Northern Scenic Mountain Route

 By Doug Stewart

405 Norman Ave.

Cashmere, WA. 98815

(509) 679-3485

This is another route that I have flown several times and in my opinion is one of the most scenic and offers the most as far as things of interest to see.

This route has you in the mountains for about 400 nautical miles, but since the freeway follows this route you have a 4-lane highway under you for the entire trip if you choose to follow it. Even if you go direct between fuel stops, you are never very far from the highway. This sounds like fun, so let’s get started.

Flying from the East, I consider the starting point of this route to be at Rapid City, S.D. If you look at WAC chart CR-17 you will see that Rapid City is right on the edge of the rising terrain, and will put you over your first high country. Rapid City Regional is at 3202 feet elevation and has 8700 feet of runway. If you stop here for fuel, it is not uncommon for the temperature to be in the 90 plus degree range, so check the density altitude and be prepared for a longer than normal takeoff roll.

While the altitude is not overly high, when it is combined with the high temps that are possible, the density altitude jumps right up there. With this in mind, let’s instill a good habit to get into when taking off from these higher elevation airports. Remember to LEAN PRIOR TO TAKEOFF. Do a full power run up and lean to the edge of rough, richen just enough to smooth back out, then just a twitch richer to be on the safe side, and you are ready to go. Don’t neglect to do this as the power difference is significant. In many cases, not leaning is comparable to trying to take off with the carb heat on or one mag turned off. Also, when landing at higher altitude airports it is not necessary to push the mixture all the way in for the same reasons.

I will assume that before landing at Rapid City you took the time to fly over the Badlands which are to the east of this area. If not shame on you, as this is an interesting and scenic area to tour by air. Also if time allows while in this area a nice side trip and possible overnight stay is at Hot Springs S.D. This is about 60 miles south of Rapid City and it’s claim to fame is a active Mammoth did. This is well worth the stop since you get up close and personal with the project which is completely under a large stadium type of structure so the dig can go on year round. Absolutely worth the side trip and extra time to see this.

If you depart from either Rapid City or Hot Springs a must see is Mount Rushmore and also Crazy Horse which is somewhat further to the south of Rushmore. Rapid City can give you vectors to both of these and the side trip is worth it. Altitude restrictions apply around Rushmore, but you still get a good view and none apply to Crazy Horse.

After looking at Mt. Rushmore, proceed on course to Sheridan, WY, via Gillette, WY. V-86 airway goes just north of Gillette and this will put you very close to Devil’s Tower, which is worth the side trip to see. This is a tall tower of columnar rock formation that used to be the core of a volcano. It’s claim to fame is the movie Close Encounters and also it is a very popular place for rock climbing.

After a 200-plus nautical mile leg you will arrive at Sheridan, WY, which is a good place to stop for fuel. Leaving Sheridan you might want to divert northwest bound toward Hardin, MT and fly the Little Big Horn River for a few miles. This will put you over Custer’s battlefield. This is interesting to see from the air, as the markers that mark the location of the dead soldiers are visible, and it really gives a different perspective of how the battle went.

From here you can continue to follow the highway to Billings or take a direct route, as most of this area is under 5000 feet elevation. I recommend stopping at Billings for fuel, even if you topped off at Sheridan. If you don’t want to mess around with Billings Logan International, stop at Laurel, which is uncontrolled.

I recommend fueling up in the Billings area as you are now about to enter the heart of the Rocky Mountains. From Laurel to Missoula, MT it is about 270 nautical miles of very scenic mountain country. If you go direct this can be done at an altitude of around 10,500 feet or if you prefer, stay down around 7,500 feet and fly the freeway. This adds up to about 300 miles and is a fun, scenic way to fly this leg with a nice wide landing strip all the way which will probably lower the stress level several notches.

Much of this can be flown at lower altitudes than 7,500 and you will fly over the following towns with airports: Columbus at 3575 feet elevation; Big Timber at 4482 feet elevation; Livingston at 4656 feet elevation; Boseman at 4458 feet elevation; Butte at 5545 feet elevation; Anaconda at 5030 feet elevation and its huge open pit copper mine and Deer Lodge at 4689 feet elevation. As you can see, there are numerous airports along this route and none of them are overly high, plus you have the freeway in case of emergency. Most flights are along this route because of the obvious advantages to it and it really does not add that much distance to the trip.

I would recommend Missoula for a fuel stop as it is only 3201 feet elevation and has 9,500 feet of runway. Leaving Missoula, just follow the freeway and in about 95 miles you will be at Mullin pass and looking at a downhill slide that will take you over Kellogg, ID, Couer D’ Alene Lake and into the Spokane, WA area where you will probably want to stop for fuel and a stretch before you head across Washington to the Columbia River Gorge and the Convention.

As you can see, this flight from Rapid City to Washington is really not that difficult. You will find yourself flying over continually changing terrain, much of which will be forested with pine or similar trees. The highway follows the lower passes and is an easy route to fly if the weather is good. I would recommend that you check the weather closely before choosing this route, as you are in the mountains for several hundred miles and this in not the place for inexperience and foul weather to mix it up for you.

Generally speaking, you will have good flying through this area at the time of year you will be doing it and if it is bad weather it usually doesn’t last very long. For my part this is on of the prettiest and most scenic routes that I have used to cross the Rockies, but you are also over the mountainous country for the longer period of time also.

Hopefully, this is starting to whet your appetite for some fun and adventure. With that in mind let’s kick the tires, light the fire, call the tower, give her the power and fly out West to one of the most beautiful areas in the country to enjoy flying a Short Wing Piper.