Homestake 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 ...

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 ...

in the

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 ...

. It sits 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, not ...

on the border between Jefferson County and Silver Bow County, six miles south-southeast of

Butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

in Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest at an elevation of . The pass carries

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 ...

across the Continental Divide and is the highest point on the highway.

History

The pass was discovered by Edwin Harrison McHenry, a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

working for 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 ...

, who was tasked with locating a route for the NP from the main line near Logan, Montana through to Butte. The line over the pass from Logan to Garrison, Montana via Butte became the Rocky Mountain Division, Second and Fourth Subdivisions, built in 1889. This was Northern Pacific's scenic transcontinental passenger train route used by the famous '' North Coast Limited'' and its

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

successor, the ''

North Coast Hiawatha The ''North Coast Hiawatha'' was a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, and Seattle, Washington. The train was a successor to the Northern Pacific Railway's '' North Coast Limited'' and '' Mainstreeter'' ...

'', which was discontinued in 1979. The line over the pass is currently owned by

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

. It has been inactive since 1983, as its

grades Grade most commonly refers to: * Grading in education, a measurement of a student's performance by educational assessment (e.g. A, pass, etc.) * A designation for students, classes and curricula indicating the number of the year a student has reach ...

and curvature are poorly suited to freight trains, which utilize the former Northern Pacific's easier route via Helena, crossing the

Mullan Pass Mullan Pass is a mountain pass in the western United States, in the Rocky Mountains of Montana. It sits on the Continental Divide on the border between Powell and Lewis and Clark counties at above sea level. Located in the Helena National Fores ...

. It is unknown if that the rail line over the pass will ever be used again, but BNSF has resisted tearing out the line because the original lease with the Northern Pacific and the US Forest Service requires that the grade be returned to its original status, a very costly process. In 2022, with the announced early termination of Montana Rail Link's lease with BNSF, there is speculation that BNSF could re-open the Homestake Pass route to allow for directional running from Garrison to Logan. This would likely entail eastbound empty trains using the steeper and windier Homestake route and loaded westbound trains taking the current route through Helena across Mullan Pass. When

was built, the state of Montana used Homestake Pass to cross the Continental Divide, thereby providing an easier alternative to the US Route 10 route over the Divide at Pipestone Pass. A trail running race currently takes place annually on the

Continental Divide Trail The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (in short Continental Divide Trail, CDT) is a United States National Scenic Trail with a length measured by the Continental Divide Trail Coalition of between the U.S. border with Chihuahua (state), Chi ...

between Homestake Pass and Pipestone Pass. Hosted by Butte's Piss and Moan Running Club, the Wulfman CDT 14k is held on the Saturday closest to the

Summer solstice The summer solstice or estival solstice occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). The summer solstice is the day with the longest peri ...

References

{{Authority control Landforms of Jefferson County, Montana Mountain passes of Montana Northern Pacific Railway Landforms of Silver Bow County, Montana Great Divide of North America Rail mountain passes of the United States

History

See also

References