Gates of the Mountains Wilderness

Hike Name: Gates of the Mountains Wilderness Location: west MT Length: 30+- Submitted by: Dan Lougee Date Submitted: 5/4/09 Rating:	more Montana trail reviews Montana national parks Montana state parks
For more trail descriptions and topo maps, try a Free Trial Offer from Trails.com

Description
This is my loop trail: Big Log TH to Left Fork to Keepout Gulch to Kennedy Spring to Meriwether Canyon Trail to Meriwether Picnic Area to Coulter Camp Ground to Grant Gulch to American Bar Rd to Big Log TH.
In April 2009 I began at the Big Log Trailhead off Beaver Crk Rd. The trail heads north east toward an intersect with the Left Fork trail. The trail is easy to follow most of the way, I had to search for it a few times but it was early in the year with no footprints or beat down path. The trail goes through a narrow canyon that is not step but has lots of ticks and no good water.
At Left fork the canyon opens up into a parklike setting. Early in the year there is a very clear stream running down the middle of the Left Fork Gulch. A wildfire went through here in 2007 so the trees are bare which makes visibility good but it will make shade hard to find in the summer. I camped here the first night having gotten a late start. It took 2.5 hours of hiking. I saw mule deer in the meadow.
It was a gorgeous morning when I hiked from Left Fork to Keepout Gulch. The trail was not too steep for the first mile. It follows a creek bed with a trickle of water in a narrow canyon. At the intersection of the Sawtooth Mtn trail, Big Log opens up into a wide burnt out area that scourched the earth and trees. It wiped out all sign of the trail and trailblazes. At first I took the wrong trail toward Sawtooth Mtn which is a very well defined trail up a steep mountain. Later I found the Big Log trail at the northern most end of the burnt area on the west hillside. It goes up a fairly step incline. The trail is well defined north of the Sawtooth Mtn intersect but it gets very steep until it makes a loop southeast and then back to the north. In April the narrow drainage north of the loop was shaded and I went through 2 feet of snow in parts along the creek. There was good water. The trail wasn't steep and some of this area survived the wildfire so it has nice green pine trees.
As the trail gets close to Kennedy Spring the ground gets very wet. There is a large open area with green trees at the Spring area. The water seems to seep out of the ground everywhere and in April it was wet everywhere with no place for a dry camp. It took me 5 hours of hiking from Left Fork.
I continued up Big Log trail to the top of the pass and the intersect with Bear Praire and Meriwether Canyon Trails. Toward the top of the pass the trail goes through an area of open grassland with stone markers to show the way. It very wet with snow melt. Even at the top there was no dry place to camp but I found a place amoung some trees to get out of the wind for the night. The fire burned this area too. I took me 1.5 hours to hike from Kennedy Spring to the intersect, mostly because it was steep and I was tired.
The next morning I was rewarded for the effort of my climb with a magestic view of the surrounding mountains and canyons. I was king of the world!
As I headed off to the west and the Meriwether Canyon trail I needed to loop aroung a high mountain (no name). The trail went north and I was immediatly stuck in 2 feet of snow with no trail in sight. It was too dangerous to go that way with the steep slope. So I took a chance on off-trail climbing over the mountain to find the west side bare of snow. The view from no name mountain was incredible. Traversing down to the northwest I connected with the Meriwether Canyon Trail and followed it's swithbacks down to the stream which flows the full length of the canyon. Most all of the vegetation was burned off this mountain so the visibility was great. I could see all the was down to the Gates of the Mountains on the Missouri River. I lost the trail a few times because of winter erosion but mostly it was easy to follow and the water at this time of year was good in several places. It may be dry in summer months.
The trail along the stream to Meriwether Picnic Area was easy to follow. There were about 10 crossing but I didn't have to wade. It took me 5.5 hours to hike from the trail intersect on the pass to the river.
The Meriwether Picnic Area is boat accessible only. It has a ranger station which was closed in April but nice toilet, boat tie-up and group picnic facilities. The vies of the Gates of the Mountains is super - it is right there .5 miles downstream. The Missouri R. is fairly wide here with numberous fisherman trolling for trout and salmon.
The trail going upriver is very easy walking. There is a lot of bear sign so making noise is a good idea. It is a short walk to Coulter Campground. This is another boating access area with nice facilities which include toilets, steel food safeboxes and trash cans. There are tables and firepit grills at each campsite. The water pump was not up and running in April. I spent the night and had no trouble with bears.
The fourth day I headed up river on the easy trail passed Fields Gulch to connect with the cut across trail to Grant Gulch. There was a sign on the trail that said the river trail went through to American Bar on the river but I didn't see it continue on. The cut across trail is very steep to begin with and hard to follow because of the wildfire and no traffic on the trail. At the beginning there is a switchback then the trail goes around a hill. I lost the trail because I didn't believe the topo map which showed the trail going straight up a very steep slope. But that's what it did. Once up the slope, I found a well marked trail that opens up into a beautiful wide mountain meadow with game trails through the tall grass. It's a wonderful sight.
I followed the trail across the open grassland having to search for the trail now and then. The incline became steeper getting closer to the top of the pass into Grant Gulch. There is a switchback toward the top which is easy to miss - I did. But I just went straight up the mountain and found the trail at the top. The top of the pass is a great place for a rest. The view of the valley below and the far off mountains is stupendous. The trail goes down the middle of a very wide open bowl. It is grassy with trees on the slopes and the big Montana sky above. It took me 4.5 hours of hiking to top the ridge from Coulter Campground. It's a very strenuous hike.
The trail down to the American Bar Road is an easy downhill walk. It goes through some very interesting rocky areas. Once on the hardpacked road it was an easy 1.5 mile walk back to the Big Log trailhead. In the summer it would be easy to get a lift on this road.
I camped three nights on this trek and hiked 23 or 24 hours. I'm 64 years old so younger people would make a shorter trip of it. I measured the distance on the topo with a string and came up with 25-30 miles. Up and down? However long it takes or far it is, it is well worth the effort.

Directions to Hike
From Helena go east on 280/York Rd. 20 mi. to York,turn north on 4/Dry Gulch road for 17 miles to Nelson,go west on 138/Beaver Crk Rd. for about 4.5 miles, go north on forest road 1812(goes to American Bar)for .5 mi. to Big Log TH.

Contact Information
Helena National Forest
2880 Skyway Drive
Helena, MT 59602

(406) 449-5201

r1_helena_webmaster@fs.fed.us

submit a new trail review

---

About Our Reviews

Many people ask us to recommend a place to go hiking. Instead of us deciding what places are best, we let the backpacking community help out. The reviews on budget-travels-tips.com have been submitted by our viewers. Some reviews are positive and some are negative. If you don't agree with a review, feel free to submit your own trail review.