Lewis and Clark Caverns Spring Trip

When I began thinking about what do and where to go this Memorial Day Weekend I was really hoping to get on some water somewhere..anywhere.  I schemed up this grand plan to go somewhere I can't remember going and where my girls have never gone, Lewis and Clark Caverns along the Jefferson River.  I've never spent time in this part of the state and my only reference was maps, Google Earth, and various websites about the Jefferson River Canoe Trail.  I was excited to get a reservation at the state park and went about trying to figure out how to do our shuttle.  I thought the road to a bridge 9 miles down from the camp area looked remote and totally safe for the girls and I to ride our bikes along to do our shuttle.  Easy, we could just leave Skip at camp and take the boat down to the launch, drive the car to the bridge and ride home.

As the weeks went on and I told people my plan I got some looks, concerned looks, some questions, "Are you sure you can ride that far?"  It wasn't until my Mom gave me the "your going to kill me" look that I conceded that the river part of this trip wasn't going to pan out.  It finally got warm in Montana and the rivers were flowing.  After getting to camp I was sure glad we made the decision to just camp, hike, and bike for the weekend.  Lessons learned.

Our neighbor, Kendall, is like a sister to my two girls.  I was packing up the car and she somehow convinced her mom and I to let her "stow away" on our weekend camp trip.  Three girls, one dog, three bikes, a packed car, we were set.


The campground was a little bit of a disappointment.  We had the only site in the whole place without any shade.  I do recommend using Reserve America for state parks but I don't recommend site P006!  It was hot and horrible setting up our tents.  We left soon after setting up to find a spot to put our feet in the river.  At my "takeout bridge" we got firewood and cooled off in the flooded backwater..again so glad we didn't raft.  Then into Three Forks in search for ice-cream.  We made it back to camp just in time to batten down the hatches, throw together food, and head for our tents.  It was an awesome storm!  After the rain cleared there were some great trails right off the campground for hiking and mountain bike riding.

The next day we hit the L & C Cavern tour. What a great experience for the girls! They even have kennels for no extra cost for the dogs in a shaded place.  It's a two mile hike in total starting with a trek up to the entrance.  Avery and Kendall were glued to the tour guide's side right off the bat, Kyndra and I had to push our way to the front to be with them.  They hung on every word he said, asked great questions, and had a blast.  After the tour we went to the Missouri River Headwaters State Park.  The girls were totally unimpressed but I thought it was pretty awesome seeing the roiling, muddy waters.  The water looks so different than what we see on the Missouri around here.

Before we knew it we were packing up camp.  Kyndra helped roll pads, bags, and tents while the other two played at the campground.  It all goes together pretty easily with exception of putting the bikes on the rack. If anyone knows how to do this without throwing a hissy fit I'd be grateful!  Before heading home we walked/biked along the Headwaters Trail System that runs along the former Milwaukee Railroad bed.

We had a fun weekend hiking, getting some sun, and exploring.  I can't wait to go back and tackle the rivers over in this part of our beautiful state.