Hilger to James Kipp Recreation Area Missouri Breaks Backcountry Byway
Intrepid Travel: roads are gravel or dirt roads. Please be sure your vehicle is appropriate to those conditions. Note that some roads can be impassable during periods of inclement weather.
Major Guido Ilges arrived from Fort Benton with soldiers and volunteers after the fight at Cow Island but engaged in a battle 10 miles north where Nez Perce warriors had surrounded a wagon train.
“Any one who has ever traveled through Cow Creek Canyon, with its 31 crossings, its narrow bottom, its high and precipitous sides, shutting off the traveler from the outside world, will know what a task was before the volunteers should the Indians still be in the canyon and disposed to dispute its passage,”
– Publisher of the Fort Benton Record after interviewing a member of Ilges’s expedition.
Hilger to Bear Paw Battlefield
It was in this area that scouts for Colonel Nelson Miles found the Nez Perce.
We saw a bunch of them running buffalo, probably ten or twelve of them. They soon discovered us, as they had glasses. I soon noticed that they were the Nez Perces as they had striped blankets–the other tribes had solid colors. I sent another Indian back to tell the General [Miles] that we had found the Nez Perces and that they had better hurry up. The Nez Perces took what meat they wanted, as we did not crowd, not getting nearer than one-half mile. – Louis Shambo (scout)
Directions
*Adventurous Travel: roads not recommended for motor homes or vehicles towing trailers; usually passable from July to October. A slight rain will turn the dirt roads of the Missouri Breaks into a sticky, messy mud which will cling to tires and make travel very difficult. Inquire locally about road conditions.*
Fill up your fuel tank in Winifred, MT. The next gas station is in Chinook, 120 miles further. Be sure to bring food and water.
The McClelland-Stafford Ferry is a free ferry across the Missouri River. It operates from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. between May and October depending on river conditions. It has a fifty-foot, fourteen-ton vehicle limit. For more information call 406-462-5513.
From Hilger, MT, turn north on County Road 236 for 23.5 miles to Winifred, MT. At the east edge of Winifred turn east onto D-Y Trail. This is a wide gravel road; 2.0 miles out of Winifred stay straight/north on Stafford Ferry Road. The wide road continues another 9.0 miles, where it begins to narrow. Continue another 5.0 miles down to the McClelland- Stafford Ferry.
From the ferry continue north and in 14.2 miles, at the “T” intersection, head west onto Lloyd Road. Follow Lloyd Road for 24.6 miles then turn east onto Peoples Creek Road. In 9.6 miles you will reach Cleveland, MT.
*Mainstream Travel: all-weather roads, suitable for all vehicles*
From the James Kipp Recreation Area, continue north for 14.3 miles to the junction with Montana State Highway 66. (The Nez Perce actually traveled 10 to 15 miles west of Montana State Highway 66.) Turn north on Montana 66 for 50 miles to US 2 through the Fort Belknap Reservation. Turn northwest on US Highway 2 and follow it for 24.8 miles to the junction with State Route 240 on the west side of Chinook. (While you are in Chinook, you may want to stop at the Blaine County Museum before proceeding south to the battlefield.) The Bear Paw Battlefield is reached by turning south on State Route 240 for 16.3 miles.
