2.9 miles
Distance
69 ft
Climb
-1,604 ft
Descent
00:43:24
Avg time
Supporters, Builders, Maintainers & Land Managers of Sheep Mountain Trail

Sheep Mountain Details

  • Activities
    • Mountain Bike
    • Horse
    • Hike
    • Trail Running
    • Snowshoe
    • Backcountry Ski
  • Riding Area
    The Rattlesnake
    Missoula, Montana
  • Ref Number
    #513
  • Difficulty Rating
  • Hiking SAC Scale
    T2 Mountain Hiking
  • Trail Type
    Singletrack
  • Snow Grooming
    Backcountry
  • Bike Type
    AM
  • Direction
    Both Directions
    Popular direction shown
  • Climb Difficulty
    Black Diamond
  • Physical Rating
    Hard
  • Trail Visibility
    Always easy to follow
  • Season
    July - October
  • Dogs Allowed
    Yes
  • eBike Allowed
  • Global Ranking
    #22184 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • #90585 in Trail Running
    • #30416 in Hiking
  • Local Popularity
    60 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • 50 in Trail Running
    • 60 in Hiking
    • 5 in Horseback
    • 5 in Snowshoeing
    • 5 in Skiing
  • Land Owner
    USFS

The classic Missoula ride. Drop off the back of Sheep mountain for one of the best descents around. The top is steep and rocky with some tricky switchbacks. Next is some flowy roots through the woods. Where this trail connects to the Sheep Mountain to Mineral Peak trail (still #513) you can either head out to Mineral Peak or take a left down the East Fork of the Rattlesnake for some more technical downhill and fun side-hilling on dirt that stays tacky all year round.

Access Info

Access from the top of sheep mountain. A long climb from either Woods Gulch or Lincoln Hills.

Local Trail Association
Traditionally Indigenous Territory
More Stats for Sheep Mountain multi-use trail trail
  • Altitude change
    -1,533 ft
  • Altitude min
    6,068 ft
  • Altitude max
    7,604 ft
  • Altitude start
    7,604 ft
  • Altitude end
    6,070 ft
  • Grade
    -9.9%
  • Grade max
    -86.5%
  • Grade min
    8.8%
  • Distance climb
    2,372 ft
  • Distance down
    2 miles
  • Distance flat
    33 ft
  • Avg time
    00:43:24
  • Avg reverse time
    01:21:24
  • view trail stats
Status:
on Oct 26, 2024
Ideal
Avg: 4.52 (11 votes)
Your vote: 0

view (270)
close
3D
Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Snow Cover Partial
  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
  • Icy
  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Ideal
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
Trail Flow (Ridden Direction)
Trailforks scans users ridelogs to determine the most popular direction each trail is ridden. A good flowing trail network will have most trails flowing in a single direction according to their intension.
The colour categories are based on what percentage of riders are riding a trail in its intended direction.
  • > 96%
  • > 90%
  • > 80%
  • > 70%
  • > 50%
  • < 50%
  • bi-directional trail
  • no data
Trail Last Ridden
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine the last time a trail was ridden.
  • < 2 days
  • < 1 week
  • < 2 weeks
  • < 1 month
  • < 6 months
  • > 6 months
Trail Ridden Direction
The intended direction a trail should be ridden.
  • Downhill Only
  • Downhill Primary
  • Both Directions
  • Uphill Primary
  • Uphill Only
  • One Direction
Contribute Details
Colors indicate trail is missing specified detail.
  • Description
  • Photos
  • Description & Photos
  • Videos
Trail Popularity ?
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine which trails are ridden the most in the last 9 months. Trails are compared with nearby trails in the same city region with a possible 25 colour shades. Think of this as a heatmap, more rides = more kinetic energy = warmer colors.
  • most popular
  • popular
  • less popular
  • not popular
ATV/ORV/OHV Filter
Max Vehicle Width
inches
US Cell Coverage
Legend
cell carrier legend

Radar Time
x Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public ridelogs from the past 6 months.
  • mountain biking recent
  • mountain biking (>6 month)
  • hiking (1 year)
  • moto (1 year)
Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public skilogs from the past 12 months.
  • Downhill Ski
  • Backcountry Ski
  • Nordic Ski
  • Snowmobile
Winter Trails
Warning A routing network for winter maps does not exist. Selecting trails using the winter trails layer has been disabled.
x Missing Trails
Most Popular
Least Popular
Trails are colored based on popularity. The more popular a trail is, the more red. Less popular trails trend towards green.
Jump Magnitude Heatmap
Heatmap of where riders jump on trails. Zoom in to see individual jumps, click circles to view jump details.
Trails Deemphasized
Trails are shown in grey.
disable
Only show trails with NO bikes.
enable

Save the current map location and zoom level as your default home location whenever this page is loaded.

Save
      Directions to sheep-mountain-17702 trailhead (46.947510, -113.807070)
      update trails status or condition

      Sheep Mountain Trail Reports

      statusdatedescription
      Oct 26, 2024 @ 10:30am
      Oct 26, 2024
      There’s a number of trees down on the lower section of the trail. Most of them will need a chainsaw. The upper portion has a thin layer of snow...
      Sep 2, 2024 @ 6:12pm
      Sep 2, 2024
      A few trees down across the trail that need a saw
      Jul 12, 2024 @ 11:11pm
      Jul 12, 2024
      One small tree across the trail that could be easily cut with a handsaw.
      Jun 30, 2024 @ 12:37am
      Jun 30, 2024
      Sep 9, 2023 @ 2:25am
      Sep 9, 2023
      Cut out 3 trees on the backside of Sheep and E. Fk trails.
      view all reports »

      Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

      Past Week
      • 0 rides
      •  
      6 Months
      • 7 rides
      • 34 miles avg distance
      All
      • 45 rides
      • Last: Oct 26, 2024

      Photos

      more »
      22 |
      Jun 24, 2024 @ 8:57am
      Jun 24, 2024
      42 |
      Jul 9, 2023 @ 12:13pm
      Jul 9, 2023
      36 |
      Jul 9, 2023 @ 12:13pm
      Jul 9, 2023
      109 |
      Jul 16, 2022 @ 3:51pm
      Jul 16, 2022

      Routes with this trail

      titledistance
      MTBM - Classic Sheep Mountain Loop featured25 miles

      Reviews / Comments

      No reviews yet, be the first to write a review or ask a question.
      Use trail reports to comment on trail conditions.


      We hope you've been enjoying Trailforks!

      Create a FREE account to view trail comments and much more.

      Videos

      more »
      Sheep Mountain (North) - The Rattlesnake -...
      15:55 | 199 | Jul 10, 2023 , Missoula
      • By RooRTF Pro & contributors
      • #17702 - 3,775 views

      You must enter a description before submitting.