Idaho's stunning Magruder Corridor Wilderness Road

In the mid 1990s, while living in southwest Montana, I did a lot of hunting and exploring around the mountains in the area. This included those ranges bordering the Beaverhead, Ruby, Red Rock, and Big Hole Rivers. I also got up on the Bitteroot and over the mountains onto the Selway which is where this web page and story has its origins. I learned of a road out of Darby, Montana that followed the Nez Perce indian trail over the monuntains into Idaho, which conected to a primitive road that continued across the Selway-Bitterroot and Frank Chuirch - River of no Return Wilderness areas over near Elk City, Idaho. I decided I wanted to travel this road, so I gathered up my gear and told my wife where I was going and started off. I got over to the Selway River only to find the wilderness road closed. This was during the Clinton administration and there were quite a lot of such road closures during that era.

Fast forward to July of this year (2007). Now living in southwest Idaho, I was recently asked by a friend if I had ever taken the Magruder Corridor Road in Idaho. I told him did not know the road, but when he described it coming off of the Elk City road and going over to Montana across the Selway, I immediately thought of my failed attempt twelve years earlier. It is the same road. This web page is dedicated to the two day trip that my 17 year old son and I made on July 21st and 22nd.

The Magruder Road itself, FS no. 468, runs from just south of the old Red River Ranger Station in Idaho, over to Darby, Montana. About 120 miles of no services whatsoever. The actual wilderness road is about 90 miles, starting from FS No. 223 just south of the old Red River Ranger Station, to the start of pavement climbing away from the Selway River into the Bitterroot Mountains. This pavement is shortlived, maybe ten miles, and then reverts back to gravel, but from that point on it is in very good shape and plenty wide enough for two cars.

The wilderness road is a rough, one lane road, with some parts primitive, but nothing that any well maintained four wheel drive vehicle with good tires and suspension cannot handle. The spurs, or side roads, however, are very primitive where good clearance, good tires, and a heavier frame are required for the four wheel low driving. Carry a good spare on this trip.




A few examples of the photographs from this trip follow:


I thought I would share this neat experience that I had with my youngest son, Jared, with the SD community. Wonderful trip, wonderful scenery. Anyone wishing to see some of North America's most isolated, pristine, and most beautiful wilderness areas should consider this trip. But make sure you have a good four wheel drive vehicle, at least one very good spare (two is preferable) and plenty to drink and eat for your trip.

Wow, those are some beautiful vistas you captured, Jeff. Some of the country in those photos kind of remind me of parts of east Kentucky and Tennessee as you approach the Great Smoky's from the north or west. Just gorgeous.

I think my cousin and his wife may pass through that area once in a while. They like to go out to the Snake or Columbia Rivers, then work their way back east, stopping off around the Black Hills for a while with their pickup, camper, and their dog Toby. I think I'll ask them about that country when I next see them.

hey Jeff, thanks for sharing your trip. The scenery looks amazing. If you ever get a chance to come up to Ontario for summer time. I think you would love taking a trip to our Algonquin provincial park.

norfolk said:

Wow, those are some beautiful vistas you captured, Jeff. Some of the country in those photos kind of remind me of parts of east Kentucky and Tennessee as you approach the Great Smoky's from the north or west. Just gorgeous.

I think my cousin and his wife may pass through that area once in a while. They like to go out to the Snake or Columbia Rivers, then work their way back east, stopping off around the Black Hills for a while with their pickup, camper, and their dog Toby. I think I'll ask them about that country when I next see them.

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Thanks so much for the comments. I spent a lot of time back east while working for several years in Ohio (Cincinnati). We used to travel into the Appalachains often. Went into the Great Smokies on a number of occassions and always enjoyed them, and the people in those areas.

These mountains are quite a bit higher, and more remote. They are also several mountain chains wide, meaning that you go over several mountain chains one after the other. In those 140 miles, we crossed six seperate divides...and those were just the Salmon River and Bitterroot mountains. Many many more mountain chains to both the east and west out here before you hit the flatlands (Great Plains) to the east, or the coast to the west.

This trip is very much worth the time if you have the right vehicle and the time to spend.

tphuang said:

hey Jeff, thanks for sharing your trip. The scenery looks amazing. If you ever get a chance to come up to Ontario for summer time. I think you would love taking a trip to our Algonquin provincial park.

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Thanks to you too Tphuang.

Back in the 80s while living in Cincinnati, I took the entire family (wife and five kids) for several days to the Pukaskwa National Park on the north shore of Lake Superior. We had a GREAt time and were very impressed with the scenery and the Park itself. About three years later, I took the whole family for a week to the Kananaskas Provinical Park in Alberta South of Banff. Again, had a great time.

We took our old 8mm camcorder back then. Today's digital pics and movies make things so much easier, particularly when you want to share them.

Beautiful pictures Jeff. Mke a person want to go there. The sunset pictures is my favorite...I miss the secenery of the west..there's no real secenery in Iowa....

When you live in the midst of suburban sprawl, you sometimes forget that open, empty spaces like this still exsist. It's good to remember that America still has tractless wilderness. But we gotta protect them, or they'll be gone. Of course, not that many people ar moving to remote southern Idaho but still we cannot afford to have the attitude that oru forefathers had about wilderness (use as much as you want, because it's inexhaustable).

Finn McCool said:

When you live in the midst of suburban sprawl, you sometimes forget that open, empty spaces like this still exsist. It's good to remember that America still has tractless wilderness. But we gotta protect them, or they'll be gone. Of course, not that many people ar moving to remote southern Idaho but still we cannot afford to have the attitude that oru forefathers had about wilderness (use as much as you want, because it's inexhaustable).

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Actually, most of the people who settled out here and farmed and ranched...and even worked the timber industry were among the best conservationists that existed. They could not afford to exhaust the land because they and their kids and grandkids had to depend on it.

They were wholly dependent on irrigation in most places and had to conserve. It became a way of life for most of them.

Not that there were not exceptions, both at the individual and corporate level...but by far and away the vast majority of individuals and companies understood that the resources had to be garnered, shepherded, and renewed.

Anyhow, the fact is that this beautiful widerness country exists in vast tracts out here to this day and is protected and available for access through some very limited and primitive corridors like this one. I would recommend anyone, who can put together the proper preparations, to plan such a trip.

bd popeye said:

Beautiful pictures Jeff. Mke a person want to go there. The sunset pictures is my favorite...I miss the secenery of the west..there's no real secenery in Iowa....

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There is still a lot of open land, pretty and beautiful in its own way, in the mid west and great plains. Were you aware that there is actually a National Forest in Nebraska? I would never have thought it...but hidden away, amany miles off the beaten path...there is. Here's a picture of me at the Nebraska National Forest about ten years ago...on a trip with that same son.

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Jeff Head said:

Actually, most of the people who settled out here and farmed and ranched...and even worked the timber industry were among the best conservationists that existed. They could not afford to exhaust the land because they and their kids and grandkids had to depend on it.

They were wholly dependent on irrigation in most places and had to conserve. It became a way of life for most of them.

Not that there were not exceptions, both at the individual and corporate level...but by far and away the vast majority of individuals and companies understood that the resources had to be garnered, shepherded, and renewed.

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I think resource use really depends on population density and demand for products. That area really has neither...not many people and it isn't heavily logged, and as you said the logging is managed sensibly.

Really nice pics, thanks for sharing.
Some time out in nature and away from of the population centers can be a really relaxing and intriguing experiance.
However, finding those vast spaces of "untouched" land in central europe is a little more difficult, though there are still very nice places to be. I'd really like to see some far away places in their natural state. Hopefully I'll find time for that later in my life. Your pics make me again consider parts of the US as well.

Scratch said:

Really nice pics, thanks for sharing.
Some time out in nature and away from of the population centers can be a really relaxing and intriguing experiance.
However, finding those vast spaces of "untouched" land in central europe is a little more difficult, though there are still very nice places to be. I'd really like to see some far away places in their natural state. Hopefully I'll find time for that later in my life. Your pics make me again consider parts of the US as well.

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Thanks. It is a very beautiful and very remote area. To know, that in this expanse, as far as you can see in that direction, and an equal distance in the other directions, that there is not a single city, town, or so much as a hamlet or paved road. A wonderful experience.