Multi Day Missouri Breaks/Ft.Peck - Summer Epic

[mccracken]

Preface
A couple club meeting ago there was good interest around a multi day trip and specifically heading towards Fort Peck and the Missouri Breaks. I have wanted to plan a multi day trip in these areas and am offering to host this for the club here.

This thread will house all things planning and prep for this trip! Please post if you're interested so you see notifications as we add to this thread. I have the below items as topics that will need to be firmed up along the way. Please post any areas or specific spots you would be interested incorporating. Happy to crowd source any ideas while plans are still loose. Once we have the club run dates I will post up the remaining potential summer weeks available and zero in on the timeframe which should give us a good idea how much ground we can cover.

Crowd Source Needs!
If you have specific experience in either of these areas please share your experiences, pictures and learnings. Fort Peck is definitely a longer haul compared to the Upper Missouri Breaks and I want to make sure not to bite off more than we can chew. BREAKS GUMBO: The soil in these areas is some sort of lab created clay that is very seriously tough to travel through and you can expect zero winch points. A good summer rain system could force some flexibility. Something to keep in mind

Expectations:
-This area lends to an overland style experience. Lots of gravel, clay and loose dirt. Keep this in mind if you think you're interested.
-Not currently a club sanctioned event but we will be keeping this family friendly, dog friendly, and keeping in tune with typical club runs.
-I will do my best to paint as accurate a picture of what to expect route wise but I am not an expert on the area and I do not have first hand knowledge of the route. Should we run into closures, private prop gates or weather we will work through it but this area is remote and carries its own risks.

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CHECKLIST
Dates:
...

Length of Trip:
...

Route / Points of Interest:
-OnX: I'm creating an OnX folder that can be made available to anyone joining this trip.
...

Gear / Food:
...

Comms:
***

Vehicle Requirements:
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General Thoughts / Questions:
-Interested Y/N?
-Vehicle Fuel Range? Hoping to make this route work for anyone with 220mi range and potentially able to carry an extra 50mi of range in spare fuel.
-I'd love to incorporate the Stafford Ferry if route allows. Any other areas specifically seem like we should incorporate?
-Jordan is a nice jumping off point for Fort peck trails and it is 4.5 hours from Livingston. Does that feel to far?
-I have used Winifred to get into the breaks before but would love to hear if anyone else has Breaks experience.
-Lewistown Brewery is a nice food stop
-Little Belts make a great layover spot heading up or coming back.


Looking forward to this!

-Ben

 

[mccracken]

 

[geo5]

In! Ideally a 4 day weekend perhaps? Or more?

Below article about Breaks Montana Rovers trip notes some cool features like waterfall cliffs, ferry crossings, and perhaps someone knows some of the folks mentioned to get some beta?

Montana by Land Rover - Expedition Portal

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal, Summer 2020. Even by the standards of Montana Land Rover clubs, this idea seemed like a pipe dream under the paired influences of Scottish ale and mid-winter cabin fever. The proposal was such: a weeklong overland foray in...

expeditionportal.com

 

[AirheadNut]

Sounds awesome! I would love to do a trip like that, I've spent a fair amount of time in the Jordan area (family there) and in the Upper Missouri Breaks area but would love to connect the dots.

 

[90WT]

Ferry at Virgelle is fun.
Ft. Benton has a good brewery.

 

[thetoyotaman]

Subscribed.

 

[MTsoul]

Interested.

 

[CCRider]

I’m definitely interested. I talked with a guy a while ago who took his family deep into the Breaks and couldn’t say enough good things about it. The remoteness brings its own challenges!

 

[ttFJC]

let me know dates and id love to caravan

 

[mccracken]

That Montana Rovers write up is nice. Their trip looks like a blast! Anyone know those guys personally?

 

[thetoyotaman]

They’ve joined the club a time or two for events.

 

[ttFJC]

I’ve met and hung out with most of the crowd. They throw the best parking lot bbqs

 

[REZARF]

If the dates work, I am in.

I have played up there years ago. Went up the high line (Malta?) and worked our way across and back down through the Little Rockies and the Judith Mountains. The breaks are awesome. We found some natural hot springs and chased a historic route of one of the old outlaw gangs. I can get the old route from friends if you'd like to see it. They did the ferry after I needed to pull away. Very cool country. Very different than SW Montana.

Let me know how I can help. I'd really like to get back up there. That doesn't sound too far for a multiday trip. I would suggest trying to lock down some dates. I went early August of 2018 and we encountered zero snow, but a lot of downed tree's on a few trails. Most the trip was wide open prairie with views for 100 miles.

Trip report and pics from 2018

 

[geo5]

Club summer schedule should be posted very soon, we created it last night! I believe the second half of August is open for this breaks trip.

 

[mccracken]

Perfect thanks George!

Club summer schedule should be posted very soon, we created it last night! I believe the second half of August is open for this breaks trip.

I reached out to Matt at the Rover club today. Hopefully I can sit down with him and hear about anything he would do different. Regardless though I don't think there is a wrong answer up there.

I agree @REZARF on the dates front. Gotta lock them em soon so everyone has time to plan! I don't want to step on the club runs though since they are over so fast and offer good outlets for us all to get together.

Knock out some dates in the next month. Route planning should fall into place pretty quick after that.

 

[mccracken]

If the dates work, I am in.

I have played up there years ago. Went up the high line (Malta?) and worked our way across and back down through the Little Rockies and the Judith Mountains. The breaks are awesome. We found some natural hot springs and chased a historic route of one of the old outlaw gangs. I can get the old route from friends if you'd like to see it. They did the ferry after I needed to pull away. Very cool country. Very different than SW Montana.

Let me know how I can help. I'd really like to get back up there. That doesn't sound too far for a multiday trip. I would suggest trying to lock down some dates. I went early August of 2018 and we encountered zero snow, but a lot of downed tree's on a few trails. Most the trip was wide open prairie with views for 100 miles.

Trip report and pics from 2018

OH Drew that is perfect. I just clicked through that and yall actually went to the few places I have been and connected some dots I'd like to connect. Perfect! Added some pins to the onX folder. She's growing.

 

[AirheadNut]

I figured I should answer the original questions more specifically.
Interested: Definitely.
Fuel range: 400-500mi
McClelland/Stafford ferry would be great, as would the Virgille ferry. Been in Virgille a lot but have never taken the ferry, would like to cross that one off. I would have to check with friends but could probably arrange a private and secluded campsite on the river near Virgille if needed.
Ideally I would like to find a route that links up as many gravel backroads/two tracks along the river and through the breaks as possible, leaning toward loops or through-routes over dead end roads.
Jordan is definitely in reach for a jumping off place, good spot to refuel and pick up those last minute items that somehow didn't make it on the packing list.
The old mining towns of Zortman and Landusky would be fun to visit while in the area too.

 

[REZARF]

Zortman was rad, we camped just outside the town. I’d like to return, it was rich with history. We got some natural hot spring about 1/2 hour south which was cool but we didn’t get in.

 

[clemson55]

I got stuck somewhere near this red X, a huge thunderstorm rolled through about 8pm and then a bunch of cows churned up the road in front of the gate all night. Took me about 9 hours of digging, gathering branches, and hammering "borrowed" fence posts into the ground to winch off of the mud to get out. The Breaks are awesome though and I still want to go back.

Landusky Plunge is a super cool warm spring worth stopping at for lunch and a swim if its hot out. You could camp near/at it but I talked with some folks from the res while I was there and they said it can get pretty rowdy there at night.

I hunt anetlope in HD630 in the red circle, theres endless miles of cool 2 track through the BLM there. I haven't spent much time on the south end toward the management area because its to rugged for antelope but hope to do so this year. I could show you a couple tracks I've taken that were really cool.

 

[Mike NXP]

I've been through this route below, and then went out east to Terry Badlands and then camped in Ekalaka. Very cool part of the state with few people. Crossing the river on the ferry is a must do, avoiding the wet mud is an even bigger must do. I'm pretty good at reading terrain but pushed my luck here. It cakes up very very heavily onto the tires and takes a lot of effort to get everything cleaned off. I spent hour + in the car wash. It was like concrete once dry........If you start to get stuck, just stop and if you're lucky you can slowly back out, don't attempt to push forward unless you are sure of what's ahead.

If any info is needed send questions my way. Not much camping in the area but there are some spots around the water.