The internet didn’t have much info on FS412 from Delmoe Lake up to the CDT. Well, the description said steep, sandy, rutted atv trail. We were looking for a way to get closer to the giant statue Our Lady of the Rockies that didn’t involve 4000’+ of climbing and we were looking for adventure. We failed on one of those counts. Our ride was 21 miles with 3133′ of climbing.
Starting from Delmoe Lake we rode up FS412 and almost immediately had to detour when we hit a gate and private property sign. Our detour added a short bit on but dumped us back on track as we skirted the lake on the east side and rode along the north side of it. The water level looked LOW! The first 5 miles or so are on a narrow atv trail that is indeed rutted and steep in places but after heavy rains the other night, it wasn’t sandy thankfully. This path doesn’t seem to get much use and we didn’t encounter anyone all day.
When we came to the CDT we turned left and took that for another 4 miles or so. This part of the CDT is noticeably less traveled then the other sections around Butte that we have ridden. It’s called the Fairy Trail section and I really enjoyed it. The tread isn’t buffed out, instead it is rugged and wild feeling. As with the other sections, it passes through forest with boulder piles and bridge crossings. After an UBER steep series of switchbacks and more fun traverses, we came to a “trail” called Excel Connector. This is a pretty steep loose rock field “trail” that we thought we could use to connect to the access road to the statue. However, FAIL, the road is private and there were signs posted everywhere. Oh well, back we went.
Even though we didn’t accomplish our goal of seeing the statue closer up, we got to spend the day in the remote forest with no other humans around. I call that a success.
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