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Bozeman Pass

Bozeman Pass

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As a public road, Bozeman Pass is always open
406.586.5421
lat: 45.6665471 long: -110.8085303

On July 15, 1806, as Clark’s party traveled from the Gallatin River toward the Yellowstone River valley, they were guided by Sacagawea, who knew the area from her childhood. She led them between the Bridger and Gallatin mountain ranges through Bozeman Pass. When still encamped at the Three Forks of the Missouri on July 13, Clark had considered a route through a pass further to the north, but wrote, “The indian woman who has been of great Service to me as a pilot through this Country recommends a gap in the mountain more South which I shall cross.” The party ascended following a “well beaten buffalow road” to “the top of the dividing ridge between the waters of the Missouri from those of the river Rochehone [Yellowstone].”

Although first documented by Clark and later named for John Bozeman, who in the early 1860s helped blaze the Bozeman Trail, the pass had been used as a corridor for thousands of years prior to the Corps of Discovery, particularly by tribes reliant upon following bison migrations. As modes of transportation advanced into the modern era, the Bozeman Pass remained the established thoroughfare into southwest­ern Montana. Substantial development began with the Northern Pacific Railway, completed in 1883. An automobile highway, the Yellowstone Trail, was first constructed across the pass in 1912. This was replaced in 1926 by US 10, and then in 1956 by Interstate 90. There is a historical marker documenting the expedi­tion’s passage.

Nearby Attractions

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Nearby Trails

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Upper Hauser Lake

lat: 46.6822743 long: -111.8215701
Lewis and Clark Highway

lat: 44.97475 long: -113.44537
Blue Mountain

lat: 46.8148437 long: -114.1806973
Old Buffalo Trail 1

lat: 46.9547545 long: -113.5255417
Judith Landing to Woodhawk Wilderness

lat: 47.7400888 long: -109.6276312
Clearwater to Dunnigan Gulch

   

lat: 46.9505625 long: -113.5433125
Rogers Pass

lat: 47.0763322 long: -112.370577
Lemhi Pass Road

lat: 44.9579032 long: -113.3652553
Travelers Rest State Park

lat: 46.753308 long: -114.0899468
Lewis and Clark Pass

lat: 47.1427216 long: -112.4289137
Nine Mile to Mcnamara

lat: 46.9502198 long: -113.3787584
Mcnamara to Bonner

lat: 46.9502198 long: -113.3787584
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