Lewis and Clark Pass Trail
The Lewis & Clark Pass Trail is 1.7 miles long. It begins at the end of the Alice Creek Road #293 and extends to the junction with Trail #440.
Lincoln Ranger District
(406) 362-7000, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
1569 Highway 200 Lincoln, MT 59639
Specific Trail Information
Trail Number
Trail Type
General Information
Carry plenty of water with you. There is no potable water along the trail or at the trailhead.
- Motorized travel is prohibited.
- Food storage order is in effect.
Getting There
Trailhead/Starting Points
Parking
Parking for passenger vehicles and stock trailers is available at the Alice Creek Trailhead.
Directions
From Montana Highway 200, turn north onto Alice Creek Road about nine miles east of Lincoln, Montana. Drive on the gravel Alice Creek Road approximately 8.6 miles to the Alice Creek Trailhead. From the trailhead Trail 493 heads east-northeast following a small tributary of Alice Creek, and continues, gaining elevation until its junction with the Continental Divide Trail 440 at Lewis and Clark Pass.
Maps
1:24,000 topographical quadrangles: Blowout Mountain, Montana
Nearby Recreation Sites
Recreation Opportunities
Outdoor Science and Learning
Hiking
Cultural Sites/Exhibits
Viewing PlantsCultural Sites/Exhibits Info
Lewis and Clark Pass is within the Alice Creek Historic District which is part of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. The area still evokes the 1806 landscape experienced by Lewis on his journey. Remnants of the Cokahlarishkit Trail (a Nez Perce word meaning "Road to the Buffalo") remain intact, with features such as rock cairns, marked trees, and travois ruts.
The following is adapted from the National Park Service Lewis and Clark Pass history archive:
Over this pass (subsequently misnamed Lewis and Clark Pass because Clark never saw or traversed it) on July 7, 1806, Lewis and his party recrossed the Continental Divide on their return journey east, and reentered U.S. territory.
Lewis' goals were investigating this shorter route across the Continental Divide, and exploration of the Upper Marias River to determine the northern boundary of the Louisiana Territory. The traverse of the route to the Great Falls took 8 days on horseback. After crossing Lewis and Clark Pass, Lewis, pursuing buffalo and other game, pushed north beyond the Dearborn River route to the Missouri until he reached the Sun River, which he followed downstream to the Great Falls area.
Lewis and Clark Pass (6,421 feet) is remote and being the only non-motorized pass along the Lewis and Clark Trail, does not even appear on most highway maps.
Over the years, Lewis and Clark Pass has changed little. To the west, where the ascent is easy, is a mixture of forest and open glade land; to the east, where the ascent is rocky and steep, rising 1,400 feet in the last two miles, lies barren and broken country. This leads down from the divide to the great game plains at the foot of the mountains—where enormous buffalo herds roamed in the time of Lewis and Clark.
Viewing Plants Info
The Lewis and Clark Pass area is rich in wildflowers from the earliest spring flowers to the blooms of summer. The hike takes you through a mixture of conifer forest and open south-facing parks, rising to the rocky, treed subalpine pass.
