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Submission
Main trailhead for the Jewel Basin Hiking Area, including the Mt. Aeneas #717 trail.
From Bigfork, take Hwy 35 north to Hwy 83. Head east on Hwy 83 to the junction of the Echo Lake Road. Head north on Echo Lake Road about 3 miles to junction with the Jewel Basin Road (No. 5392). Follow this road approximalty 7 miles to the trailhead. CAUTION: The last 5 miles are steep. Use headlights for safety. Caution advised for low clearance vehicles. Trailers not recommended.
Hiked for the second art of my boys scout troops 50 miler campout. The trails are almost always clear and the views are beautiful! It's very busy on the weekends by the locals but not busy during the middle of the week. The sign suggests there's goats but we never saw any, and some of the trail ratings are a bit off on how hard it is. Also there is a 5,000 dollar fine for unleashed dogs so don't plan on letting them run free lol.
Narrow road up to trailhead, limited parking, very well maintained trail, restroom at trailhead. Great views
Great trail head for a hike to Birch Lake. No problem with parking, but we got there at 7 am on Friday. When leaving on Saturday at 11 am the lot was overflowing. We drove up in a minivan. It was doable, but I would not recommend it. Road is very rough and bumpy. It would be nasty if wet.
We hiked Mt. Aeneas to the summit and back. It was challenging but well worth the effort. The view is magnificent! We even saw a few mountain goats. We started our hike around seven in the morning. It was cool and shady on the trail while we were heading up the mountain. Coming back down, it was really warm, with very little shade. The wildflowers, trees, shrubs, and plants along the path are just beautiful. We really enjoyed this hike.
