Level of Difficulty: 4-Advanced beginner, just a few places that had any difficulty at all.
Elevations: 5945 ft to 8478 feet.
Starting Point Coordinates: N43°54.034', W113°36.892'
Length of Trail: 24 miles
Approximate time: 3 hours (You could easily kill a whole day!)
Date of Ride: August 28, 2006
This trail is just south of Mackay. Just go south on Main Street and it will take you right onto Smelter Road. There is a place to park just outside of town. Click the map for point to point directions.
Elevation Profile:
Topo Overview
This is a mining area that began with the discovery of copper ore in 1879. The discoveries led to the establishment of several small communities including Houston, Cliff City, Mackay and White Knob.
Pic 1 - Honeymooner's cabin built by one of the Andersons.
Pic 2 - Marcella got a bit off track on this one!
Pic 3 - Heading North towards a lookout point where you can see Borah Peak (tallest peak in Idaho) across the valley.
Pic 4 - Looking at what I believe is Leatherman Peak.
Pic 5 - Overlooking the city of Mackay.
Pic 6 - This was where they would dump the ore cars and load the aerial tramway that used gravity to bring the ore buckets to the bottom of the hill.
Pic 7 - This is a cabin in the Cliff Creek Drainage.
Pic 8 - This is a restored trestle orginally built by the White Knob Mining Company in 1901.
Pic 9 - This is a compressor house where they supplied the air for the mining on the mountian.
Pic 10 - Looking back up the mountain from the starting point.