Marlin Spring #069

Marlin Spring Trail begins at the junction of Divide (Spring Creek) and Divide (Irishman's Rock). The trail passes through open areas of ridge line and tons of burned timber from the 2012 Mustang Complex. The ridge is relatively flat with some small descents, offering the ability to gaze at the magnificent views downriver towards the Bighorn Crags. The trail drops rider's right at a faint junction just before the termination of the ridge (go left, and in 150 yards, you'll end up at the top of Bald Mountain). Be prepared for a white-knuckle descent: this trail is on a fall line and is rough on its best day but is worth the terror. The trail then drops through groves of holly bushes, loamy dirt, and gnarly gneiss rock. It switchbacks and drops steeply, largely maintaining the ridge. It then drops right towards Marlin Spring Road through several old logging cuts before emerging onto a two-track logging spur that dumps you onto Marlin Spring Road. If you've never ridden it, it would be very wise to take someone who has.

Access Info

From the Salmon River Road, take a right turn at the old chimney immediately after Indianola and Indian Creek on the road immediately after (it's currently named after a derogatory term for a Native American woman); the creek is called Bla Po'l Nookwalde in the language of the Tukudeka Shoshone.