Birch Creek Valley, Idaho
The Birch Creek Valley is lies to the east of the southern half of the Lemhi Range.
Of the four great valleys surrounding the Lemhis, this valley has the most public
land, and so the greatest opportunities for folks to wander at will.
To the immediate east of the Birch Creek Valley is the Beaverhead Range, which is the Idaho/Montana border and also the Continental Divide.
The photo below shows the Birch Creek valley and the distant Lemhis from high in the Beaverhead Range (taken from the summit of Eighteenmile Peak, the highest of the Beaverheads).
Copyright © Ralph Maughan. The prominent peak in the left
center distance is
Diamond Peak, the highest of the Lemhis.
Birch Creek in January at -27 ° F. Copyright Ralph Maughan
Birch Creek itself comes bubbling out of a beautiful area of springs (a fen) which has been protected by the Nature Conservancy.
Despite cattle overgrazing, Birch Creek is a popular fishing stream for small trout and many people set up trailer camps near it in the summer. The bottom 12 miles of the stream, however, was diverted out of its streambed about 15 years ago and now it flows in a sterile canal to water crops in a nearby valley. This act decimated with wildlife of the lower part of the arid valley.
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The spring area of Birch Creek |
Across Birch Creek Valley to the Beaverheads
in early October.
Copyright Ralph Maughan
Revised 2-5-05
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