Valley of Three Trails

Three National Trails Traverse the Bitterroot Valley

Valley of Three Trails emphasizes the occurrence of three nationally-designated trails running along the same alignment through the Bitterroot. While the alignments are the same, the historic periods for all three are separated by years, sometimes thousands of years. The Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail tells the story of water hydraulics that shaped landscapes ~10,000 years ago. The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail tells of the Corps of Discovery's 1805-6 journey across a continent, and the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail shares the story of the Flight of 1877, the last Indian war and the flight of the Nez Perce people from the homeland they loved.