Montana Jeep Badge of Honor: Blacktail Wild Bill Trail (Flathead National Forest)

@EJD Did the trail yesterday right before the storm. Good stuff! Thanks for all your help

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That’s awesome! Glad those coordinates worked for you guys, was finding the campsite easy? Also we just dodged the storm too!
I had looked it up on satellite beforehand, otherwise IDK if we would've found it. Perfect spot in my opinion.
 
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I had looked it up on satellite beforehand, otherwise IDK if we would've found it. Perfect spot in my opinion.
Haha, perfect. Glad it was a good adventure for you guys and it was a perfect spot. You in Tillamook now?
 
Haha, perfect. Glad it was a good adventure for you guys and it was a perfect spot. You in Tillamook now?
We ended up going Oregon first as I snapped a valve stem on the Rubicon which ate up our evening drive time that night - forcing us to take the more efficient counter-clockwise route. Made it safely back to San Diego on Sunday
 
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HEY! Happy to help, first lemme say that driving all the way from CA to MT for this trail is pretty great, I hope it doesn't disappoint. One thing I wished I had prior to running the trail was this trail map (attached) as it does not exist anywhere online, and is only found at 3 locations on the trail itself, so hopefully that helps out a lot. ;)

The moving time is subjective because there was plenty of obstacles that I could not take on with my TJ on 31's w/1" of lift. You may have much better clearance and bigger tires so you would potentially be able to try more obstacles. I would say running all three legs of the trail was probably a 4-8 hour day depending on what you bypass and what you don't. It may also depend on the weather too, on the day I was there we encountered hail, fog, rain, then blazing heat and full sun later on. I also have a killer campsite if your planning on spending the night!

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So the Blacktail - Wild Bill trail consists of 3 legs which are in "orange" on the map here. They are best described as a series of modified forest roads that are maintained by local Jeep clubs. The 3 legs all meet at something called "Eagle Junction".

Blacktail (917): This is the main starting point for just about everyone coming up route 93 alongside the Flathead Lake. This is the way you would be going coming from the south. This starts off mellow until you get to a spot with a new trail sign which reads "Original Blacktail OHV", if you take that be prepared for what seems like endless hill dips with constant flexy break-overs.

Upper Dayton Cr (918): Is a big more technical with some huge tires buried, more rock shelves, and log crossings. You will end up driving 917 into 918 and driving the reverse way down it towards the trailhead most likely. When you end this leg at the trailhead, you will take other forest roads north towards "Kila" to the last leg of the trail. (Unless for fun you wanted to take it back to Eagle Junction).

Wild Bill (919): I would say this is the hardest leg, some of the more difficult obstacles are along this route. I tried to take some pictures of the obstacles along this route but there were just too many. There is a "Playground" on this leg, also a mud pit, along with some good rocky sections, and tire gardens. This you will run back up to Eagle Junction then find your campsite for the night.
Would like to get with you about this trail. We will be there in June 2020 as part of a west coast excursion and would like any information you can send my way about it.
 
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Would like to get with you about this trail. We will be there in June 2020 as part of a west coast excursion and would like any information you can send my way about it.
Nice, there isn't a whole lot of information about this trail so thanks for checking out my thread on it! I do in fact have the coordinates to an absolutely killer campsite that i've found over my time there. What info do you think you'll need? Are you doing a Badge of Honor trip collecting all the ones in the NW? How many rigs are going?

Welcome to the forum btw, is that a CJ you've got there in your avatar?
 
So as I was overlanding a bit last week I passed through the national forest with the Blacktail - Wild Bill trail and decided to run the other legs of the trail that I had not been on previously. I tracked gpx data the whole way too for anyone interested.

But yeah there were some insane obstacles on this that I just could touch at all cause i'm not built for that type of stuff, but I tried to take pictures of some of them for your viewing enjoyment. I ran into 2 other TJ's and a CJ that were all rock crawlers and chatted them up a bit about the trail.

One of them pointed me in the direction of an amazing dispersed camp site that was absolutely incredible. Top of a mountain type site, overlooking 2 beautiful lakes and just a great view of the vast forest we were surrounded by. Another little gem if anyone is interested, contact me.

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Its amazing how during such a touristy time of year in NW Montana where every campground is packed beyond capacity, if you look for it, you can find a spot like this and have it all to yourself. :p

If anyone is ever in the area and would like to location of this camp site, let me know. Its big enough for multiple vehicles and very secluded. You would only need 4wd to make it there.
Can I get information on the dispersed camping area you found?
 
Nice, there isn't a whole lot of information about this trail so thanks for checking out my thread on it! I do in fact have the coordinates to an absolutely killer campsite that i've found over my time there. What info do you think you'll need? Are you doing a Badge of Honor trip collecting all the ones in the NW? How many rigs are going?

Welcome to the forum btw, is that a CJ you've got there in your avatar?
Yes that is my CJ, My first of seven jeeps. Its still alive but I gave it to a family member. I will be making three trips to the west coast next year with a group of friends which will get us all the badges. The one that would include Black Tail will take us through the Rubicon, up the coast to Oregon into Tillamook and then over to Black Tail and ultimately returning to Texas through Holy Cross. I see you have alot of experience in Tillamook and Black Tail. There is little information about this area. We will likely have no more than 8 rigs with us, Im sure some will drop out by then. And this trip will primarily be over landing. Therefore Id also like the information about the dispersed camping you located in Black Tail. I am a planer and want to ensure I have everything in order before I bring a group into unfamiliar area.
 
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Yes that is my CJ, My first of seven jeeps. Its still alive but I gave it to a family member. I will be making three trips to the west coast next year with a group of friends which will get us all the badges. The one that would include Black Tail will take us through the Rubicon, up the coast to Oregon into Tillamook and then over to Black Tail and ultimately returning to Texas through Holy Cross. I see you have alot of experience in Tillamook and Black Tail. There is little information about this area. We will likely have no more than 8 rigs with us, Im sure some will drop out by then. And this trip will primarily be over landing. Therefore Id also like the information about the dispersed camping you located in Black Tail. I am a planer and want to ensure I have everything in order before I bring a group into unfamiliar area.
Oh yeah the dispersed camping spot I have found is amazing. You must be able to locate it by GPS coordinates otherwise it will be tricky to tell you how to get there but I have already successfully got one Jeeper from Cali to the campsite so i'm sure I can get you there (we'll communicate via PM on that topic though).

What rig are you taking on this particular trip? All Jeeps? I love overlanding so i'm curious to hear about/see some of your vehicles. I wouldn't say you need any crazy gear or equipment for these trails, they are all doable with a 4x4 and some experience. There are harder lines to take if thats your thing, and mostly everything has a bypass to some extent. Firebreak Five and Cedar Tree will be significantly harder if you happen to catch them on a rainy day.
 
Oh yeah the dispersed camping spot I have found is amazing. You must be able to locate it by GPS coordinates otherwise it will be tricky to tell you how to get there but I have already successfully got one Jeeper from Cali to the campsite so i'm sure I can get you there (we'll communicate via PM on that topic though).

What rig are you taking on this particular trip? All Jeeps? I love overlanding so i'm curious to hear about/see some of your vehicles. I wouldn't say you need any crazy gear or equipment for these trails, they are all doable with a 4x4 and some experience. There are harder lines to take if thats your thing, and mostly everything has a bypass to some extent. Firebreak Five and Cedar Tree will be significantly harder if you happen to catch them on a rainy day.
As of now it will be all Jeeps. Though I am a jeep person, owned 7 of them so far, My club is not jeep specific. We use BOH to guide us around but we view and see a lot of other stuff along the way. Next year we will focus on primarily overlanding each trip.
 
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Oh yeah the dispersed camping spot I have found is amazing. You must be able to locate it by GPS coordinates otherwise it will be tricky to tell you how to get there but I have already successfully got one Jeeper from Cali to the campsite so i'm sure I can get you there (we'll communicate via PM on that topic though).

What rig are you taking on this particular trip? All Jeeps? I love overlanding so i'm curious to hear about/see some of your vehicles. I wouldn't say you need any crazy gear or equipment for these trails, they are all doable with a 4x4 and some experience. There are harder lines to take if thats your thing, and mostly everything has a bypass to some extent. Firebreak Five and Cedar Tree will be significantly harder if you happen to catch them on a rainy day.
I utilize topographical GPS on the trails therefore coordinats would be preferred
 
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I will be leading a group of 14 of my fellow club members from JeepExpeditions.club on a trip down the Continental Divide Trail from Canada to Mexico and will be in the area of this trail on the end of the day of Sept 15th or the beginning of the day of Sept 16th, 2020. We'd like to do this trail on one of those days. A few questions, is the camping area you guys talking about big enough for 15 Jeeps ? Does anyone have coordinates they can share for the camp site? Anyone have actual GPX files of the trail I can add to our plans?

We are also going to be doing the Monument Ridge Badge of Honor trail near Grand Teton on this trip 5 days later.

Thanks for your help in advance!

p.s. My avatar picture is of my 99 TJ Sahara, D44s front and rear with ARB lockers and 35's stuck in the Great Altar Dunes in Mexico on one of our clubs trips in 2008
 
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I will be leading a group of 14 of my fellow club members from JeepExpeditions.club on a trip down the Continental Divide Trail from Canada to Mexico and will be in the area of this trail on the end of the day of Sept 15th or the beginning of the day of Sept 16th, 2020. We'd like to do this trail on one of those days. A few questions, is the camping area you guys talking about big enough for 15 Jeeps ? Does anyone have coordinates they can share for the camp site? Anyone have actual GPX files of the trail I can add to our plans?

We are also going to be doing the Monument Ridge Badge of Honor trail near Grand Teton on this trip 5 days later.

Thanks for your help in advance!

p.s. My avatar picture is of my 99 TJ Sahara, D44s front and rear with ARB lockers and 35's stuck in the Great Altar Dunes in Mexico on one of our clubs trips in 2008
I can help you guys out here.

My secret campsite will not accommodate 15 Jeeps though. You should be able to get half up there though, the rest will have to camp below. I could send you guys some details if you wanna PM me your email I can send you some pictures, gps coordinates, and I have gpx data as well.

I’ve managed to get several parties there safely so far and everyone had a amazing time. I’m also happy that my thread here is actually one of the only resources for this trail!

PS: Monument Ridge will be worth going to but underwhelming in the scheme of technical obstacles, it’s like a very scenic forest road that leads to a old fire lookout. If you hitting up Wyoming, consider the Morrison Jeep Trail as an add-on if you have time! 😉
 
EJD, Thanks for the reply. For some reason I can't PM you and when I tried to enter my TJ in the photo of the month contest it said I didn't have enough privileges to reply to the post to add my picture. Perhaps it is because I am a new member.

My email is [email protected]. Looking forward to getting the info from you. Right now we have 15 signed up but normally we have 5 drop out at the last minute on a trip like this and with Covid, who knows, we'll probably end up with 10. As for the trail in Wyoming, it can't be any worse than the two trails we have in AZ that I have seen 2WD vehicles on. For me, it is another trail to getting all of the trails completed. Right now I have 50 badges for trails I have done over the past 6 years and about 100 check ins as I have done many of the trails twice or more.

Thanks for whatever help you can give!

Here is my JK with my current badges, waiting for #50 from Jeep now. It was on display at SEMA in the south hall in 2018 as an Overland Jeep build, I had all 49 badges on the Jeep at SEMA and have been waiting for them to come up with more trails and this year they added 7 new ones. My plan are to do or 5 of them this year along with some duplicate runs of others along the way and do the final 2 or 3 next year. I guess that depends on Michigan which now they say won't open until late September, unfortunately I start my Badge of Honor road Trip next week and will be back by the 1st week of Sept to get ready for the Continental Divide trip.

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EJD, Thanks for the reply. For some reason I can't PM you and when I tried to enter my TJ in the photo of the month contest it said I didn't have enough privileges to reply to the post to add my picture. Perhaps it is because I am a new member.

My email is [email protected]. Looking forward to getting the info from you. Right now we have 15 signed up but normally we have 5 drop out at the last minute on a trip like this and with Covid, who knows, we'll probably end up with 10. As for the trail in Wyoming, it can't be any worse than the two trails we have in AZ that I have seen 2WD vehicles on. For me, it is another trail to getting all of the trails completed. Right now I have 50 badges for trails I have done over the past 6 years and about 100 check ins as I have done many of the trails twice or more.

Thanks for whatever help you can give!

Here is my JK with my current badges, waiting for #50 from Jeep now. It was on display at SEMA in the south hall in 2018 as an Overland Jeep build, I had all 49 badges on the Jeep at SEMA and have been waiting for them to come up with more trails and this year they added 7 new ones. My plan are to do or 5 of them this year along with some duplicate runs of others along the way and do the final 2 or 3 next year. I guess that depends on Michigan which now they say won't open until late September, unfortunately I start my Badge of Honor road Trip next week and will be back by the 1st week of Sept to get ready for the Continental Divide trip.

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Yeah you need to have 20 posts here before your able to enter/vote in ride of the month as well as probably send PM’s so yeah I’ll just email you some details in the near future.

I too have been earning badges for years and am up there pretty high on the old scoreboard! 😂 I have done most of them myself and are working towards the new ones now just like you.

I see your missing the rarest badge of all though as there were 50 original trails, which I’m sure you know about. Anyway nice to see other Jeepers active in the world traveling and trail riding their Jeeps!
 
EJD, yes the rarest badge of all - Coke Ovens in AZ. The sad thing is we used to do that trail several times a year and I was never able to check in due to piss poor cell service so I was never able to get. The took the badge off when the trail was closed (private property, kids came and trashed the place with parties on weekends and set his cabins on fire so he closed the area)

Anyway, I'm less than 3 weeks out from leaving for Eureka and the beginning of the Continental Divide Trail (attached our club decal for completing this trip). Don't forget to email me the GPX files for Blacktail segments. Also if you have the GPX files for the BOH trail in Wyoming near the Grand Tetons, that would be great too.

Thanks, Mike

p.s. We will be posting updates on our Jeep Expeditions facebook page and we will probably do a daily blog like we are doing for our Trans America Trail trip that is going on now. https://finallyfree2roam.travel.blog/ Day 17 talks about a bear attack on one of our Jeeps and Black Bear Pass in Colorado. Lots of pictures from day 1 to present.

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