Milwaukee Road Elk River Branch — St. Maries to Bovill

ID · St. Maries → Bovill

The last piece of the Milwaukee Road's Idaho logging empire.

Heads up: The St. Maries River Railroad is ACTIVE between St. Maries and Plummer — stay off the line north of St. Maries.

The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific pushed across north Idaho in the 1900s, and it built branches into the white-pine forests to feed its log trains. This branch ran south from St. Maries along the St. Maries River toward Elk River and Bovill.

When the Milwaukee Road abandoned its Pacific Extension in 1980, the Potlatch lumber company bought this branch and the main line from St. Maries to Plummer. It formed the St. Maries River Railroad, one of the last true logging railroads in the country.

The Bovill end went out of service after the connecting line beyond Bovill was abandoned. The St. Maries River Railroad still runs freight between St. Maries and Plummer, north of this section.

⚠️ Before you go: every railroad on this map is private property. A line that looks abandoned may still be owned by a railroad, used to store rail cars, or put back into service at any time — sometimes with no warning. Before going near any track, make sure it's truly abandoned (no recent use, rails not polished, no signals or cars stored on it) and that you're allowed to be there. Never assume a track is dead.

📷 Photos & stories from riders

Loading…