Blossom Lakes Loop

Much of the Blossom Lakes loop is in fact part of the Idaho State Centennial trail, a footpath stretching from Canada all the way to Nevada. Besides being rich in lakes and scenery, the area is also rich in history, as Thompson Pass served as the gateway from the railroad station in Thompson Falls to then-thriving Gold Rush town Murray. Today’s Murray is little more than a ghost town, hidden behind enormous dredge tailing piles lining Prichard Creek.
Location
  • Coeur d’Alene Mountains
Rating
3.2 out of 5
Difficulty
Moderate (some uphill hiking)
Distance
14.0 miles
Duration
4:59 hours moving time (Hiking)
Elevation Gain
2,652 feet
High Point
6,444 feet (stateline ridge)
Low Point
4,104 feet (Prospect Creek crossing)
Features
  • Mountain
  • Lake
  • Outing Type
  • Daytrip
  • Trail Type
  • Lollipop
  • Trailbed
    Logging roads, packed dirt, lose rocks, talus
    Trail#
    404
    Water
  • Any of the lakes, Prospect Creek, Glidden Creek
  • Camping
    • Lower Blossom, Upper Blossom, Pear Lakes
    Conditions
    • Excellent, except for the Glidden Creek trail, which is riddled with downed trees, and the pipeline portion is a bit of a bushwhack.
    Administration
  • Lolo National Forest
  • Status
  • Unprotected
  • Maps
    USGS
  • Thompson Pass
  • Fees & Permits
  • None required
  • ()
    Open To
  • Hikers
  • Dogs
  • Horses
  • Mountain Bikers
  • ()
    Directions
  • From I-90 take the Kingston exit (#43) and head north on FH9 about 23 miles, past Prichard, and turn slightly right, with FH9 turning into Prichard Creek Road. Continue for another 15 miles to the top of Thompson Pass. There is a large blacktopped parking lot.
  • Season
    July – October
    Resources
      Date
      July 8, 2017

      The trail starts at the east end of the parking lot, near two interpretive signs explaining the region’s history and wildlife. The short of the history is that in 1883 a dam was built at Lower Blossom Lake and Chinese laborers dug a ditch all the way to Thompson Pass to supply the placer mining industry in Idaho with water. Alas, ice burst the dam and the canal was never put to use.

      The trail (#404) follows the canal for a few miles through a pretty forest of fir and larch, interspersed with beautiful wildflowers, most prominently beargrass. It steadily gains altitude, at some point abandoning the canal only to pick it up again later. Less than a mile from the trailhead you get to a fork, where you take a right (the left branch leads to FH9; you’ll return that way). Just before the 3-mile mark the trail reaches Prospect Creek, the first source of water, and after a short uphill hike emerges onto Lower Blossom Lake.

      Lower Blossom Lake offers a number of campsites, particularly along the northeastern end, and many of them were taken. The lake was pleasant to swim in, not too cold now that the snow melt was over. Afterwards, we did a bit of exploratory hiking along the eastern shore of the lake, but the path–little more than a game trail to start–eventually just peters out.

      Continuing uphill on #404 you get to a fork around the 4-mile mark, where the right branch leads you to Upper Blossom Lake in just over half a mile. Upper Blossom is an equestrian camp and very buggy. Quite picturesque, though, but not as inviting for a swim as Lower Blossom was. A few campers lingered lazily around their tents in the hot afternoon sun, evidently as little interested in a swim as we were, but no horses were present.

      We moved on, back to the fork, and then onward towards Pear Lake, crossing a few remaining snow patches. Pear Lake huddles in a cirque beneath a sheer 500-foot cliff wall and just begged for a swim. We obliged, the water being quite pleasant and refreshing. There were campers at this lake, too, and they told us the secret to fresh water: crossing a rockslide to the east you get into a dry creek bed, follow that downhill for a bit and, ta-da, fresh, cold water springing right out of the ground. Perfect!

      Next it’s uphill using a few switchbacks to the stateline ridge and its amazing views. The trail follows the ridge, alternately serving up sweeping views of Montana (especially at first) and Idaho (especially towards the end). At one point we spotted a small unnamed lake far below on the Montana side, while the Idaho side, across the valley, presented Lower Glidden Lake and the Upper Glidden Lake basin.

      Around the 8-mile mark (our GPS lost connectivity for about a mile, so the measurements are approximate), you get to the intersection with the Glidden Creek trail #701. This is really an old Jeep road, at first very easy to traverse with nice views into Montana and the area just traveled. Soon, however, you’ll run into an ocean of downed trees. We must have scrambled over a hundred or more trees! Luckily, it gets better once you cross Glidden Creek, with only one really bad patch ahead. Then it’s smooth sailing all the way to FH9 around the 12-mile mark.

      Here you have to decide. Option A is hiking uphill along FH9, which has a nice and wide, cleared shoulder. Option B is to follow the “trail” on the map to the Historic Halfway House where the stage coach stopped during the Gold Rush days. We opted for B and perhaps that wasn’t the best choice. That became obvious when we had to look for the trail immediately after crossing FH9. On the bright side, the area had been logged and thus lacked downed trees. This, however, was offset by a dense growth of fir saplings. Nevertheless, we made pretty good time to Prospect Creek, where the trail disappeared completely. We bushwhacked across the creek and up the other side to the location of the Halfway House.

      Long story short, there is no Halfway House, no structure at all, no road, no trail, or anything of the like. But, there is a buried petroleum pipeline that leads uphill in a straight line and has been cleared of trees. We used that until we once again met up with FH9 about a mile since initial crossing. Continue on FH9 for just a short stretch, then head into the woods to the southwest, picking up the old #404 trail (it is signed). Follow this to the new #404 trail, and then along the unused canals back to the car.

      Alternate Routes

      • Lower Blossom Lake (the nearest lake) is about 6 miles roundtrip

      Things to Consider

        Not so great

          Parking lot
          View from parking load down into the Idaho side
          Interpretive signs at trailhead
          The trail parallels a canal for the first few miles
          Beargrass
          View into Montana
          Prospect Creek near Blossom Lake
          Lower Blossom Lake (view of west side)
          Lower Blossom Lake (view of south side)
          Blossom Lake
          Rock formation above Lower Blossom Lake
          Trail to Upper Blossom Lake
          Upper Blossom Lake
          Upper Blossom Lake, taken from northwest side
          Frog in Upper Blossom Lake
          Trail to Pear Lake
          Naughty going for a swim in Pear Lake
          Pear Lake huddled below a cliff forming the stateline ridge
          Pear Lake, looking northeast
          View from stateline ridge
          Wildflowers in full bloom
          Pleasant hiking on the stateline trail across a number of talus slopes
          View from stateline ridge with an unnamed lake far below on the Montana side
          Looking west down into the Idaho side
          Lower Glidden Lake
          Stateline trail
          View from upper portion of Glidden Creek trail
          Lots of downed trees blocking the Glidden Creek trail
          Glidden Creek and a happy Naughty
          Yup, the trail leads right through this…
          Shortly past the Glidden Creek crossing the trail is nicely cleaned up.
          Naughty on Glidden Creek trail
          Prospect Creek Road (FH9)
          Prospect Creek below in the valley
          Looking down the pipeline easement
          Connector trail to Blossom Lake
          Yeah, it was sunny!!
          The obligatory carcass. For the record, Naughty had nothing to do with its demise.

          2 Comments

          1. naughtyhiker says:

            Thanks! I appreciate the feedback. It’s a nice place to hike when it’s hot…

          2. montucky says:

            Nice series of photos and very good narrative!

          Comments are closed.