Sharing Our Travels : South Through the Bitterroot Valley From Missoula, MT, to Salmon, Idaho

A pleasant 3 hour drive took us south down through the Bitterroot Valley passing small towns, ranches, winding through mountains and forests, and crossing Lost Trail Pass. We followed HWY 93 and, when looking at the map, it goes almost straight south. So if you follow it, it takes you out of MT, and back into the larger part of ID. We had not taken this route before so it is always exciting to see new and different scenery. It was a nice cool sunny day to be on the road again.

The Bitterroot Valley is located in southwestern MT. It extends approximately 95 miles from Lost Trail Pass in Idaho, where it is much more narrow, to a point near the city of Missoula, where it becomes wider and more flat. To the west is the Bitterroot Range, and to the east is the smaller Sapphire Mountains. The Bitterroot Range is known to be steep with deep canyons along with being heavily forested. The Sapphire Mountains are much less forested along with rounder and drier. The southern end of the valley is split into the East and West Forks, and the northern end drains into the Clark Fork River. Highway 93 runs through the center of the valley, exiting to the south over 7014 foot Lost Trail Pass. U.S. Highway 93 is the main travel choice through the Bitterroot Valley.

The route had very little traffic, which is the way we like it. Then we went up and over the Lost Trail Pass. Yet, again I wound up in mountains that I enjoy so much, as long as there are no really steep drop offs and plenty of guardrails. Amazing to watch the landscape change so quickly. So nice to feel like you have the wilderness to yourself. Historically, the valley was the long-term home of the Salish tribe of the Flathead nation. In early September 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition crossed Lost Trail Pass from present-day Idaho in order to connect with the overland route through the Rocky Mountains. Passing down Camp Creek and the East Fork, they followed the Bitterroot River northward to the point where it connects with the Nez Perce Trail and Lolo Creek.

As mentioned above, the route follows the Bitterroot River out of Missoula, so following it and crossing over the pass made us feel like we were Lewis and Clark and gave us the chance to experience even more Lewis and Clark adventures that we didn’t take the time to explore when following as much of the Expedition’s trail that we had time for in 2008. We both just finished reading Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose and are using it as a guide to give us even more insight as to what it must have been like for Lewis and Clark. It is fun doing that, following in their footsteps (or horsesteps!), looking for the landmarks, and seeing the historical markers along the highway.