Bighorn Crags, Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, ID (2023)

cross-posted from: https://iusearchlinux.fyi/post/417724

I day-hiked in to the Bighorn Crags area a couple of weeks ago. The Bighorn Crags are named for their bighorn sheep and really cool craggy granite mountains. They are quite old and eroded, with lots of cirques, crags, and towers. I would recommend getting to the trailhead and camping, then backpacking in for a few days.

Getting to the trailhead is a 2.5 hour drive from Salmon, Idaho through forest service roads. The first 1.5 hours are fine - well maintained dirt roads with easy grades. The last 18 miles takes an hour on a really crappy road deep into the mountains. Tire popper rocks abound, so be careful and be prepared! There is a campground at the trailhead.

The trail system is such that you hike along a ridge line for about six miles until you reach the major crags.

From the trailhead you almost immediately hit the Frank Church Wilderness boundary. You will pass some trails to go to a couple of lakes but they are some distance away and a hike down from the ridge line. The ridge line is dry, so bring water.

The first lakes you reach in the crags are Wilson Lake and Harbor Lake at about mile 7.1.

The trail bounces around between about 8500' and 9200' elevation. However, one way is about 1700' of ascent, meaning we had 3400' ascent and 3400' descent in 14 miles round trip.