Bell Mountain

It was said that Robert Bell, a sixteen year-old English immigrant, rose, “from a modest beginning to a high rank among the most useful citizens of Idaho.”

 The same could be said of the mountain in central Idaho that is named after one of the state’s first and most popular mine inspectors. 

Bell Mountain rises from the inconspicuous foothills of the desert. It ends with an exhilarating climb to the peak that tested our group of aspiring amateur climbers with its near vertical scrambles on exposed faces with more than 500 feet of air at our backs. 

  

There are two approaches to climb Bell Mtn., (East and West). We took the eastern approach. Turning off of the North Salmon Hwy (see map for complete directions) we followed the Forest Service road until we arrived at Bell Mountain Canyon.  Although the signage in the area is sparse, you can feel confident you’re headed in the right direction because of Bell Mountain’s convenient “bell” shaped peak. If it looks like it’s the right general direction, it probably is. 

We left our two-wheel drive van at this point because of deep ruts, but our four-wheel drive truck easily took us all the way to the trailhead farther up the canyon. In the canyon the terrain quickly turns from desert to mountain forest. At least in mid to late summer, when we went, there is no water available in the area. Make sure to bring enough for all your needs in this arid terrain.

Gravel turns to dirt, and eventually the road is just two light wheel tracks and ends at the trailhead. Cattle occasionally graze the area. Our group had a dozen people in it and there was plenty of room to camp overnight. Groups could also camp at several locations within a mile of the trailhead.  No permits are known to be required. Probably due to its remote location, not many climbers or hikers frequent the area.

The eight-mile round-trip “trail” to the mountain is only loosely defined. We headed south out from the trailhead leaving at about 5:15 AM. The reason we started so early was to avoid afternoon thunderstorms. We made it back to the trailhead by a little after 6 PM.  There’s a path that leads in the general direction of the peak but eventually tapers off and you can just pick your way through the woods. 

After the forest we scrambled up several fairly steep rock and shale slides. These were followed by going along ridges and crossing more slides (we followed the mountain goat / footpaths across) until we arrived at the base of the side of the bell shaped tip. Good boots are a must. 

The trailhead sits at about 8,000 ft. To the base of the peak is a roughly 3,000-foot gain in elevation. To the peak, our GPS showed we’d add an additional 600+ feet to top out at 11,612 ft. The peak’s GPS coordinates are N 44.236 and W -113.1945.  

This relatively low altitude peak might sound deceiving, but the last bit of climb is pretty intense. For perspective, it’s slightly less difficult than the Owen-Spalding route on the Grand Teton, or significantly harder than Chicken Out Ridge on Mt. Borah. 

I wouldn’t recommend trying it without at least some previous rock-climbing experience or a trained guide.  If you have either of these (in our case we had both) this part is a lot of fun. Without them, it could be deadly. Check your holds for loose rocks. Lots of rocks that appear stable or solid are actually loose or broken.  Ropes can be used for descending.

The view from the top is everything you’d hope for after a good climb. Mt. Borah, Idaho’s tallest mountain is visible to the west across the valley. Diamond Peak is also visible to the southeast. 

Even with the area as dry as it is, you can still run into some wildlife. We had a noisy bunch of elk run through our camp after we went to bed. Once we started approaching the high ridges we spotted a few white mountain goats as well.