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Helmets and proper lighting
equipment are required for bikers, and
an $9 usage fee ($6 ages 6-13) applies to everyone.
Fees are collected by the concessionaire's marshalls who also provide
information, emergency help, first aid and water to those in need.
However, wise trail users will make sure that they are
properly provisioned with food, water, extra lights,
rain gear and bicycle
repair kits before embarking on this adventure.
Dogs are not allowed on the
Route of the Hiawatha.
The concessionaire maintains a shuttle
bus service between Roland and Pearson Trailheads, for which there is a $9 charge
($6 ages 6-13).
The shuttle schedule is posted at Lookout Pass
and at the East Portal, Roland, Moss Creek, and Pearson trailheads.
The shuttle operates 7 days a week beginning June 11
with service on weekends and holidays before then.
In general, the shuttle will make four runs from
ROLAND to PEARSON and back beginning at 11:00 AM each day.
On weekends from June 27 to September 5, a fifth run at the end
of the day is added... so the last
departure from Pearson would be at 5:45 PM.
The shuttle takes about 45 minutes
to travel between the two trailhead parking lots, where
there are restroom facilities. Reservations for the shuttle
are not taken. It is first come, first seated, so plan
your day so that you arrive at least 20 minutes before the
scheduled departure time, especially on a busy day. Check
with the friendly marshals you meet along the Route to
confirm that the normal schedule is in effect.
After September 11, 2011, the shuttle only operates on Fridays,
Saturdays, and Sundays. The Route of the Hiawatha 2011 season
ends on Sunday, October 2.
Therefore, depending on your enthusiasm, it is either
a 30 mile round trip with 2000 feet of elevation change,
or 17 miles of level and downhill dirt track with a shuttle
bus ride to regain your 1000 foot elevation loss. For the
round trip, most people will travel from Wallace and park
at Pearson, overlooking the North Fork of
the St. Joe River off Forest Road 456.
You are thereby climbing the 2% grade during the cool of
the morning.
Those wanting the shorter experience (3-4 hours) will
park at the East Portal, located ~2 miles off I-90 at the
Taft Exit in Montana, 5 miles from Lookout Pass on the
Idaho border. Remember that the shuttle
connects the West Portal of the Taft Tunnel, Roland, and
Pearson. Therefore, riders who park at the East Portal
must ride back to their vehicles from Roland.
For additional information contact
- the U.S. Forest Service, (208) 245-4517
- the concessionaire, (208) 744-1301
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If you would like to visualize some of these recreational trails, AND you
have the
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.
