Tri-point advice

[Hockey18]

I'm looking to continue my journey to visit the tri-points (and geographical centers) of the west. Had the chance to go to AZ-NV-UT, CO-NE-WY, NE-SD-WY, MT-SD-WY, and MT-ND-SD. Looking to hit the NV ones - CA-NV-OR, ID-NV-OR, and ID-NV-UT. If any of you have made these trips recently, from which direction did you go? I tried the ID-NV-OR trip last year and the path was washed out when I came in from the west (McDermitt), so hoping to try from the south this summer. I got to CA-NV-OR too late in the day, so going to try again but am curious what some of you think.

 

[ski3pin]

Hummmm......... I was recently looking at CA-NV-OR. That is accessed by a 4.5 hike east from Surprise Valley Road in California. Gaia maps labels it the tri point trail.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Welcome to the site.Please post some of your "Tri-Point" hikes .That sounds like a very interesting thing to do.
Frank

 

[Hockey18]

Thanks! Have been excited to make may trips out west to see the beauty of it all. This was from my trip to AZ-NV-UT. It is a stunning tri-point with a couple different markers. It's fairly easy to access with 4WD, or you can also just take a long hike - but bring plenty of water for this one! I started off I-15 by Littlefield, AZ and made my way through to the this tri-point. The trail is well-marked and I would say easy in relation to elevation gain and terrain.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Thanks for sharing.
Frank

 

[ski3pin]

Thanks for the photos. That tri-point is pretty developed with flags, plaques, and monuments.

 

[Foy]

Welcome to WTW! I wish I had some helpful info for your quest, but excepting following Google maps during a friend's jaunt to the TX-NM-CO tri-point (which is a few steps off of a public road). I have only the NC-VA-TN tri-point under my belt. That one is notable because it took me three attempts due to trying to access via public land only--but I did find the hardest ways in!
I'd be interested in your experiences in the West, particularly the MT-ND-SD, which I passed by to the east (southbound on Camp Crook Rd) in 2020. I believe its on private property so I'd be interested in how or if you got permission and whether you came in from the Camp Crook Rd side along the ND-SD line, or the MT side off of Webster Rd.

 

[Hockey18]

Thanks! The NC-VA-TN was tough; the first time I got there too late and did not want to make that hike in the dark. The second time was very easy -- just up the path once I made my way up that dirt road to the final house on the left.

For MT-ND-SD and NE-SD-WY, I contacted the owners and got permission to meet them. In both cases they were VERY nice. In fact, the MT-ND-SD owner met me the morning of July 4 (!) and took me to the spot directly. I had a great time chatting with him about many things, and he could not have been nicer. I went to NE-SD-WY on July 2 (en route to the North American Pole of Inaccessibility) and also had a great conversation with the owner.

If you go to MT-SD-WY, the MT-ND-SD is only about two hours up the road; I approached from Webster Rd.

The CO-NE-WY point is only a couple miles from Panorama Point, the highest point (5259 ft) in Nebraska, but you have to go the long way around since it's in the middle of a bison range!

Hope that helps!

 

[Smokecreek1]

FYI-A couple of years ago, KNPB. Chanell 5 (PBS) out of Reno, as s part on its' "Wild Nevada" series, went to the Nv, Ca, Or tri corner marker. You might be able to find that program in KNPB's file and stream it or whatever way they keep it open for public access. By the way, that program has some pretty good programs.

Smoke

 

[Foy]

Thanks! The NC-VA-TN was tough; the first time I got there too late and did not want to make that hike in the dark. The second time was very easy -- just up the path once I made my way up that dirt road to the final house on the left.

I actually have two pretty good excuses for failing to reach NC-VA-TN twice. On the first attempt, my geology school buddy (same guy who gained the TX-NM-OK tri-point) started from Pond Mountain Game Land at around 3:00 pm on January 2. We were navigating from old USGS topos which had little detail of the trails and fencelines/woodlines. By the time we figured out where to go without a large elevation loss and gain, it was time to turn around due to impending darkness. The second time I tried it in an absolute tropical downpour accompanied by some non-field oriented friends. We ran out of enthusiasm about halfway there. The third time, geology school buddy and I took our wives on the same roundabout route from Pond Mountain and reached the well-known vandalized house just up the hill from the monument only to find a group of 6 Jeep club travelers who'd driven in from Whitetop Station, VA. While he and I went down the hill to lay hands on the monument. the Jeepers told our wives "it's fine to drive up the private driveway past the house to gain the National Forest Land--everybody does it". Our wives didn't talk much on the way back to the truck at Pond Mountain.
THANKS for the info on MT-ND-SD! Have you done NC-SC-GA yet? I've read a little about it but never tried to reach it.

 

[Hockey18]

Yes! GA-NC-SC is a great walk through Ellicott Rock Wilderness ... when you get to the spot, the rock where Andrew Ellicott marked the stone is in the river! You will need to get wet to view it, but it's worth it, especially if you are looking to hit this milestone. Hey, nobody ever said exploring was easy! The path will take you to just above the river; you will need to descend about six feet to the water to view the stone!

 

[rubberlegs]

On the "Tripoint trail" for CA/NV/OR marked on the crowd-sourced maps on OpenStreetMap (Gaia, Google and CalTopo among others use this data): it looks like it's not really a trail. It's a cross country route. A portion appears to run on an old road though. The terrain isn't technical but might be a little slow due to the rocks. See

 

[Hockey18]

Yes! I was able to make this hike (along with ID-NV-OR, ID-NV-UT, and ID-UT-WY) last year. Amazing! For CA-NV-OR, you do follow a faint ATV trail from the road (pick it up at the SE corner of the fenced-in area next to the road) into a small ravine (easy up and down - there were cows in there when I did my hike!) and then traverse across country to the tri-point area. There is a short stepladder to help you get over the fence, and then you are at the grove that has the cairn. Pics attached. I started early in the morning and was done in a couple hours. It was the first of three consecutive days of hitting tripoints

 

[Sagebrush Reconnoiterer]

Looking to hit the NV ones - ... ID-NV-OR, ... . If any of you have made these trips recently, from which direction did you go? I tried the ID-NV-OR trip last year and the path was washed out when I came in from the west (McDermitt), so hoping to try from the south this summer.

There is a way to access the area through the community of Paradise Valley. By driving through Paradise Valley and turning right, this becomes the Greeley Crossing road. The Greeley Crossing road heads northeast along the eastern slopes of the mountains east of the Santa Rosa Range and eventually ties in to the road you followed east from McDermitt.

This road is maintained at least annually. I've only been as far north as the gas pipeline (easily visible in satellite views as the straight road heading on a NE/SW tangent), north of one of the forks of the Owyhee River. It was a good road all the way and signed for 45 mph.

A tidbit I find interesting, traveling north on this road, one leaves the Great Basin in a short distance after passing Greeley Crossing, on a fork of the Humboldt River. The Owyhee runs into the Snake River thence to the sea.

If you enable photos on Google Earth, there is a photo of the monument and plaque.

 

[Hockey18]

Yes, that's how I accessed ID-NV-OR! Through Paradise Valley. You can take it up to the OR line, and then follow a fenceline to the point - but it's rough and about 6-7 miles. What I did was go back down Greeley Crossing and found a road that ran SW-NE and took it back up to the OR line. From there it was 500m to the tri-point. That diagonal road was not marked when I took it, but it was once called the tri-point road.