Sheep Creek

Trail Overview

Sheep Creek is a fun and easier alpine single track in the Salmon National Forest that starts on the east end at the Idaho/Montana border, parallels the Continental Divide, and goes past an old cabin. It's shelfy and exposed in a lot of spots as it cuts across the hillsides, with a bit of loose rock and trees sticking out over the trail that you have to watch your shoulders and pegs on. It's lightly trafficked as it's in a pretty remote part of Idaho, but you may run into through-hikers on the Continental Divide Trail around here. It goes through narrow shelfy spots, through scree fields, and has a big creek crossing that will be more difficult in early summer and late spring when the water can be really high. You can turn off on South Fork Sheep Creek trail, which is more difficult, or keep going west until it meets up with Powder Gulch. It mostly goes downhill over the 9.3 miles east to west, losing 3,600 feet of elevation gain, with small hill climbs in between the descents. Be prepared for potential downfall on this trail, especially in the early season before it gets cut.

Photos of Sheep Creek

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Difficulty

This is a 4 difficulty for exposure and big creek crossings. The difficulty of the creek crossings can depend on how high the water is during the year, but there are no big specific obstacles.

Technical Rating