Lolo Motorway and vicinity

[RONR]

Last year Kevin Mcintyre (kmcintyre on wtw) told me about the Lolo Motorway and I’m going to head there during the first part of August. My buddy who has a large cabover and me with my FWC will head off from Mt. Shasta to Idaho.

When we get to Idaho, we will be fishing and camping not only on the motorway, but in the area including Kelly Creek and the north fork of the Clearwater. My main goal is to see if I can get into the numerous dirt roads that I see on the map to the north of highway 12 which is the East side of the Clearwater National Forest.

I would appreciate any advise regarding camping and fishing in this area. We have three weeks for the trip that may take us into Montana as well especially if there are fires in Idaho.

Thanks for any help.

Ron.

 

[kmcintyre]

Ron! You'll have a great time. We're headed towards Kelly Creek and Cayuse Airstrip around that time too (With Bill and Julie) to do some mtn biking. I don't remember the exact dates at this point but it's around the end of July as we have to be in Bozeman (I think) on Aug. 3rd.

So, I don't have any info for you yet

Kevin

 

[RONR]

Kev. Keep me updated and maybe we can meet up, which would be great!

 

[BillTheHiker]

The Selway River comes in to the Clearwater at Lowell on Hwy. 12. I do not know about fishing on the Selway, but it is a nice drive on a dirt road to Selway Falls and there are some decent boondock camp sites along the way. The falls are worth the drive of maybe fifteen miles. After the falls there are a couple campgrounds and on the other side of the bridge some even nicer boondock sites. I have not been there for about ten years so hopefully things have not changed significantly.

 

[RONR]

Thanks Bill! Looks like that would be a good place to hit on the way up 12.

 

[DavidGraves]

Howdy

We traversed Rt 12 on the way to Lake Superior a few years back....return was under some of the worst fires of that season.

One can drive up the Selway to some very nice FS CG's and then enjoy tubing back down the river on a hot afternoon.

I seem to recall someone was renting tubes down near Rt 12.

The little store had gas, pretty good food and supplies......

We have been up some of the FS roads that lead up to the Motorway,,,they are easy....I think most of the Motorway is easy, just remote.

Good FS office on Rt 12 maybe 20 miles before Lowell.

Have a great visit.

David Graves

 

[RONR]

David. Thank you. Nice to confirm FS roads easy on approach.

 

[kmcintyre]

Kev. Keep me updated and maybe we can meet up, which would be great!

Will do. Bill is meeting us in MT in about an hour and I'll let him know too!

Kevin

 

[Cayuse]

There's lots of good camping along the NF of the Clearwater and plenty to explore; Washington Creek, Governor Creek, Skull Creek, Black Canyon. There's also some ways to tie in and drop down into the St Joe drainage.

You might think about the Magruder Corridor as well when you're up that way. Lots to explore.

 

[RONR]

Thanks Cayuse. I’ve been pouring over the maps looking at your suggestions. Not yet sure of the road conditions over to the St. Joe but that’s a good call I had not thought about.

 

[hoyden]

I might be in that area around then too! I'll keep my eyes on your postings. I've got Trip Planning and Trip Report threads too!

 

[Spud]

Couple of links:

http://www.idahostateatv.org/publications/Lewis__Clark_on_the_Lolo_Trail.pdf

http://www.idahostateatv.org/publications/Driving_the_Lolo_Motorway.pdf

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/1327-lolo-motorway-idaho/


-- Spud

 

[RONR]

Hey Dawn. Nice to hear from you. Right now it looks like around the first of August we’ll be in the North Fork Clearwater area because it looks like there are good camping opportunities and hopefully good fishing. Then head to Powell RS and the Lolo Motorway. I volunteer a little further south in the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness and I know that fire/smoke can really alter the best laid plans.

I’ll keep an eye out for you and you’re rig in case you end up around the area but wherever you end up, have a great time!

Ron

 

[RONR]

Spud. I had not seen links before, so they are helpful and the history is really interesting. Thanks for taking the time to post.

Ron

 

[hoyden]

Hi Ron!

Fantastic! Hope our timing works out!

 

[kmcintyre]

Oh, one thing on the Lolo. There is water available but you probably need to filter it or take extra with you.

I have a ton of pictures from when we were and it's awesome. I planned out trip years in advance and booked it around getting the Castle Butte Lookout so a layover day.

Kevin

 

[kmcintyre]

A few more things that might interest people. We did the Lolo on mtn bikes with a sag vehicle. Lolo can open up mid to late July and you really don't want to go before it offically opens otherwise you better take a chainsaw and have a lot of time to clear the road of fallen trees and/or snow.

Huckleberries are plentiful and huge up there.

We stayed at the Locksa Lodge the night before we departed and it's an awesome place. Then in the morning, we drove up the road from there to the top of the motorway.

 

[kmcintyre]

Also, this is the book we used on our trip. It has some great info:

https://www.amazon.com/Lewis-Clarks-Idaho-Clark-Expedition/dp/0893012572/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_til?tag=wwwlewisand0a-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=&creativeASIN=0893012572

 

[RONR]

Kev. More great info. Thanks. I’ll be getting the book too. Did you get to fly in with Bill last week?

 

[kmcintyre]

Kev. More great info. Thanks. I’ll be getting the book too. Did you get to fly in with Bill last week?

Nope. We were in Montana last week (I think it was last week) after his fly-in event, etc. Looks like we'll be upstream from the Kelly Creek Campground where the bridge crosses the Clearwater and the road that leads to the Cayuse airstrip; a few miles up. Sandra and I will probably be up that area a few days before but meeting Bill and Julie on 27th (I think). We may stop/camp somewhere else before meeting up with B&J. We'll be in my truck/camper that is shown on my profile picture.