Nostalgia & History > MILW in MT, ID and WA ... how much is a rail trail?

Hi all

I'm hoping theres a Milwaukee Road Pacific Extension and/or Rail Trail Buff on TO. I'm curious to know how much if the route are now rail trails?

I'm aware of the section through Snoqualmie Pass. Isn't there another section in Idaho? Is any of it paved? Which has the best views, bridges, scenery? What kind of bike works best, road, hybrid or mountain bike?

What notable MILW artifacts are left? I'm also a Ferroequinarchaeologist, so railroad relics/ruins are fun to find. Any sections that cross/recross or parallel active alignments?

I'm hoping to one day put a vacation together to cycle segments of this route in 2005 ... but as I live outside of Boston, MA, I'm going to have to know where I'm going long before I get there.

Any thoughts, experience and URL's are muchly appreciated. :-)

Thanks,

* JB *

Sounds like a "must have" book for you is Steve McCarter's book "Guide to the Milwaukee Road in Montana.

ISBN 0-917298-26-6

(c)1992 Montana Historical society Press, Helena

$5.95

Last week several us drove over St. Paul pass, following the MILW row from the East Portal of the summit tunnel to Avery and beyond. Our guide book was "The Milwaukee Road in Idaho" by Stanley W. Johnson. The actual row (including the tunnel under St. Paul Pass)is the "Route of the Hiawatha Rail-Trail" for hikers and bikers maintained by the USFS. It's pretty well organized, with rental bikes and a shuttle service for those who only want to peddle downhill. In the tunnels you are required to have helmets and lights, and there are trail marshalls to check tickets and gear. A good gravel road follows the trail, and also follows the row in several locations, including some tunnels. It is nice trip, whether by foot, bike or car, with lots of views and wildlife. Lots of stuff for industrial archeology, including bridges, tunnels, and foundations. You could probably find your way by following signs, but the book made it really easy, and provided a lot of history.

John West

Last June(2003) I bicycled round trip from the Pearson trailhead through the St. Paul (Taft) tunnel to East Portal and down to I-90 and halfway to Lookout pass on the old NP right of way. Didn't make it to Lookout pass, didn't have any water(dumb!!!). It is amazing the difference between the 1.7% of the Milwaukee's grade and the 4% of the Lookout Pass branch.

The Hiawatha trail is a fantastic ride and I recommend it to anyone. You could walk it, but it is about 12.5 miles from Pearson to Roland(the west portal of Taft tunnel). You really will get an impression of how well engineered the Milwaukee route was, and why it cost so much to build. If you do go, bring a flash light, or a light for the bike, those tunnels are curved and DARK...........!

Go to http://www.skilookout.com/ and follow the link to the trail, there is a lot of info and photos to ponder.

Steam(electric)power

I was in vacationing in Montana last year and drove to Lookout Pass to bike the Route of the Hiawatha Rail. All I can say to you is RIDE THIS TRAILl! In addition to the features noted by previous posters, the trail is lined with placards discussing the history of the Milwaukee Road, the locomotives which operated in the area and the Olympian Hiawatha as other aspects of the railroad and the history of the area. It's obvious that whoever developed the trail really cared about preserving and presenting the natural and railroad history of the area.

The views of the Bitteroot Mountains are magnificent.

I drove to Lookout Pass from Missoula, a nice city in its own right. It has an umpaved trail which extends from the former Milwaukee Road train station in both directions. East of the station, it follows the Clark Fork for a distance. The trail passes along the edge of the University of Montana campus and you will see a lot of joggers and bikers who are students.

Aside from the station, almost no infrastructure remains except for a pair of signals. The station, a rather large structure in relation to the size of the city (like the stations in Butte and Great Falls)is in excellent condition. It is currently the headquarters of the Boone & Crockett Club, a hunting & wildlife conservation organization.

And if you get a hankering for seeing an operating railroad, all you have to do is cross the bridge over Clark Fork and walk to the end of the street which will take you the ex-Northern Pacific Station and yards of Montana RaiLink. (Note don't even go onto the station platforms unless you are riding the Montana Daylight. A security guard threatened to give a hefy fine, but he let me go because it was a hot day!). You can get a good view of the yard from a pedestrian overpass about 1/4 mile to the west of the station.

Have a great & wonderful time.

Dave

In Washington State, the trail begins about Ellensburg, and ascends to the Cascade summit, through a 1 mile tunnel and then descends in dramatic fashion down the west side to Maple Valley?

Those who have ridden it on bicycle can back with awesome memories.