The Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail is an old road turned singletrack that provides a wide journey through a variety of landscape. I don't know the history of the wagon road yet, but it is clearly an old road, even with some double ruts still visible up high. The trail has some interesting uses, including a mountain bike section, some disappearance, and then visiting its namesake trailhead partway through, before serving as an artery for some popular high mountain trails in the Eagle Cap.
From a mountain bike standpoint it is a straightforward singletrack that rips along the side of the Wallowa Mountains and wraps around the corner to drop down to Big Sheep Creek. It is some fun non-technical riding on a well-maintained trail. A signature moment is riding through the burn and sweeping around the corner to a wide open view of the Wallowa Mountains. The trip culminates in a scenic crossing of the Big Sheep Creek on man-made bridges, coming out where the ski huts reside.
However, the trail proper actually doesn't drop down to the huts, but instead continues on in an un-maintained manner to eventually connect with the short trail coming up from the Tenderfoot Trailhead. There is no footbridge at that trailhead though, so the crossing might be more difficult from there early in the year.
At this point, it is a hiking trail which has several intersections where you can depart from this trail. It eventually takes a steep ascent to the top of the Imnaha Divide at a saddle near Mt. Nebo. From there, you have a beautiful traverse over to a junction where the trail officially ends. Most of the trail is a very good surface and well maintained.
The trail starts at the Salt Creek Summit Sno Park, which is also the starting point for the south end of the Redmont Trail, so it can be ridden as a continuation of a north to south ride of Redmont.
Trail Notes
- 0.0mi The trail starts by the sign (with map), straight across the paved Wallowa Loop Road as you exit the snopark. You will experience some offshoot trails to the right at the outset. Always stay left to continue on this trail.
- 0.5 Here the trail splits, with the Wing Ridge trail going right up the mountain and the Wagon Road Trail to the left.
- 3.5 Soon after the trail wraps around the ridge for an open view into the basin, there will be a trail junction where you will want to go left if you are on a bike. That trail trail switches back a few times as it drops down to Big Sheep Creek where you cross some bridges and come up to the road that you can take up to the trailhead or down to the loop road. Otherwise, continue strait at the junction and plan to hop some logs and jump some streams.
- 4.4 Arrive at the more well-defined short trail coming up from the Tenderfoot Trailhead. Stay right to continue on this trail.
- 5.3 Junction with Wing Ridge Trail. Immediately cross North Fork Big Sheep Creek after that.
- 5.4 Trail junction with McCully Creek. Stay left
- 6.5 Trial junction with Bonny Lakes.
- 7.5 Arrive at top of Saddle (elev. 7,921')
- 10.1 Junction with North Fork Imnaha Trail (elev. 7,606')
