Pine Butte

Hikes: D.
Total Distance, D: 6 miles.
Difficulty: Level I+.
Season: April 1-October 15.
USGS Map: Split Rock, Pine Butte.
BLM 100K Map: Ashton.
Dirt Road Miles: 10 gravel, 1 poor dirt.
PLSS Location: Section 23, T11N R39E.

Introduction: How many times have you driven down a desert road, seen a butte, and wondered what its vent looked like? This hike takes you to the top of three distinctive buttes in an area of outstanding natural beauty and geologic interest. It illustrates that in Fremont County, at the upper end of the Snake River Plain, sagebrush steppe is all too ready to yield to coniferous forest.of the Snake River Plain, sagebrush steppe is all too ready to yield to coniferous forest.
  These buttes are part of the Sands Habitat Management Area, designed to protect elk, moose, and mule deer migration and wintering areas.

The Hike: From either of the trailheads, begin by making your way to the summit of Butte Crater. If you start on the Red Road (T1), walk along the way that starts at the county line. When the route begins to get steep and rutted, you pass between two collapsed segments of lava tube. A third section of collapsed tube is to the left. All are worthy of exploration. As you approach the butte, you briefly descend into a lava channel. The area to the left might offer sheltered camping.
  If you start at the trailhead south of Butte Crater (T2), walk the faint way up to the crater. The summit is at 6450 feet, and it offers views of the uniquely shaped sandy hills west of Kilgore. The crater itself is home to scores of swallows and numerous deer, which enjoy the abundant and varied forbs. An interesting variety of lupine grows here.
  From Butte Crater, look northeast to Pine Butte (actually two vents, not one). The nearer butte is much lower than the farther one, and has a lava tube draining it. Aim for the nearest poin on the tube. As you descend, you'll find the easiest going in the grassy areas.
  At last, you are at the lower exposed end of the lava tube. The tube has five distinct phases: broken down rock with a rocky floor; rock walls with a soil floor; intact cave; partial collapse areas filled with deep, moist soil; and stretches where the tube is "invisible". The intact tube is fairly short and straight, has light visible from both ends, and seems relatively safe to hike without full caving gear. Take a flashlight, watch your head, and please be careful. Taking the tube has an additional benefit: you pass under a road and water tank.
  Once out of the tube, climb alongside it to the lower Pine Butte. A way along the south side of this vent leads to the upper one (D). Both vents' interiors are worthy of exploration; the upper vent might make a memorable campsite.

Access: To approach from the south, take the North Rexburg exit off US-20, and turn north toward Parker on what becomes the Red Road. After 21 1/4 miles, you can see Butte Crater at 1130 and the Pine Buttes at 1230.
  Starting 27 miles from US-20, watch for three important poor dirt roads leading to the right. The first two are on the USGS Split Rock map, at the bottom edge of Section 33.
  Ignore the first road, because it joins the second road, which you encounter 1/10 mile farther (W1). That second road, poor dirt, leads east along Butte Crater's south side. One mile along the road, when you see a way climbing Butte Crater, park (T2).
  In wet weather, or if your car doesn't like poor dirt roads, proceed another 1/10 mile north on the Red Road, to a third way (T1, right next to the county boundary sign).
  The author has recently realized a better driving route might be I-15 to Dubois, then east; that's what is shown on the drive map.