The Bannock Pass reroute was a two-year project (2021-22) between the Bureau of Land Management Salmon Field Office and a local youth corps partner, the Youth Employment Program. The previous CDT followed an open motorized route along a knife ridge that has rutting/erosion issues due to the steep climbs and descents along the route. This created extremely loose and rocky trail conditions for hikers, bikers, and equestrians. A reroute was needed to alleviate the erosion issues by constructing a sustainable, natural surface trail for non-motorized use. BLM selected the route and completed the NEPA process for the project in 2018 but couldn’t line up funding and crews until 2021. The Youth Employment Program utilized hand crews and a Sutter 300 trail dozer to construct the 6-mile reroute over the two summers. The new reroute has much more favorable grades, sustainable trail surface, and also crosses a seasonal water source for trail users. This reroute is not only beneficial to CDT users but has opened up new trail opportunities in the area that trail users didn’t want to pursue due to the condition of the motorized route.
The Salmon BLM Field Office manages 19 miles of CDT in two sections; 13 miles from Lemhi Pass to Goat Mountain, and 6 miles South of Bannock Pass. We are working to reroute the current CDT path which is an open motorized road on both sections. The youth corps will continue on the Lemhi Pass reroute in the near future. These projects were made possible by an interagency agreement between the BLM and USFS and annual allocations for the CDNST.
The 2023 hiking season will be the debut of this section. Enjoy!
Dan Carter, CDTC Trails Manager