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In 2009, the
Route of the Hiawatha Rail-Trail
will be open daily from May 30 thru October 4,
2009. The normal Memorial Day weekend opening was not possible
due to residual snowpack.
The trail, trail heads, and facilities are open from 8:30 AM to
5:00 PM. During the peak season, June 29 thru September 7, the hours are extended to 6:00 PM
(Pacific Daylight Time).
The 2009 Day Use Pass for the
Route is
$9 for people over 13, and
$6 for those between 6 and 13.
The adult fees are the same as last year, but
the rate for children has increased by $1.
However, the minimum billing age has been raised from 3 to 6 years old,
so now children under 6 are free.
As always, all children under 14 years
of age must be accompanied by an adult.
A shuttle bus between Roland and Pearson Trailheads
operates daily throughout most of the season. As shown on the
color coded trail map below, the bus, and possibly other
vehicles, share a small portion of the
Route with the
bicycle traffic.
An extra late afternoon shuttle run will be added during the peak season.
Check at these trailheads for the posted times of departure.
While there is a user fee to ride or walk the
Hiawatha, you may always
bike and hike for free up Loop Creek, beneath the trestles.
Also, you may ride east for free from the
East
Portal to the town of Saltese, Montana, also on the
Milwaukee Road railbed. Or, you may ride free from
the East Portal west on the Northern Pacific railbed to
Lookout Pass, where you have the choice of
two
routes down to Mullan and the
Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes.
Finally, you may continue on from the
Pearson
Trailhead to Avery and the Saint Joe River
following the Milwaukee Road railbed south.
We are working with the national
Rails
to Trails Conservancy to place signs
along the rest of the The Old Milwaukee Road from the
Pearson trailhead to Avery and beyond.
This is the initial part of our effort to complete a
185
mile bike loop in our region.
If you would like to visualize some of these recreational trails, AND you
have the
FREE Google Earth program installed,
check out the following KML animated tours:
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The downhill version of this 15 mile compacted gravel
trail begins in Montana at the East Portal
of the Taft Tunnel, about 2 miles from
Exit 5 on Interstate 90. This massive and
perfectly straight, 1.7 mile long train tunnel was
completed at great expense in 1908. Also called
the "St. Paul Pass Tunnel," it ends in Idaho at the
now extinct town of Roland, where the journey
continues down a 2% grade through eight more
tunnels and across seven high steel trestles before
reaching the Pearson trailhead and junction
with Forest Road 456, which connects Wallace and Avery.
Along the trail, numerous interpretive signs provide
information about the rich mining and railroad history
in this scenic passage way through the spectacular
Bitterroot Mountains, famous between 1911 and 1961
as the "Route of the
Hiawatha" on the Milwaukee Road
between Illinois and Washington.
