Yankee Fork Drive

Typically, when we plan our vacations, we have a set of things that we'd like to do and see.  The Yankee Fork Drive (a.k.a. Custer Motorway) was not on that list when we left for our Sawtooth vacation.  In fact, we hadn't ever heard of the Yankee Fork before we left.  Instead, it was a very spontaneous trip that we made after finding some signage along the Salmon River Scenic Byway.  It turned out to be one of the most pleasant and enjoyable aspects of our trip.

Ghost towns, old cemetaries, historic stories, mining equipment, and a museum in an old school house were delightful components of the drive.  Gold mining scars from old-time dredging are notably obvious all along the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River.

Wooden grave markers are scattered amongst some more modern tombstones
depict the harsh lifestyle of the gold mining town of Bonanza, Idaho.

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GPS Info

We collected all of the following data from our GPS unit during the adventure:

Maps

This Google Map is provided by GPS Visualizer

Elevation Profile

This profile is provided by GPS Visualizer.

Coordinates and other details

Mileage:  Time:  Average Speed:  Starting Coordinates:   Ending Coordinates

8.0 Miles 18:03 27 Miles/Hr. N 44º 16.249, W 114º 44.082 N 44º 22.355, W 114º 43.633

 
If you would like to use this info with your GPS unit, the full GPX file is here.
If you want to view this in Google Earth, you can download the KMZ files of the track and topographic overlay.

Salmon River Scenic Byway

Overall, we really didn't cover a whole lot of this byway.  There's still plenty to explore.  However, we really did enjoy the views along the Salmon River as well as some of the history of the area.  We would've explored this road more, except that we spent the rest of the day exploring the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River--an alternate connector between Sunbeam, ID and Challis, ID--which pleasantly distracted us from the attempt.

This historic dam along the Salmon River was briefly used for hydroelectric power generation for gold mining establishments along the Yankee Fork.  Once the gold ran out and the power was no longer needed, the dam was blown up in order to allow a more natural and ecological flow of the river.

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GPS Info

We collected all of the following data from our GPS unit during the adventure:

Maps

This Google Map is provided by GPS Visualizer

Elevation Profile

This elevation profile is provided by GPS Visualizer

Coordinates and other details

Mileage:  Time:  Average Speed:  Starting Coordinates:   Ending Coordinates:

13.0 Miles 19:37 40 Miles/Hr. N 44º 12.983, Wº 114 55.806 N 44º 16.263, Wº 114 44.226

If you would like to use this info with your GPS unit, the full GPX file is here.
If you want to view this in Google Earth, you can download the KMZ files of the track and topographic overlay.

Dagger Falls Drive

By definition a wilderness area typically precludes vehicular activity of any sort.  One exception to that is a road that ventures into the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, the largest wilderness area in the contiguous 48 United States.  The road was allowed in order to provide white water enthusiasts with access to the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.  For us, the highlight of this trip was watching a kayaker put-in just above the falls during peak run-off of an exceptionally snowy year.  What a ride!

Dagger Falls on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.  We saw a kayaker completely disappear in the froth for a second or two shortly after putting in above the falls!

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GPS Info

We collected all of the following data from our GPS unit during the adventure:

Maps

This Google Map is provided by GPS Visualizer

Elevation Profile

This profile is provided by GPS Visualizer

Coordinates and other details:

Mileage:  Time:  Average Speed:  Beginning Coordinates:   Ending Coordinates

37.5 Miles 1:23:00 27.0 Miles/Hr. N 44º 15.513, W 114º 59.782 N 44º 31.719, W 115º 17.169

If you would like to use this info with your GPS unit, the full GPX file is here.
If you want to view this in Google Earth, you can download the KMZ files of the track and topographic overlay.