Elk Park Pass, elevation , is a mountain pass on the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, no ...

in southwestern

Montana Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West List of regions of the United States#Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions, division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North ...

, about northeast of Butte. It is traversed by

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Cana ...

and is one of three crossings of the Divide by the Interstate (all in Montana), the others being

Monida Pass Monida Pass is a high mountain pass in the northern Rocky Mountains of the western United States, at an elevation of above sea level on Interstate 15, and on the Union Pacific Railroad. On the Continental Divide in the Bitterroot Range ...

(on the border with Idaho) and

Deer Lodge Pass Deer Lodge Pass, elevation , is a mountain pass on the Continental Divide in southwestern Montana, about 11 miles southwest of Butte. It is traversed by Interstate 15 and is one of three crossings of the Divide by I-15 (all in Montana), the other ...

southwest of Butte. Elk Park Pass lies on the border between Silver Bow and Jefferson counties and is remarkable for its highly asymmetrical nature. The approach from the north is through namesake Elk Park, a high, mostly treeless plain (like South Park in Colorado or the

Sierra Valley Sierra Valley is a large mountain valley located west of the crest of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range in Plumas and Sierra Counties, north of Interstate 80. Geography An intermontaine valley at approximately elevation, Sierra Valle ...

in California), and the grade is almost imperceptible. The elevation at the northeast end of the park, about from the pass, is about , only lower than the pass itself. However, at the south end, the highway drops from the pass into Butte over a distance of only about . At one time Elk Park Pass was also traversed by a railroad line, constructed by the Great Northern Railway and later operated by its successor,

Burlington Northern The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadin ...

. However, this line was abandoned in 1972.

References

{{reflist Landforms of Silver Bow County, Montana Landforms of Jefferson County, Montana Mountain passes of Montana Rail mountain passes of the United States