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Monday 8:30am - 4pm Thursday 8:30am - 4pm Friday 8:30am - 4pm Saturday 8:30am - 4pm Sunday 8:30am - 4pm

Lolo Pass Visitor Center- Discover Your Northwest

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Lolo, ID
Lolo Pass Visitor Center- Discover Your Northwest

Operating on behalf of the Nez Perce-Clearwater NF, we offer outdoor recreational opportunities. The Visitor Center is on the left at the top of Lolo Pass.
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Hours of Operation: Thursday - Monday,
8:30am - 4:00pm PST (summer) or 7:30am - 3:00pm PST (winter) The Lolo Pass Visitor Center serves as one of the many historical landmarks off Highway 12, the Lewis and Clark Highway, bordering Montana and Idaho. The facility is located in the area where Lewis and Clark crossed over the Lolo Pass in the Bitterroot Mountains. The Lolo Pass Visitor Center and Res

t Area is located along the Nez Perce National Historic Trail and is one of the designated sites of Nez Perce National Historical Park. The buildings were a part of the Old Mud Creek ranger station near Lolo Hot Springs in 1923. In 1977 they were moved to Lolo Pass and restored to meet the increased demands of an information center. The visitor center displays information on the Lewis and Clark journey across the Bitterroot Mountains and the 1877 flight of the Nez Perce Indians and tells historical, natural, and general information about the area. The facility currently includes an interpretive center, warming hut, 24-hour restroom, snowmobile parking lot, parking for other recreationists, and a 30-minute outer parking lot for larger commercial vehicles and other rest stop vehicles. You will find cross-country ski and snowmobile trails as well as a snowshoe trail for your winter recreation enjoyment. While recreating, you can stop in the warming hut for a cup of hot chocolate, tea or coffee, in front of a comforting warm fire. Winter season is quite busy as the Lolo Pass area serves as a major trail head for cross-country skiing and snowmobiling. The visitor center sells parking permits and carries maps and winter usage information for visitors. For current Lolo Pass conditions and hours open, please call the information line at the number below. Open Saturday and Sunday through Thanksgiving, the center is scheduled to be open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday for winter recreation after the holiday. Directions: Travel south on Highway 93 out of Missoula, Montana, 9 miles. Turn west onto Highway 12 out of Lolo, Montana and travel 47 miles to the Idaho/Montana border. Traveling from the west: (from Lewiston, Idaho) Travel east on Highway 12 to the Idaho/Montana border. Visitor Center will be on your right.

08/27/2026

Check out these beautiful handmade ornaments that were just dropped off at Lolo Pass Visitor Center for the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree!

08/24/2026

The search continues! While our team was busy making ornaments for 2026 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree over the weekend, our friendly neighborhood Bigfoot was on the move again. He is traveling all over the Forest showing off some of the amazing ornaments you have made! The problem is, we need them back to reach our goal of 10,000 ornaments! Can you help us use the photo to figure out where he is now?!

He was last spotted on Friday. Did you guess his location correctly? The purple camas flowers in his photo helped us determine he was at Wispin’íitpe, a traditional Niimíipuu campsite known in English as Packer Meadows. In the Nez Perce language Wispin’íitpe means “as one travels out of the timber, upon coming over the divide”. Of course, he also made a stop here at the Lolo Pass Visitor Center to showcase these beautiful ornaments made by Jodi and Janet.

While we continue to search for our missing ornaments, we need your help more than ever to make enough for the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. Can you help us reach 10,000?! Like Bigfoot's friends Jodi and Janet, we are focusing on 8" - 12" weatherproof ornaments! Come by Lolo Pass anytime during business hours or get creative at home and mail in your ornaments!
Ornament details can be found at: www.uscapitolchristmastree.com
Deadline for ornaments to be submitted:
September 1st
Ornaments can be dropped off right here at Lolo Pass, any other FS Office on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests, or sent to:
NPCLW NF - Supervisor’s Office
1008 HWY 64
Kamiah, ID 83536
Thanks for all your help!! And keep an eye out for our beloved local menace🎄

08/23/2026

Bat night is back by popular demand, but just one night and one night only! 🦇🌙🌌

‼️Updated location: Bat Night will be held in the amphitheater at Powell Campground‼️

Don’t miss your last chance this summer to learn about (and maybe even see!) our favorite nighttime wildlife on our forest!

08/21/2026

Have you been following along with our latest dilemma? We asked our ol' buddy Bigfoot to help us make and count ornaments for the 2026 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. He was so impressed with everyone's creativity that he took an entire box and disappeared back into the woods! On Monday he sent us a photo holding one of the ornaments, a beautiful handmade Appaloosa horse. We asked for your help to figure out where he was! Did you guess that he was near Pittsburg Landing and the Snake River?!

It was sort of a trick question, because he was actually just outside of the Nez Perce - Clearwater National Forests. He thought he'd be sneaky and hide from us in the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. The HCNRA straddles both sides of the Snake River in Oregon and Idaho and is actually managed by our neighbors on the Wallowa Whitman National Forest. It is also the deepest river gorge in North America!
Before we could drive to pick up our missing ornaments, he was on the move again. He mailed us this photo, but he didn't leave a return address! Can you help us use the photo to figure out where in the forest he is? Where do you think this photo was taken?!

Now that some of our ornaments have been stolen we need your help now more than ever to make enough for the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. Can you help us reach 10,000?! We are taking a break on our Bigfoot search to make ornaments at the Idaho County Fair today and tomorrow! Stop by and make an ornament to send to Washington D.C. Can't make it? No problem! Get creative at home and mail in your ornaments!
Ornament details can be found at: www.uscapitolchristmastree.com
Deadline for ornaments to be submitted:
September 1st
Ornaments can be dropped off at any FS Office on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest or sent to:
NPCLW NF - Supervisor’s Office
1008 HWY 64
Kamiah, ID 83536
Thanks for all your help!! And keep an eye out for our beloved local menace

08/18/2026

PSA: We’re in a bit of a hairy situation and we’re hoping YOU can help us out! You may remember, we asked our friend Bigfoot for help organizing ornaments for the 2026 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree! He couldn’t believe how beautiful they were and stole a big box for himself, taking off with his new treasures back into the woods to show his friends! He was last spotted on August 3rd on the Selway River. Since his first photo, sightings have slowed as everyone respected the Forest Closure Order on the Selway River Trail #4. Today our team checked the mail to find another clue! We know he has great taste in ornaments, but where he is now?! Can you help us use the photo to figure out where in the forest he is?

Now that some of our ornaments have been stolen we need your help now more than ever to make enough for the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. Can you help us reach 10,000?!

Ornament details can be found at: www.uscapitolchristmastree.com
Deadline for ornaments to be submitted:
September 1st
Ornaments can be dropped off at any FS Office on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest or sent to:
NPCLW NF - Supervisor’s Office
1008 HWY 64
Kamiah, ID 83536
Thanks for all your help!! And keep an eye out for our beloved local menace🎄

08/13/2026

Do you love to “nerd out” about history, ecology, or wildlife? We sure do! Even more, we love to do it with you in a beautiful place.

Each summer, our staff spend Friday evenings presenting Ranger Talks in Powell Campground! Topics will vary between now and September 4th, but Friday, August 14th, Ranger Dena will be there to tell you all about the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, a 56-year tradition in which one of America’s 154 national forests provides a tree for the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol for the holiday season.

If you join us tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. PST, you’ll have the chance to do more than just listen. You’ll be able to create your own ornament for the 2026 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree! Can’t make it tomorrow? Stop by Lolo Pass Visitor Center anytime during business hours and make an ornament!

Follow along at www.uscapitolchristmastree.com

08/07/2026

🌲 Forest Fact Friday 🌲

When the boss says, “Jump,” smokejumpers ask, “from how high?”

Smokejumping was first proposed in 1934 as a strategy for fighting wildfires. Smokejumping is the practice of parachuting self-sustaining fire fighters directly into wildfire areas. The program took flight on July 12, 1940 when smokejumpers Rufus Robinson and Earl Cooley jumped into the Martin Creek Fire here in the Nez Perce National Forest! The invention of Smokejumping has revolutionized the way we fight wildfires and is still used today.

08/03/2026

PSA: We’re in a bit of a hairy situation and we’re hoping YOU can help us out!

Upon hearing that the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest has been chosen to provide this year’s U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, a special guest emerged from the forest to lend a hand! We put our ol’ pal Bigfoot on ornament duty to help us unbox all of the ornaments that have been sent in so far to decorate the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree.

Bigfoot couldn’t believe how beautiful they were and stole a big box for himself, taking off with his new treasures back into the woods before we could catch him!

Along with the ornaments he grabbed a camera off an employee’s desk and is now sending us photos of his favorites from various places across the forest! Can you help us use the photo to figure out where in the forest he is? Where do you think this photo was taken?!

Now that some of our ornaments have been stolen we need your help now more than ever to make enough for the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. Can you help us reach 10,000?!

Ornament details can be found at: www.uscapitolchristmastree.com

Deadline for ornaments to be submitted:
September 1st

Ornaments can be dropped off at any FS Office on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest or sent to:

NPCLW NF - Supervisor’s Office
1008 HWY 64
Kamiah, ID 83536

Thanks for all your help!! And keep an eye out for our beloved local menace🎄

07/30/2026

For one night and one night only, Lolo Pass Visitor Center Presents: BAT NIGHT

Join us on a walking tour around Lolo Pass for our annual Bat Night! This year we will only be hosting Bat Night once on Friday, August 7. We recommend bringing, besides you and all your friends, good walking/hiking shoes, bug protection, and a flashlight.

Address

Lolo, ID

Opening Hours

Monday	8:30am - 4pm
Thursday	8:30am - 4pm
Friday	8:30am - 4pm
Saturday	8:30am - 4pm
Sunday	8:30am - 4pm

Telephone

+12089423113

Website

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nezperceclearwater/recarea/?recid=80112

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