Highlights: A deep, narrow canyon with impressive limestone towers.
Location: 20 miles northeast of Helena.
Type of hike: Out-and-back day hike.
Total distance: 12 miles.
Difficulty: Moderate.
Best months: June through October.
Maps: Hogback Mountain and Snedaker Basin USGS Quads, and Helena National Forest Map.
Finding the trailhead: To get to York, take Highway 280 northeast of Helena for 15 miles, crossing the Missouri River via the York Bridge. The trailhead starts at Vigilante Campground in the Helena National Forest, 5 miles northeast of York on the old Figure Eight Route (Forest Road 4137). The Figure Eight Route used to go beyond Vigilante Campground until massive floods in May 1981 buried the road under tons of gravel in Trout Creek Canyon.
Parking & trailhead facilities: Vehicle camping at Vigilante Campground.
The hike: Hanging Valley is actually a dry tributary of Trout Creek. It enters the canyon from a point high on the southern wall. You will be able to pick out where you have been from the bottom of Trout Creek Canyon after you have taken the hike. After exploring this section of the Big Belt Mountains, you will wonder how part of Utah, complete with narrow canyons and unusual rock formations, ended up in Montana.
Trail 247 starts at the back of the campground and is marked with a National Recreation Trail sign. The path climbs a dry hillside for 3 miles to a low pass between Trout Creek and Magpie Creek. During late May, the trail is lined with hundreds of pink fairy slippers and blue clematis just below the pass.
At the pass, turn left and proceed to the top of the mountain that forms the southern rim of Trout Creek Canyon. The views here are tremendous on a clear day, with the Flint Creek Range appearing from over the Continental Divide to the west and the Spanish Peaks near Bozeman visible some 100 air miles to the south.
The trail is well constructed and practically impossible to lose. Past the summit, the trail switchbacks down a heavily wooded slope for half a mile into Hanging Valley and passes huge Douglas firs that have escaped wildfires. The trail follows the dry watercourse into the canyon.
Limestone pinnacles 50 feet tall tower over the trail, which soon becomes a route just a few feet wide at the bottom of a narrow canyon. After the trail passes under a small natural bridge, you must descend a 5-foot-high rock step in the trail, adding excitement to the trip. During heavy snow years, the trail at this point may be impassable into mid-June.
The trail deadends on the lip of a dry waterfall several hundred feet up a sheer rock face on the southern wall of Trout Creek Canyon, hence the name Hanging Valley. The canyon walls bear a close resemblance to those of Bryce Canyon in Utah. Retrace your steps to Vigilante Campground, where you can briefly hike up Trout Creek Canyon and try to pick out Hanging Valley, high on the southern rim.
Aside from a few snowfields in the spring, the trail is waterless, so fill your canteens at the campground. Although the 12-mile round trip can be done easily in one day by most well-conditioned hikers, there are a few dry campsites along the trail if you want to make it an overnighter. The trip may prove too steep for younger hikers, but it should not be missed by anyone wanting to see a part of the Southwest right here in Montana.
Location: 20 miles northeast of Helena.
Type of hike: Out-and-back day hike.
Total distance: 12 miles.
Difficulty: Moderate.
Best months: June through October.
Maps: Hogback Mountain and Snedaker Basin USGS Quads, and Helena National Forest Map.
Finding the trailhead: To get to York, take Highway 280 northeast of Helena for 15 miles, crossing the Missouri River via the York Bridge. The trailhead starts at Vigilante Campground in the Helena National Forest, 5 miles northeast of York on the old Figure Eight Route (Forest Road 4137). The Figure Eight Route used to go beyond Vigilante Campground until massive floods in May 1981 buried the road under tons of gravel in Trout Creek Canyon.
Parking & trailhead facilities: Vehicle camping at Vigilante Campground.
The hike: Hanging Valley is actually a dry tributary of Trout Creek. It enters the canyon from a point high on the southern wall. You will be able to pick out where you have been from the bottom of Trout Creek Canyon after you have taken the hike. After exploring this section of the Big Belt Mountains, you will wonder how part of Utah, complete with narrow canyons and unusual rock formations, ended up in Montana.
Trail 247 starts at the back of the campground and is marked with a National Recreation Trail sign. The path climbs a dry hillside for 3 miles to a low pass between Trout Creek and Magpie Creek. During late May, the trail is lined with hundreds of pink fairy slippers and blue clematis just below the pass.
At the pass, turn left and proceed to the top of the mountain that forms the southern rim of Trout Creek Canyon. The views here are tremendous on a clear day, with the Flint Creek Range appearing from over the Continental Divide to the west and the Spanish Peaks near Bozeman visible some 100 air miles to the south.
The trail is well constructed and practically impossible to lose. Past the summit, the trail switchbacks down a heavily wooded slope for half a mile into Hanging Valley and passes huge Douglas firs that have escaped wildfires. The trail follows the dry watercourse into the canyon.
Limestone pinnacles 50 feet tall tower over the trail, which soon becomes a route just a few feet wide at the bottom of a narrow canyon. After the trail passes under a small natural bridge, you must descend a 5-foot-high rock step in the trail, adding excitement to the trip. During heavy snow years, the trail at this point may be impassable into mid-June.
The trail deadends on the lip of a dry waterfall several hundred feet up a sheer rock face on the southern wall of Trout Creek Canyon, hence the name Hanging Valley. The canyon walls bear a close resemblance to those of Bryce Canyon in Utah. Retrace your steps to Vigilante Campground, where you can briefly hike up Trout Creek Canyon and try to pick out Hanging Valley, high on the southern rim.
Aside from a few snowfields in the spring, the trail is waterless, so fill your canteens at the campground. Although the 12-mile round trip can be done easily in one day by most well-conditioned hikers, there are a few dry campsites along the trail if you want to make it an overnighter. The trip may prove too steep for younger hikers, but it should not be missed by anyone wanting to see a part of the Southwest right here in Montana.
No comments:
Post a Comment