Butte County High Point Trip Report
Diamond Peak (12,197 ft)
Date: July 7, 2001
Author: Ken Jones
Drive: From Idaho SR 28, take the signed Pass Creek Road (north of Blue Dome site) westward. At 1.8
miles, a fork to the right immediately fords Pass Creek and climbs above the creek, then turns north.
Follow the main track keeping right at 3.4 miles and passing through a gate. Stay on the main track as it winds
northerly and westerly, and enters Targhee National Forest (gate and sign) at about 6 miles. Half a mile
further, you are in Section 29 (see the 1987 Diamond Peak 7-1/2" quad) at the 4WD junction from the road.
From here, the high clearance road becomes rough jeep tracks. The routes have numbered signs, which I
did not write down. You want to head south, keep left at the first junction, cross the North Fork Pass Creek
(dry when we were there, and the mapped 4WD tracks up and down the creek were obscure) and climb up
to the south. Turn right in the lower middle of Section 32. We followed this track to the closed 8000'
contour and parked there; there is a sign in the immediately adjacent saddle indicating "RTE CLOSED"
beyond this point. This drive was definitely 4WD only, and a passenger sedan might not have got beyond
the 1.8 mile mark.
Climb: The route is straightforward, following the remnants of the 4WD track to above 8200' and picking a
way up to the ridge at about 9300'. After a level segment, you'll climb steeply to about 10,200' and turn
northwest. Then you'll climb to about 10,800' and get to the fun part. The route follows on or just right of
the crest (with occasional short segments left of the crest) all the way to the summit. The climbing is
sometimes class 3 (maybe 6 to 10 pitches, from 10 to 30 feet high), but never very exposed if you are on route.
Usually, it is much easier than it looks right on the crest.
Round trip is about 5 miles and 4200' gain. This would be a bad place to be in an electrical storm.