Bob Marshall Wilderness Trailheads & Access Points
Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front – Departure points for your Western Adventure
At Circle 8 we use multiple trailheads along the eastern slope of the Rockies. These trailheads range from the south at the Dearborn River to Glacier Park in the north. We utilize private and public trailhead facilities depending on the type of season and location.
Circle 8 at Choteau
Our headquarters facilties and property are near Choteau, about 1 mile south of town on US 287. This is where we stage all of our trips into the back country. Our guests will stay in a hotel in Choteau, and we get them early the morning the trip starts.
From our ranch we can access most any trailhead along the east side of the Bob Marshall within 2 hours. We have several end of road sites west of us that we use as the starting points (where we get on the horses) for our summer trips. Our most used trailheads are the South Fork Teton (Headquarters Pass), Middle Fork Teton (Route Creek Pass), and West Fork Teton (Teton Pass).
South Fork Teton Trail Head
The South Fork of the Teton is a permitted trailhead site on the Lewis & Clark National Forest. We use this site extensively in the summer for departure or arrival on our summer trips. This trailhead is an end of road site where we have corrals and park vehicles for the duration of the trips.
The South Fork is our launching point into Gates Park on the Sun River, and we will climbe 1,500ft to cross Headquarters Pass before dropping back down to the river. It is a beautiful ride with stunning scenery the entire length.
Middle Fork Teton Trail Head
The Middle Fork trailhead an end of road location on Lewis & Clark National Forest at the junction of the Middle Fork and North Fork Teton River. From here we journey to the head of the Middle Fork drainage and cross Route Creek Pass (elev 7,200 ft) before dropping down into the old growth drainage of Route Creek.
This is a spectacular ride. We use this trailhead for our North Wall trip as well as our spring trips if we have high snowpack. This pass is open and sits with a southwest exposure, allowing snow to come off faster than many other passes we use to get into the Sun River.
Birch Creek – Swift Dam
Swift Dam impounds Birch Creek at the canyon where it leaves the mountains. Due to the 200ft deep lake behind the dam, the county road ends here and the end of road parking/campground serves as the Birch Creek (North Fork and South Fork) trailheads. This is the starting point for our early season fall hunting operation and several of our summer trips. We own private property about a miles downstream form the trailheads that serves as the base for our extensive early season fall hunting camps, both Gateway Gorge and Strawberry Creek camps. We also will use this trailhead on our Springtime packtrip as well as any trips into Big River, as it is the most direct route to the Middle Fork Flathead River headwaters.
Summit Trail Head
The Summit trailhead is at the very headwaters of the Marias River, in a tiny valley hemmed in my Glacier National Park. Marias Pass is the lowest pass across the Continental Divide and is used by tourists (for East Glacier – West Glacier traffic) and the railroad for their west coast to mid-west rail routes. The Summit site is about a mile east of Marias Pass.
We use this site in the fall for our general season hunts and occassionally a summer trip. It is about 5,000 ft elevation.
Despite it’s low elevation, it is a heavy snowfall area. Glacier Park creates serious winter weather with snowdepths measure in 10’s of feet annually. In earlier times the railroad constructed wooden tunnels to keep snow and avalanche debris off the tracks. Now, they have specially design engines which run more or less continuously to keep the tracks cleared.
Augusta – Benchmark
Benchmark trailhead is a very popular public access point on the South Fork of the Sun River and South Fork of the Flathead River west of Augusta. This area is a natural access point for several major drainages including the South and West Forks of the Sun River, Straight Creek, the Dannaher River, and the Dearborn River. We occassionally take loop trips that begin or end at Benchmark. Our most frequent visit here is the Forks of the Sun River trip where we start at Benchmark and end at the South Fork Teton trailhead. This is our farthest distace from the ranch – approx 2.5 hr drive.