Trail Overview
Wickes Road is an excellent scenic mountain bypass for four-wheel-drive vehicles, SxSs, and dirt bikes looking to traverse between the historic mining towns of Basin and Corbin, Montana, while enjoying sweeping high-altitude views. Spanning approximately 3 miles, this trail climbs up and over the mountain peaks as an alternative route to the historic Wickes Tunnel, making it an essential option when the tunnel is blocked by water, snow, or ice. The route starts at an elevation of around 5,314 feet and ascends to a peak of 6,798 feet, offering spectacular, panoramic vistas of the surrounding landscape. The trail features steep, rocky inclines and declines that require a capable vehicle with high clearance.
With a technical difficulty rating of 3, the unpaved dirt and rock trail is accessible to most high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicles and SxSs during the summer and fall seasons. Early spring travel often brings lingering snow, deep mud, and slick conditions, requiring drivers to exercise caution and utilize low range. The area is steeped in late 19th-century mining history, with the nearby historic Wickes Tunnel—a one-mile-long abandoned railroad tunnel built in 1888—serving as a key local attraction. Offroaders can easily combine this route with the main Wickes Tunnel trail to form a loop, returning over the mountain pass to capture both the underground passage and the high-elevation vistas.
Difficulty
If it's early spring, this trail will be snowy and/or muddy. The tunnel may have water, snow or ice in it. There are steep, rocky inclines and declines.
History
Wickes, Montana, was a bustling mining camp in the early 1880s before a devastating fire destroyed the Alta Company Mill in 1882. The nearby Wickes Tunnel is an abandoned, mile-long railroad tunnel that saw its first train passage in 1888, carrying prominent citizens from Helena, Boulder, and Butte.
Access Description
The trail is typically accessible from late spring through fall, though snow and ice can linger at higher elevations and inside the nearby Wickes Tunnel well into July, making the road a necessary bypass. Early spring travelers should prepare for muddy, snowy, or wet conditions.
