KINGS HILL SCENIC BYWAY

Finally on Sept. 10  we had a warm day of mostly bright blue sky, ideal for taking the 40 mile ride north of White Sulphur Springs through the Lewis  and Clark National Forest over Kings Hill Pass in the Little Belt Mountains. The road was excellent – no  steep grades and plenty wide to feel comfortable in meeting a semi. We did not.

 

The Showdown Ski Area is  near the  pass. It has a few more runs than shown at the top of  the picture.

At the pass we were treated to a view of snow on the distant Big Baldy Mountain (9177 ft.).

I had to climb a bank to get this shot of the sign confirming that we were at the pass  of 7393 ft. elevation.

One of our goals on this day trip was to hike to the falls on Bolt Creek. Here is Jo at the entrance to the trail. I was told that it involved very little change of elevation, but it was sufficiently steep to keep me panting between rest breaks most of the way up. The sign told us that it was 1800 feet to the lower falls and an additional 600 ft. to the upper falls. We are saving the latter until the next time!

Below is our first view of the creek.

 

 

 

And here is the falls.

 

Going up the trail we met a couple with four children and one dog coming down the trail.  Their other dog had  gotten away and would not respond to calling. When we got to the falls  Jo was able to grab the lead on the missing dog.  I had to hold the lead while Jo took my picture. The father came back to retrieve his dog from Jo, with many thanks.

Continuing north, we stopped at a scenic view called Sluice Boxes. The valley is a primitive state park with a 7.5 mile hiking trail.  The upper curved line in the valley is the roadbed of the Great Northern RR which followed Bolt Creek up the canyon to Monarch and Neihart.  They were founded as mining towns in the 1880s for ore with gold, silver, zinc and lead.

 

Here is proof that the Great Northern once served Neihart.  The roadbed was abandoned after WW II.  The old depot is now a residence.