Sheafman Creek Trail

Beautiful hike. Still lots of trees across the trail in the first mile. We didn’t make it more than a couple miles as a major storm was rolling in, but enough that I know I’d like to back and hike further.

Great trail. No bugs, lots of shade, lakes were cold. First mile was the steepest grade, flat from there on out.

Drive up was actually pretty nice so long as you have the clearance. The trail itself was marvelous! Plenty of shade. Just technical enough to keep you on your toes and very runnable. I’d highly recommend checking this one out!

My first time hiking Sheafman (6/26/20). The road is partially washed out half a mile or so below the trail head. You can get around it but I chose to walk to the trail head. Only saw one other person, a trail runner. After you cross the creek on a bridge the intricate rock formations on the north side of the canyon begin to show themselves. They are among the more beautiful that I have seen in a Bitterroot canyon. There was plenty of blowdown, 88 trees across the trail, most of that in the trail segment before the bridge. A lot of it was smaller diameter. I had to turn around about a half mile or so below the first lake as there was so much snow and snow melt that I was having trouble finding the trail. Sheafman is a beautiful little drainage. Will return later this summer.

I must’ve hit this at a perfect time in mid August. The temperature was perfect and I made it to two of the upper lakes for some decent fishing with minimal bugs midday. Mountain Trail runners rejoice on this one! Round trip I was at about 12.5 miles and 2700 ft elevation gain. There is a decent amount of tree roots in the trail and some rockier bits. From a runners perspective, it is far less technical and climby than plenty of the Bitterroot trails. The reward for what you put into this one is astounding when you make it to any of the little lakes up here. Castle Crag proves it’s might staring back at you and the angled smooth granite (not a geologist) surfaces make for great falcon bombing. The drive to the trailhead requires clearance. Pro-tip, if you want to explore many of the awesome bitterroot trails, you need to sell you sedan for a 4-wheel drive with a little clearance. Enjoy friends.

Note that the road leading to the trail head is closed (locked gate) Oct 15 to Jun 15 four miles short of the trail head.