By Pride Jessen

Date: November 2023

Forkhorn Canyon

rugged, and somewhat unwelcoming range in Western Montana. Its rocky, heavily timbered landscape is enough to humble most seasoned outdoorsmen and turn them towards easier terrain. For the hiker or alpinist, it is a treasure trove with dozens of long trails leading deep into the Selway wilderness. For those willing to put the miles in, you may find views that rival glacier national park. Despite the harsh nature of these mountains, they are far from a barren wasteland. Elk, moose, mule deer, whitetail, mountain goats, and countless other species call the Bitterroots home. Although, they may be fewer and farther between than some of the open country in other parts of the state. I often find myself in pursuit of mountain grouse, bugling bull elk, and everything else in between throughout these mountains, just a 15 minute drive from my home in Stevensville. As a hunter, the pursuit of game has led me to some crazy places I never would find myself in otherwise. One of these places that stands out in particular, I call Forkhorn Canyon, the headwaters of Child’s creek. 

I had been hunting all morning. After spending a couple hours laying on my belly, I was getting cold and felt like moving around. There had been a few whitetail, and a nice sunrise, but no legal bucks. I stood up slowly, which scared the deer, then started working my way up the mountain. After following an overgrown two track for a couple hundred yards, I found the place where Child’s creek intercepted the trail. There is a small headgate of sorts here, where the creek is diverted into an underground pipeline. I decided to follow the creek uphill to my right, and see what sort of canyon I would find.  Driving the Bitterroot valley, you can look to the West and see a pretty neat drainage there, but until this point I had never checked it out. As I continued, the creek bottom to my left just kept getting steeper and steeper, until I couldn't see what was at the bottom over the rocky ledge. From what I could tell though, there were pretty good sized cliffs overlooking both sides of the creek. My last sight of water was a small mossy waterfall pouring out of what appeared to be a small slot. A few hundred yards, and a good bit of vertical later, the cliffs to my left mellowed out enough for me to work my way down to the creek bottom. I decided to follow it down.

 There was a good bit of thick brush and bear grass, with some slippery rock scree in between. This is what most of the creek bottom was like. As I continued, the cliffs above started to close in, and the brush thinned out some. Looking down the canyon, to my right is a jagged, overhanging rock wall, mostly free of moss and vegetation. To the left the rock is much more crumbly, vegetated, and absolutely covered in moss. I would consider this section more of a tight box canyon rather than true narrows. Although non technical, everything I’ve seen so far has been worth the walk. The creek then ducks underneath a big, overhanging, mossy rock to the left. The space underneath was tall enough to crouch underneath in an awkward, three legged bear crawl (the fourth “leg” was busy carrying my rifle). I exited the obstacle and kept moving downwards. Further down, the streamflow increased a bit, to maybe 1-2 CFS (cubic feet per second). To the right, there was a neat little alcove, protected by the overhanging rock wall. It seemed like a nice spot to rest and have a snack. I knew there wasn’t a whole lot further to go, so I wanted to take my time and enjoy the moment. Further down was the waterfall, which was the most technical part of the canyon. It was a downclimb of about 15-20 feet in total, but not a straight drop. I’d say the furthest I could have fallen in the present conditions was about 10 feet. I was able to stem down to a somewhat awkward position, ducking under a couple logs, maintaining three points of contact, and all the while being careful to protect the moss (it was everywhere at this point). I then slid on my butt the rest of the way down, and made my way down the last bit of the waterfall. After this point, the canyon widened, and it turned into more creek bottom walking in thick brush. When it was all said and done, I had probably only spent 30-45 minutes in the canyon. 

Altogether, I had a very nice, mellow experience. There wasn’t anything really technical in the canyon itself. Although, you could definitely bring a rope to rappel some of the larger cliffs overlooking the creek. There shouldn’t be any raps bigger than 90 feet, but I would bring a 120+ foot rope just in case. I should clarify, if you are looking for a technical canyon with exciting rappels and solid downclimbs, or something swift water, this isn’t the place. Although, you absolutely can find that sort of thing in the Bitterroots. Forkhorn canyon is more of a short hike with some nice views, and just a small taste of what the Bitterroot canyons have to offer. It’s a good place to go if you just want to get out of the house, without the commitment of an all day adventure. This also isn’t a bad place for a morning hunt. I’ve encountered both whitetail and mule deer around, and at the bottom of the canyon. For whatever reason, most of the bucks I’ve seen here are forkhorns (two points on each antler). I assume that this is because it’s a heavily hunted area, and most of the bucks here end up being harvested before they can get any bigger. However, after seeing so many forky whitetail and muley bucks, I decided to nickname it Forkhorn Canyon. I hope you’ve enjoyed this write up, and I highly recommend the West Bitterroots for your next adventure. If you would like to check out Forkhorn Canyon yourself, read the following section for directions.

Pride was kind enough to give directions, please use low impact travel when exploring this area.

Heading South down Highway 93, take a right onto Sweeney Creek Loop about a mile south of Florence. If you are going North coming from the Stevensville direction, take a left about a mile before you get to Florence. There should be a trailhead sign that says “Sweeney Creek” before you get there. There will also be a left hand turning lane as you cross the bridge over Sweeney Creek. From there, continue for almost a mile until the road in front of you makes a sharp left hand turn. Instead of turning, keep going straight onto the gravel/dirt road (Sweeney Creek Trail)  that continues West. You will follow it until you reach your destination. Just follow this road, and eventually bear right at an intersection. This should be pretty clear, as the road to your left has signs that say “private road” “no public access” etc. Just stay on the main road for another mile. You’ll drive over a cattle guard, then keep going. Eventually the road switches back to the left and you’ll be heading SouthWest. Everything surrounding you at this point is private land. Keep driving about 200 yards, and to your right you will see some boulders around a little pull off. You are now on state land. A Montana Conservation license is required to legally recreate here (this can be obtained online at fwp.mt.gov). Coordinates are approximately 46.6415, -114.12567 at the parking spot. You can either pull up towards the rocks to your right, or parallel park on the shoulder. There should be plenty of room either way. You should note, locals often use this spot as a shooting range, and the direction you will be walking is downrange. Continue West, uphill for 200 yards, then head directly North (right). You will end up crossing a ravine and hopefully find the remnants of a dirt road. There is a fence going across it which you will have to cross (close to 46.62564, -114.12935). As long as you are on this road, it will end up taking you North for about a half mile. At this point there is a wide spot in the road, and there should be a ton of “private land” signs in front of you. To your left, there should be some signs indicating an underground pipeline. Follow these signs, and there will be an overgrown two track moving its way uphill Southwest. Follow it until you reach the headgate with a ballpark guess of 46.62944, -114.12921 and continue West, uphill to the right of the creek. You should see the small waterfall at the creek bottom, and now is your opportunity to continue to the right of the cliffs surrounding the canyon. At this point, it is up to your discretion how far up you would like to hike before dropping into the drainage. The only trails from here on out are game trails. Enjoy!