Circle Tour - To Salmon, Challis & Custer Motorway Adventure Road

We took another two day, overnight, circle trip, Thursday (6/18) and Friday. We drove northwest through the Lemhi River Valley (US 28) to the town of Salmon.  We then followed the Salmon River Gorge south to Challis for the night. Friday morning we visited the ghost town of Bayhorse and followed the 43 mile Custer Motorway Adventure Road from Sunbeam back to Challis and then returned home.



Birch Creek Charcoal Kilns 1885-1889
Used in silver and lead smelting operations.

After lunch we visited the Sacajawea Interpretive,
Cultural and Educational Center
commemorating her role in the
Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Sacajawea Interpretive Center

Challis Hot Springs Bed & Breakfast
Originally this boarding house was developed in 1890
to support the local mining operations.

Two natural hot spring pools are located on the property.
Hot water bubbles up through the gravel bottom at
a rate of three cubic feet per second.

The mining ghost town of Bayhorse is now
operated by the Land of the Yankee Fork State Park.

In 1872  a lead-silver vein was discovered that resulted in
the creation of the Bayhorse Mining District in 1877.
In the end the town reached a population over 300.
Over 100,000 tons of ore was removed.

The Custer Motorway Adventure Road, also known as the Yankee Fork Historic Mining District Driving Tour, was the original Toll Road, constructed in 1878. This 43 mile one lane gravel road takes travelers past numerous historic and scenic vistas between Custer and Challis. Along the way we passed the ghost towns of Bonanza and Custer as well as the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge.

 

The Dredge operating between 1940 and 1952, began a new era of gold mining on the Yankee Fork, a tributary of the Salmon River, and remains the only floating dredge in Idaho. The four story dredge dug into the river valley for a distance of six miles, recovering gold by washing and separating the rock, gravel and dirt. This operation made a tremendous mess of this valley by leaving miles of dredge tailings, but this is all part of Idaho history.

Yankee Fork Gold Dredge Museum

This is a giant rock tumbling washing machine.
Everything 3/8 inch was retained, with larger pieces ejected.

The abandoned mining town of Custer once
had a population of over 600 residents.

Returning to Challis for a nice dinner at the
Tea Cup Café