Montana Outdoor Adventures: Welcome Creek Trail No. 225, Lolo National Forest, Rock Creek MT

We started (and ended) this trip in the Bitterrroot National Forest looking for Trail 308 which appears to be non-existent. We headed up through the burned remains of Cleveland Mountain towards the mine less than a mile up at an average 18.5% grade. After poking around the mine area and the peak of Cleveland Mountain which has an altitude of approximately 7335ft we headed downhill to the North East and connected with what my map is calling the Sapphire Divide Trail No 313 although the posted signs clearly stated it was the Bitterroot Divide. After a half mile on Trail 313 we continued downhill towards the South East on the Welcome Creek Trail No. 225, by this time the wooded scenery was much better with barely any signs of fire. After continuing approximately 2 miles and descending 1300 ft we hit Spartan Creek which has a nice wooded campsite and it was time for lunch. We then continued for another mile following the Welcome Creek along the rock slides of the Sapphire Mountains down to 5555ft. Overall it was 8.2 miles including stomping around the mine and the peak along with stopping for lunch with an average moving speed of 2mph and a total elevation gain / loss of approximately 2633ft. We have another route in mind for next time when we follow this trail all the way out to Rock Creek.

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