Sluice Boxes State Park, Montana, United States
The Little Belt Mountains are one of the larger of the
island ranges of central Montana, with a high point at Big Baldy Peak of nearly
9,000 feet. Unlike the more famous ranges along the spine of the Rockies, the
Little Belts are rather rounded so not quite as spectacular in terms of scenery
as the Bitterroots, Absarokas, or Glacier National Park. But they’re there, and that makes them worth
exploring. The range is traversed
north-south by a significant road designated as the Kings Hill Scenic Byway,
which passes through several former mining towns like Neihart and Monarch and
also passes by Showdown Ski Area, the first in the state dating from the 1930s,
near the highway’s high point.
My plan for the day was to climb Big Baldy Peak, but things
didn’t work out as planned. The morning
was cold and overcast, the top of the peak looking as though it was partly
shrouded in cloud. I got off the paved
road and followed unpaved forest service roads for about four steep miles up to
a windy ridge with some open meadows.
The last three miles to the trailhead were described as being especially
rough, which turned out to be true. Conditions
got so muddy I decided to abandon my quest for another time, ideally later in
the season when things are drier. What was supposed to be a ten mile hike to
the peak would become sixteen if I decided to hoof it from the point I could no
longer drive. Upon rechecking it, I also noticed my hiking guide recommended July
through September as the season for the hike. I guess I was overeager trying to
do it in late June. Oh well!
So instead I did a short hike from a trailhead along the
main road to Memorial Falls, situated in an impressive rocky canyon. And then on to Sluice Boxes State Park where a
mountain canyon opens up to the plains, a place that reminded me somewhat of
Castlewood Canyon near where I used to live south of Denver. Anyway, the state park is considered
primitive, meaning no facilities. There are several overlooks from the canyon
rims and a trail that supposedly follows Galena Creek for seven miles up the
canyon.
Although quite flat, the
distance seemed like a good one to stretch my legs in lieu of the Big Baldy
Peak hike. But again my plans were
foiled. The creek that is a trickle that
can be hopped across on rocks later in the summer was a small river in June
runoff. The trail up the canyon
effectively ended about a mile and a half from the trailhead because crossing
the river was impossible. And where are
these elusive sluice boxes I was hoping to locate? They have something to do with the mining
industry from over a century ago but nothing of them remains.
Those foiled plans got me to the small town of Belt by mid-afternoon
instead of evening as I was anticipating. Belt is situated in the valley of
Belt Creek and seems like a quintessential sleepy agricultural community. Historically, though, it originated as a coal
mining town that supplied the industry of nearby Great Falls. The small
downtown has a few interesting buildings, including a refurbished theater and
an old jail, but it’s best known in Montana for the Harvest Moon microbrewery
which makes Beltian White. I usually don’t do day drinking, but couldn’t resist
having one with my lunch.
2025-05-22