Monida Pass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monida Pass (elevation 6,820 feet; Latitude: 44.55861, Longitude: -112.30556) is a mountain pass on the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains that divides the Beaverhead Range and the Centennial Range. The pass forms part of the border between southeastern Idaho and Montana and is between the towns of Lima, Montana, and Spencer, Idaho. Clark County, Idaho, and Beaverhead County, Montana, border each other on the pass. On the Idaho side is Beaver creek running through Beaver Canyon, Idaho, which was the route of the Utah and Northern Railway in 1880 and is still used by Union Pacific Railroad (UP).
UP once had an icemaking plant at Humphreys, Idaho, which is now a ghost town; Monida, Montana, which is near the top of the pass is also almost a ghost town .
In the late 1800s stagecoaches ferried tourists from the railroad at Monida Pass to Yellowstone Park, until UP bult a branch line to the park. Interstate 15, "Veterans Memorial Highway", starts at the Montana-Idaho border at Monida Pass and runs to the international boundary at Sweetgrass.
