Eureka Gulch

Eureka gulch is accessed from the Alturas Lake Creek Trail, which also is the jumping-off point for another adventure on the north side of Alturas Lake Creek up Alpine Creek Canyon.

Eureka Gulch

The trail up Eureka Gulch is one of the better wildflower hikes in the Sawtooths. The north-facing canyon tends to have a slower and longer snowmelt combined with sunny slopes that result in ideal conditions for wildflowers. The openings high up the canyon can be a riot of color.

The trail follows an old mining road that was used to access the Ruby Mine on the west face of Peak 10,129 (Eureka Peak). The mine was operating on a small scale into the 1950s and 1960s, and there are several old tunnels (both caved and open), tailings piles, and abandoned mining equipment at the end of the road. While this history is fun to explore, walking into an open mine tunnel can be extremely dangerous. Explore at your own risk and respect the private property around the mine. 

The old Eureka town site was located somewhere on the flats near the mouth of the gulch. A trail along the south shore of Alturas Lake climbed over the ridge to Beaver Creek and connected Eureka with Sawtooth City during the mining boom of the late 1800s.

Mountain Biking

The Alturas Trailhead was reconfigured in the early 2000s, and both the Alturas Lake Creek and Eureka Gulch roads were closed and rehabilitated into trails. Both routes are still open to motorcycle and mountain bike users. The road/trail is quite eroded and rocky in places, so it does not make for a quality ride. Accessing the canyon on a mountain bike, however, can speed up both the approach and descent for an off-trail scramble of Peak 10,129.