A number of technically-easy but physically-vigorous mountain bike trips exist around Old Blewett Pass. A few options are described in this trip report and they’ll provide you with a good workout, lots of scenery, and some interesting exploring. While some of the scenery is scarred by old clearcuts and slag, this is offset by beautiful buff-colored ridges, glades of ponderosa pines, and views of the Enchantment's ripsaw skyline. The options described in this trip report are a combination of paved roads (Old Blewett Pass Highway), gravel roads (Scotty Creek and South Shaser roads) and overgrown logging roads (off Shaser Creek).
Maps: View our topo map (8.5’x11” portrait/landscape or 8.5”x14” portrait/landscape). Note: use ‘Print Preview’ before printing to properly scale this map to a full sheet of paper.
Activity: Mountain Biking
Nearest Town: Blewett Pass
Skill Level: 2
Fitness Level: 2
Distances: Distance varies depending on the options chosen. Riding up Old Blewett Pass and descending Shaser Creek is a little over 10 miles. Going up Scotty Creek , traversing to Old Blewett Pass and descending Shaser Creek is closer to 16.5 miles and entails some bushwhacking and cross-country travel.
Elevation Gain: Parking 2,600 feet. Pass into Shaser Creek is at 4,200 feet. Highpoint on the connection between Scotty Creek and Old Blewett Pass is about 4,500 feet.
Access:
From the Big Y Junction along Highway 2, drive Highway 97 south to mile mark 172.5 and then exit right (west) on the Old Blewett Pass Highway (signage may also mention Scotty Creek). Drive about .7 miles up this road and park on one of the many pullouts on the right side of the road.
Trip Instructions:
The Old Blewett Pass Road is the easiest option up. Ride the paved road all the way to Old Blewett Pass (el, 4,060 feet). Distance from car is 5.2 miles.
The Scotty Creek description which follows is a longer and more adventurous way to reach Old Blewett Pass (this option requires 2-plus fitness levels and a skill level of 3). This route entails some bushwhacking but, in it’s own masochistic way, is quite interesting.
- Follow up the paved road .3 miles and branch left on Road 7324 which follows Scotty Creek.
- Follow Road 7324 for 6.1 miles to a saddle (el 4,260’).
- At this saddle turn right (going straight takes you down to the new Blewett Pass) and follow Road 7324-800 for 2.6 miles.
- Take an overgrown road that climbs steeply for a short ways and then contours. Keep contouring in a westerly direction for about 2 miles on this overgrown road—the road is ridable but you’ll need to dismount and bash through patches of brush from time to time. After about 1.2 miles the road ends just below the ridge and you’ll need to follow the ridge for about two hundred yards to connect with another spur road which keeps contouring while climbing slightly. The brush is thicker now and for the next .75 mile you’ll push as much as ride.
- Eventually the road ends near a ridge that descends to Old Blewett Pass. Descend this ridge (too much debris to ride) and drop down toward the pass.
- About .25 miles before the pass, you’ll find a gravel road leading to the pass.
Regardless of how you reach Old Blewett Pass, return to the car via South Shaser Creek. From the pass, follow dirt road 1226-200 uphill in a northwesterly direction.
- In about .25 miles, at the first road junction, stay left on the lower fork (the right fork climbs more and after a mile reaches a peaklet with a microwave tower and a view).
- At the next junction in another .25 or .3 miles (this spur is not marked on the map) stay left on the lower road.
- After another .25 miles, at yet another junction that is shown on the map, go straight (turning left would take you downhill a short ways to the County Line Trail).
- The road contours a bit more; then follows the drainage of South Shaser Creek downhill. Head downhill and at all intersections stay with the road following the creek. About 4.75 miles from Old Blewett Pass, hit the paved road you started on.
- Turn left and, in a few hundred yards, you’re back at the car.
Land Ownership: Forest Service
Fees/Permits: None needed.
Other Maps: Blewett and Liberty quads (USGS 7.5-minute series)
Leave It Better Than You Found It: This should be every outdoor user’s goal. Pick up trash left by others, pull noxious weeds along your route, disperse old fire rings (they encourage more fires), throw branches over spur trails and spurs between switchbacks (make it harder to do the wrong thing than the right thing).
Important Disclaimer: Treat this information as recommendations, not gospel. Things change, conditions change, and those contributing these reports are volunteers--they may make mistakes, fail to give complete information, or may not know all the issues affecting a route. So forget about finger pointing: If things go wrong, you are completely responsible for yourself and your actions. If you can’t live with that, you are prohibited from using our information.