Frenchman Creek

Trail Overview

Frenchman Creek Road (70195) is an easy full-width road near Smiley Creek, Idaho. The north end starts off of Highway 75 at a turnoff, and heads south. The beginning is used to access a few large dispersed camping spots along Frenchman Creek. It's very easy in the beginning, being a graded dirt road, but it narrows up and becomes a bit more primitive after you go over the paved bridge. It parallels along the creek, with small dips and bumps and a bit of rock. It goes through a burn area and along beautiful wide open meadows along the creek, in a valley surrounded by mountains on both sides. You can see a lot of avalanche paths on the mountainsides, and go past a few remote campsites. It gets more technical the farther south you go, starting to have a few more features such as piles of small rocks to go over that look like debris from rock slides, and 1-foot dips and bumps. There are low branches sticking out over the trail to watch out for too. There are some big ruts near the southern end as well that would need high clearance. The southern end has large boulders placed at the stopping point where you cannot go any further and have to turn around. This road is fun for exploring for campsites, or just a scenic ride. It doesn't connect to anything, so has to be done as an out-and-back. It is no problem for UTVs, dirt bikes, or ATVs, but would be a bit bumpy and slow for a full-size vehicle, and narrower in spots between the bushes. This road is open 5/1 -11/30.

Photos of Frenchman Creek

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Difficulty

This road is a 3 difficulty due to features such as bumps, ruts, dips, and rocks up to 1 foot tall, narrow sections between bushes, and low branches. It's mostly a scenic ride or used to access camping in the beginning.

Technical Rating