Main Fork Rapid River Trail #59

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Features Birding · Commonly Backpacked · Fall Colors · River/Creek · Spring · Wildflowers · Wildlife

There is heavy bear activity along the Rapid River. Don't be too quiet.

This trail takes you from West Fork Rapid River Trail #113 to the junction of Oxbow Trail and Rattlesnake Trail as you run along the west side of the Rapid River drainage on a mixed use trail (still no mechanized travel). From there, you can continue up the headwaters to the junction of Trail 190 that connects over to Jackley Mountain Trail.

If you continue up the Rapid River, staying in the Rapid Wild and Scenic River Corridor, you'll come to Paradise Creek Trail and a Rapid River crossing that meets Hell Creek Trail. You can still keep going and will find several old ATV trails that were once allowed to pass east to west. These trails are "closed to motorized travel" but you may still see some activity as you get further south. There are trails up and out before and after Fry Pan Creek.

You must ford the river after Fry Pan Creek, putting you back on the west side. The trail can get a little hard to follow as you come to Lake Fork Creek, and the trail actually goes with Lake Fork Creek for .2 miles before crossing both Lake Fork and Rapid River. There are three other trails in the area that join up, stay low and on the east side of Rapid River to maintain the trail. You'll meet up with one more ATV trail and cross the river three more times, though it will be a trickle by now. The trail ends on a saddle with a 4-way intersection looking south down into Lick Creek.

On the hillside at the north end of the trail, we found and ate wild Tapatio! Never have I seen this in Idaho. Also in the area are cherry trees, thimbleberry, blackberry, raspberry, elderberry, and apricots.