Nez Perce Pass is a mountain pass in the Bitterroot Mountains on the border between the U.S. states of

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 ...

. The pass is 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 ...

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. The Nez Perce Pass Trailhead offers access to the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and the Frank Church—River of No Return Wilderness. The pass is located "between

Wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plurale tantum, plural) are Earth, Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human impact on the environment, human activity, or any urbanization, nonurbanized land not u ...

es nearly twice as large as the combined states of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

and

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

," on what is "probably one of the wildest roads in the United States."

To the north is the 1.2-million-acre Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and to the south the 2.2-million-acre Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. These areas comprise over 11% of the Congressionally established
Wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural) are Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human activity, or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally ...
in the 48 contiguous states.

A sign honoring Doris Milner of

Hamilton, Montana Hamilton is a city that serves as the county seat of Ravalli County, Montana, United States. The population was 4,659 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Hamilton was founded by Copper Kings, copper king Marcus Daly in the la ...

, "graces the Montana side" of the pass. "A sign honoring Idaho Senator Frank Church identifies the Idaho side ... Both Milner and Church helped add thousands of square miles of Montana and Idaho forest to the nation's wilderness system." Forest Road 468, Nez Perce Road, also known as Magruder Corridor Road, crosses the pass. It is unpaved, and has no services for 117 miles. "The road has changed little since its construction by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

(CCC) during the 1930s. It has been known by several names, such as The Southern Nez Perce Trail, The Elk City to Darby Road, The Montana Road, and The Parker Trail." "The landscape is much the same as when the

Nez Perce The Nez Perce (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region h ...

and early travelers crossed the area." "From

Darby, Montana Darby ( Salish: snk̓ʷɫxʷexʷem̓i, "Place Where They Would Lift Something") is a town in Ravalli County, Montana, United States. The population was 783 at the 2020 census. Darby is located near the southwestern border of Montana and Idaho, ...

travel south 4.3 miles on Highway 93, turn south on the West Fork Road and proceed for approximately 14.3 miles. Turn west (right) on Forest Road 468, Nez Perce Road and travel for approximately 16.1 miles" to Nez Perce Pass trailhead." The paved parking area at the pass has a helicopter pad. Nez Perce Pass marks a change in

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 ...

, from

Pacific time The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00). ...

in northern Idaho to

Mountain time The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when standard time ( UTC−07:00) is in effect, and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time ( UTC−06:00). The clo ...

in Montana.

References

External links

*
Preliminary Geologic Map of the Nez Perce Pass 30' x 60' Quadrangle, Southwestern Montana, 1996
{{Authority control Mountain passes of Idaho Mountain passes of Montana Nez Perce Landforms of Idaho County, Idaho Landforms of Ravalli County, Montana Borders of Idaho Borders of Montana Transportation in Idaho County, Idaho Transportation in Ravalli County, Montana

See also

References

External links