Blackfoot BM

Overview

Blackfoot BM (Benchmark) is the highpoint of Bingham County, Idaho . More info on County Highpoints is here. It is located in the Blue Ridge area of the Blackfoot Mountains in eastern Idaho. While driving to the trailhead from the town of Blackfoot , you drive along the beautiful Blackfoot River for a while. The Shoshone Indian Tribe is located nearby on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation . The boundary for the Fort Hall Indian Reservation is the Blackfoot River.

Blackfoot BM is not on the Indian Reservation, it is on private ranch land. See the Red Tape section for access.

The main crop of Bingham County is the potato (or as Dan Quail spells it potatoe). My wife would be upset with me if I didn’t mention that the Potato Expo is located in Blackfoot and is worth the price of admission.

Getting There

To get to the trailhead for Blackfoot BM head north from the town of Blackfoot on State Highway 91. About 9.5 miles from the intersection of Hwy 91 and Hwy 26 is Wolverine Road on your right. If you get to Firth you’ve gone too far, turn around and backtrack a couple miles until you find Wolverine Rd.

Stay on Wolverine Rd for about 10.6 miles. You are paralleling the Blackfoot River now and you want to continue doing so. Turn right at this intersection 10.6 from Hwy 91. Continue another 4.0 miles and turn right again and go another 7.0 miles. This last part is all on a high speed gravel road. At this point the road dips down into a gully and there is a small farm house on the right. There is a driveway up Miner Creek on the left. Turn left here and find a place to park off the road next to the gate and fence. This is the trailhead, elevation 5,800ft. Any 2WD vehicle should be able to drive to this point unless there is snow on the ground of course.

Red Tape

There is a little red tape that you need to know about before climbing Blackfoot BM. The highpoint is accessed through private land. There is a No Trespassing sign on the gate to keep ATV riders off the land. The landowner has no problem with well behaved hikers. Permission to hike the property can be obtained by contacting the landowners described in this report.

Be advised, there is a corral with 2 camp trailers about .5 mile up the Miner Creek Road and it looks like this might be an active area on weekends and during hunting season.

Camping

Camping is available nearby in the National Forest or at private facilities.

National Forest Campgrounds

Private Campgrounds

If you want to backpack, there are many areas along the route that would be good for a camping. You should obtain permission from the landowner before camping though.

When to Climb

Blackfoot BM is accessible year round, however, during the winter there may be significant snow obstacles to avoid. I climbed it in August when the roads and trails were dry.

Mountain Conditions

Avoid the winter snow storms and the summer thunderstorms.

This is a link to Blackfoot weather .

Images

View Blackfoot BM Image Gallery - 14 Images