Hiawatha Trail celebrates two decades

The Hiawatha Trail, a popular North Idaho bike trail, will celebrate its 20th anniversary Friday and Saturday.

Section:Gallery

Tue., June 19, 2018

In this Aug. 1, 2010 file photo, a trestle is dwarfed by the size of the forest that frames in on the Trail of the Hiawatha at the Idaho Montana border.

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In this June 26, 2008 file photo, bicyclists exit the Taft Tunnel and emerge into the surrounding beauty of the national forest. The Taft tunnel is the longest of several railroad tunnels along the Route of the Hiawatha, a trail that follows the path of the long-gone railroad through the region on the Montana-Idaho border. The trail's main draws are the gentle downhill slope and the trestles and tunnels on the route. At left is a spring waterfall that will slow to a trickle in the fall.

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File-Bike riders use headlamps and flashlights to navigate the Taft Tunnel and other long railroad tunnels cut through the mountains of the Idaho Montana border on the Trail of the Hiawatha. The rail line served as an escape for residents panicked by the Great Fire of 1910 who loaded up trains and hid from the high winds and flames in the tunnels.

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File-Bicyclists peer off the Kelly Creek trestle, the tallest of seven trestles visitors cross as they pedal on the Route of the Hiawatha rail trail near Lookout Pass.

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File-Mountain biker Darold Cox of Flagstaff, Ariz., pauses to watch a mule deer feeding along the Route of the Hiawatha rail trail near Lookout Pass.

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The Hiawatha Trail, a popular North Idaho bike trail, will celebrate its 20th anniversary Friday and Saturday. Pictured here bordered by flowing water in the gutters, mountain bikers ride through Tunnel No. 26 -- one of nine tunnels visitors pedal through on the Route of the Hiawatha rail trail near Lookout Pass.

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In this Aug. 1, 2010 file photo, bike riders exit the Taft tunnel at the East Portal of the Trail of the Hiawatha at the Idaho Montana border.

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A golden-mantled ground squirrel checks out mountain bikers as they read a trail sign along the Route of the Hiawatha rail trail near Lookout Pass.

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File- A shuttle bus lights the end of one of the tunnels on the Trail of the Hiawatha along the Idaho Montana border. The old rail line has been transformed into a popular bike trail.

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In this Aug. 1, 2010 file photo, bike riders on the Trail of the Hiawatha at the Idaho Montana border pass a grave marked by a cross and stones.

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File-A mule deer leads a group of bicyclists through Tunnel No. 22 -- one of nine tunnels visitors pedal through on the Route of the Hiawatha rail trail near Lookout Pass.

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