Heyburn Shoeffler Butte Dayhike

CHECK IT OUT

Distance: 2-1/2 miles

Difficulty: Moderate

Hiking time: 1-1/2 - 3 hours

Season: March through mid-Dec.

Maps: USGS Chatcolet, Harrison

Info: Heyburn State Park, (208) 686-1308

HIKING TRIP NOTES

Access: From U.S. Highway 95 at Plummer, Idaho, drive 6-1/2 miles east on State Highway 5 and turn north at well-signed road toward Chatcolet (between mileposts 6 and 7). Follow paved road north nearly 2 miles - passing Hawleys Landing campground, Plummer Point picnic area and Heyburn State Park headquarters - to Y. Bear right to reach lower trailhead at picnic area. Bear left to reach trailhead at Chatcolet campground.

Lower trailhead leads up from south side of upper picnic pavilion to campground entrance. Take upper campground road to main trailhead between campsites 13 and 15.

Attractions: Aerobic hike over best preserved portion of original Mullan Road southern section. Built in late 1850s, road ran 624 miles between Fort Benton, Mont., and Walla Walla. Trail gains 1,086 feet in 1-1/4 miles to top of Shoeffler Butte. Good views of St. Joe River mouth and Hidden Lake.

Comments: After reading sign at campground trailhead, try to imagine driving loaded wagon down this steep section behind team of mules! Eventually trail moderates along ridge that begs hikers to peak over for view of St. Joe River mouth, Hidden Lake and lower reaches of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Cross paved road; continue straight and uphill on Mullan Road. About 1/2 mile from trailhead, cross dirt road (designated as mountain bike trail) and continue straight. Note that brush is thick here, making it ideal cover for white-tailed deer. Look for tracks and droppings. In fall, look for scrapes, usually under hanging brush or branch where rutting bucks paw earth and rub branches with antlers and facial scent glands.

Hikers will notice considerable sign of logging, but vegetation has regrown. Area is lush with wildlife habitat.

Trail moderates again, flanked by ocean spray, snowberry and occasional old-growth timber standing guard over younger trees.

At nearly 1 mile, route combines with horse trail, heading right and uphill for last leg to Shoeffler Butte. Prepare for one more steep climb. Pass huge old ponderosa pine, handy spot to catch breath and admire weathered and crotchety branches.

Just beyond old pine, come to corner of Heyburn State Park and Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation.

Trail intersects with mountain bike trail at top of butte. Summit is timbered, but one can sight portions of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Water, restrooms available at campground April to November. Area mostly deserted in off-season; facilities closed, but trails open.

Mullan Road was first major engineered road in Pacific Northwest. Built by military between 1858 and 1862 under Capt. John Mullan. Cost: $230,000.

This section of road south of Lake Coeur d’Alene, completed in 1859, quickly proved impractical because of flooding and bogs in St. Joe Valley. This portion of road abandoned in 1862 after completion of a new section over Fourth of July Pass, roughly paralleling today’s Interstate 90.

Importance of Mullan Road diminished by completion of rail lines in 1880s. Road was abandoned after completion of automobile highway in 1916.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Map of dayhike area

The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN - Routes: Classic Trips in the Inland Northwest