Russ Roth

My wife had wanted to take the Hiawatha trail due to tunnels and other features. And then she found out that for a family of 4 to ride out and back for 15 miles needing to rent 4 lights, the cost is 100.00 and that's bringing our own bikes and helmets. Renting bikes and helmets and getting the ride back their site seems to push would be 156.00 per person which is ridiculous for a 15 miles rail trail.
Yet their website seems to show only from Roland to Pearson, does this mean that Avery to Roland is under this company's control or is it free/reasonable to use? And Do they control the Taft tunnel into Montana along with the rest of the route through Montana or is this free/reasonable to ride. If these are all requiring the same absurd fee to use, is there other trails just off 90 that can be recommended? We're driving from Missoula to Deary, ID on the 31st and back on the 1st of sept.

jadmt

If you have your own bikes just buy a cheap headlamp. You can get them for dirt cheap. No need to take the shuttle just ride back. It is worth the cost of a trail pass. You can go to avery but will miss the tunnell and tressle experience. I think it was like $30 apiece with shuttle passes

jadmt

I just checked it was $60 for two adults including the shuttle back.

jadmt

if you want to ride an awesome trail in Missoula and of course it is free you can not beat the Rattlesnake trail.

indyfabz

Avery to the Pearson trailhead is free. It’s not part of the trail and open to traffic. I rode it in 2019 as part of a two-week loop tour from Missoula.

Started pretty early from Avery after camping along the St. Joe River. The former right of way is pretty smooth. It’s also wide with good sight lines most of the way. Vehicles were not an issue. Encountered only two. But again, I started early. There are a couple on tunnels. It’s all uphill from Avery.

As for the fee, I can tell you it’s worth it. That was a tough piece of railroad. Lots of snow and rain in those mountains, and the the trestles. Maintenance isn’t free. Nor is gas for the shuttle busses or labor to drive them. The nearby NorPac Trail is free and in poorer condition. You can also ride the continuation of the Hiawatha right of way east from the East Portal trailhead for free. It’s called the Olympian Trail, but you won’t get any tunnels.

I have better photos of the Hiawatha on my computer. It’s a spectacular ride that should not be missed if you’re out that way.

Forgot to mention that Avery to Pearson is only about 9 miles. The Hiawatha is about 15. While the former is decent, it’s nowhere as cool as the latter. And the latter is certainly not a rip off.





Here you go:



Between Avery and Pearson.

Tunnel between Avery and Pearson. The Milwaukee Road numbered its tunnels sequentially. This is No. 36. St. Paul Pass tunnel is No. 20. That tells you something about what you ride through between those two points. (One tunnel had to be bypassed to make the trail because of a collapse.)

Hiawatha Trail.

Hiawatha Trail. Notice the old catenary poles from when this segment of the Milwaukee Road was electrified.

St. Paul Pass Tunnel on the Hiawatha. Good light is mandatory as there are no lights in the tunnel. I had 500 lumens. Wish I had had more, but people do it with fewer.

Russ Roth

Thanks for the replies, we ended up skipping the Hiawatha, just couldn't bring myself to support what I see as an expensive abuse of the rail-to-trail system. Ended up taking the Coeur D'Alene trail which was a great experience. Couldn't get a pic of the large bald eagle that was soaring overhead but did get the moose hanging out in the stream and eating. Can't say I've ever seen that hanging out on any trails in NYS. Being 100* + I spent half the time wishing I was hanging out in an inner tube floating down the Coeur D'Alene river which was shallow, slow and clear making it look soo inviting, but the scenery was beautiful and the path worth visiting again for sure.

indyfabz

If you were capable of understanding what it takes to keep something as unique as the Hiawatha serviceable you would not think it an abuse. The terrain, weather (It crosses the Bitterroots, for Christ sake, using tunnels and trestles originally constructed in the early 1900s.) and physical characteristics of the trail means a good deal of maintenance. The CdA trail, on the other hand, is a much more recent creation that is the result of environmental remediation.

I just want people to know that so they don’t get so tight-fisted and pass it up.