Fairview Bridge and Cartwright Tunnel Trail

Travelers following the Lewis and Clark Trail along the Yellowstone River can stop to see the river and stretch the legs at the Fairview Bridge and Cartwright Tunnel Trail.

Looking upriver from the bridge, one can easily imagine this scene:

“in the evening I saw a very large Bear take the water above us. I ordered the boat to land on the opposit Side with a view to attack’t him . . . . the men hauled her on Shore and proved to be an old Shee which was so old that her tuskes had worn Smooth, and Much the largest feemale bear I ever Saw . . . .  proceeded on and encampd a little above the enterance [of Charbonneau Creek]”
—William Clark, August 2, 1806

The small creek was named—though not by Clark—for expedition interpreter Toussaint Charbonneau. From the bridge, a rails-to-trails path enters the Cartwright Tunnel and continues about a mile to the community of Cartwright, North Dakota.

Parking is at Sundheim Park and WDM Disc Golf Course and Yellowstone Bridge RV Park are nearby.