clark hike known as Wendover Ridge Trail leaves the Lochsa River and climbs seven miles up the spine of Wendover Ridge to K’useyneiskit—also known as the Road to the Buffalo and Lolo Trail. In mid-September 1805, the steepness and fallen timber of the route created some difficulty for the Expedition:

“[The trail] leaves the river to the left and assends a mountain winding in every direction to get up the Steep assents & to pass the emence quantity of falling timber which had falling . . . . Several horses Sliped and roled down Steep hills which hurt them verry much The one which Carried my desk & Small trunk Turned over & roled down a mountain for 40 yards & lodged against a tree, broke the Desk.”
Clark

Today, timber still falls across the trail and maintenance is inconsistent. The Highway 12 trailhead is at Wendover Campground where it starts climbing behind Whitehouse Pond. The Lolo Motorway trailhead is 12.8 miles from Powell Junction and a short distance to the east of the Snowbank Camp site.

The Expedition climbed this trail gaining 3,500 feet of elevation. On their 1806 return, they remained on the Road to the Buffalo which descends several miles to the east.

For more on the trek down the Lochsa River, up Wendover Ridge, and the Snowbank Camp story, see at our educational website Climbing Wendover Ridge.