| Lolo Pass | |
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Idaho's Lochsa River, west of Lolo Pass |
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| Elevation | 5,233 ft (1,595 m) |
| Traversed by | US-12 |
| Location | |
| Location | Idaho Co., Idaho, & Missoula Co., Montana, United States |
| Range | Rocky Mountains |
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Lolo Trail
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| Location: | Bitterroot Mountains, Idaho-Montana |
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| Built: | 1805 |
| Governing body: | U.S. Forest Service |
| NRHP Reference#: | 66000309[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | October 15, 1966 |
Lolo Pass, elevation 5,233 feet (1,595 m), is a mountain pass in the United States, in the Bitterroot Range of the northern Rocky Mountains. It is on the border between the states of Montana and Idaho, approximately 40 miles (64 km) west-southwest of Missoula, Montana.
The pass is the highest point of the historic Lolo Trail, between the Bitterroot Valley in Montana and the Weippe Prairie in Idaho. The trail was used by Nez Perce Indians in the 18th century, and by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, guided by Old Toby of the Shoshone, on their westward snowbound journey in September 1805. After a winter at Fort Clatsop in present-day Oregon, the Corps of Discovery returned the following June.
The pass was also used in 1877 during the Nez Perce War as some of the Nez Perce under Chief Joseph tried to escape the U.S. Army. Shortly after crossing the pass the two sides clashed at the Battle of the Big Hole.[2]
US Highway 12, belatedly completed in the early 1960s, crosses the pass.
Lolo Hot Springs is 7 miles (11 km) east of the pass in Montana.
The first limited services in Idaho are in Powell, 13 miles (21 km) to the west of the pass, then another 65 miles (105 km) to Lowell, at the confluence of the Lochsa and Selway Rivers.
The Lolo Trail is a National Historic Landmark.
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