Lookout Pass is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

of the northwestern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In the

Coeur d'Alene Mountains The Coeur d'Alene Mountains are the northwesternmost portion of the Bitterroot Range, part of the Rocky Mountains, located in northern Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mount ...

of the Bitterroot Range, the pass is on the border between

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

and

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, traversed by

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

(formerly

U.S. Route 10 U.S. Route 10 or U.S. Highway 10 (US 10) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway located in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the U.S. Despite the "0" as the last digit in the number, US 10 is no longer a cross- ...

) at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. Lookout Pass is the eastern border of northern Idaho's Silver Valley, and has the distinction of being "Exit 0" on Interstate 90 in Montana. Established in 1935, Lookout Pass Ski and Recreation Area is on the eastbound side of the highway, straddling the border. The state border line is the ridge line of the mountains and at the pass runs briefly east–west, with Idaho on the north side and Montana the south. The pass separates the communities of Mullan in Shoshone County, Idaho, and Saltese in Mineral County, Montana. It is the highest point on Interstate 90 between

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and

Missoula Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot River, Bitterroot and Blackfoot River (Montana), ...

. The pass is also a

time zone A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, Commerce, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between Country, countries and their Administrative division, subdivisions instead of ...

border, with northern Idaho on Pacific Time and Montana on Mountain Time. Eastbound on I-90, its elevation is not surpassed until beyond Deer Lodge. The pass was formerly traversed by the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...

and the right-of-way is still intact and used as a

rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...

. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad ("The Milwaukee Road") ran nearby, using the St. Paul Pass Tunnel south of Lookout Pass; its East Portal is at , southwest of exit 5 of I-90 in Montana. The tunnel was completed in 1908 and is part of the '' Route of the Hiawatha'' rail trail. The historic

Mullan Road Mullan Road was the first covered wagon, wagon road to cross the Rocky Mountains to the Inland Empire (Pacific Northwest), Inland of the Pacific Northwest. It was built by United States Army, U.S. Army troops under the command of Lt. John Mullan ( ...

of 1860 crossed the Bitterroots nearby at Mullan Pass (), approximately east-northeast at

References

External links

Webcam - Lookout Pass
from

Idaho Transportation Department The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) is the state of Idaho Government agency, governmental organization responsible for state transportation infrastructure. This includes ongoing Maintenance, repair and operations, operations and maintenanc ...

Webcam - Lookout Pass
from

Montana Department of Transportation The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of Montana, responsible for numerous programs related to the construction, maintenance, and monitoring of Montana's transportation infrastructure and oper ...

David Rumsey Map Collection
– Historic road map (1937) – Idaho, Montana, Wyoming – Texaco (Rand McNally)
Idaho highway map (1956)
– Shell (H.M. Gousha) Mountain passes of Idaho Mountain passes of Montana Landforms of Shoshone County, Idaho Landforms of Mineral County, Montana Borders of Idaho Borders of Montana Transportation in Shoshone County, Idaho Transportation in Mineral County, Montana Idaho Panhandle National Forest Interstate 90 Rail mountain passes of the United States {{MineralCountyMT-geo-stub

See also

References

External links