Find Nearby Peaks

Climbing and access information for this peak is on Pages 355-356 of the book. There is a lot of additional information set out below. First up is Steve Mandella’s photo essay documenting his 2010 climb. Second is Livingston Douglas’ 2018 report. The third update is Paul Byers’ 2024 Northwest Face access and route. Finally, you will find an historical photo at the bottom of the page. Updated October 2018

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Kinport Peak is close to Pocatello and is a popular ascent early in the season. Steve Mandella provided the following trip report which provides an alternative route from the one listed in the book. USGS Pocatello South

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Steve Mandella 2010 Update

Kinport Peak is normally accessed from one of the two City Creek trailheads (upper or lower). I chose the upper one for this hike. It takes a few hundred feet of elevation off the vertical climb. I also made a loop and connected a few other no-name high points together. I jogged a bit of the downhill and was charged by a moose in the treed section!  Round-trip stats: 9.2 miles with 2,574 feet of elevation gain. Most people take the City Creek Road up to about 6,400 feet and then follow the northeast ridge to the summit. This route is usually free of snow by April/May.

Below are Steve Mandella’s photos from the loop route.

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Livingston Douglas 2018 Update

The “Pocatello Greenbelt Trailhead” referred to in the book is now called the “City Creek Management Area”. Use either Center Street or Benton Street to reach Lincoln Avenue. Drive southeast on Lincoln Avenue until it ends at a street junction/stop sign. This is City Creek Road. Turn LEFT here and drive 0.4 miles to the trailhead parking area (4,805 feet).

Passenger vehicles can drive another ¾ mile (up Kinport Road) to two other, small pullout parking areas near the road’s junction with the North Fork Road. You can drive another 1.4 miles up Kinport Road to a sharp left turn. At this point, the road becomes a rough, 4WD high-clearance road. There is a parking pullout for only one vehicle here.

The current City Creek Management Area Trails Map is linked here. You should have it with you if you plan to hike up Kinport Peak or Wild Horse Mountain. By the way, the book refers to nearby “Wild Mountain” on Page 356. The mountain’s correct name is Wild Horse Mountain as per the National Forest map. Both the USGS topo map and the book are incorrect on the nomenclature.

The summit of Kinport Peak has two potential high points. The south summit is larger and more gentle and has the most prominent communication towers. The north summit is smaller, rockier, and has two smaller communication towers. Which summit is higher? The official/measured high point is the north summit (7,222 feet). However, when you stand on the south summit (which is the first summit that you reach), you are quite sure (visually-speaking) that you are on the high point of Kinport Peak.

I measured both summits and the south summit is about 20 feet higher (based on altimeter measurements), confirming my visual observation. Since it is not on a higher contour line, the elevation of Kinport Peak is just shy of 7,240 feet. I am generally a believer that, without a specific measurement, you can’t know if a non-measured summit is higher than a measured summit. But in the case of Kinport Peak, it’s so visually obvious and is so different that there is no doubt in my mind that Kinport’s true summit is the non-measured south summit.

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Northwest Face via Cusick Creek Road by Paul Byers

Access

From the junction of South 4th Avenue and Benton Street in Pocatello, head southwest on Benton Street for 0.7 miles. Turn left onto South Grant Avenue, and then in 0.4 miles, make a slight right turn onto Fore Road. Continue on Fore Road for 1.4 miles, turning left at 1.0 mile just before the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center to stay on Fore Road. From that turn, Fore Road transitions into a gravel road, where in 0.4 miles, you will find the Cusick Creek Trailhead and plenty of parking.

Northwest Face via Cusick Creek Road, Class 1

From the trailhead, the first stretch of the hike on the wide 4×4 trail travels south through tall grass until it reaches the west side of Cusick Creek, where it then follows the creek upstream. At about 0.7 miles, the trail passes by Serengeti Trail on its right (north) side and then crosses over a small bridge to the east side of the creek. Once across the creek, turn right (southwest) to continue following the creek upstream. (Turning left across the bridge would take you on South Serengeti Trail.) Cusick Creek Road becomes a bit rockier once past the bridge, though the shade from the low trees makes it enjoyable.

At about 1.7 miles, the trail comes to a junction with the Sterling Justice Trail on the left (east) and the Sterling Justice to Over the Top Connector to the right (west). Continue on the 4×4 trail south as it crosses Cusick Creek. Past the creek, the trail becomes steeper and is often covered in large rocks.

As you climb higher on the trail, the surrounding vegetation becomes thicker, with the final stretch of the trail traveling through a rocky evergreen forest. Starting at 2.6 miles, the final stretch of Cusick Creek Road climbs 700 feet in 0.9 miles on a series of switchbacks. At 3.3 miles, you pass through a gate shortly before the path exits the forest. Once you reach the junction with Johnny Creek Road (7,080 feet), turn right (west) onto Johnny Creek Road. Continue on this 4×4 path for 0.2 miles, where you will then turn right (north) onto Kinport Road. The road ends in 0.2 miles at a set of towers near Kinport Peak’s summit. The actual summit of the mountain is about 70 yards to the southeast. While not the summit, the northernmost set of towers offers an excellent place for viewing the city.

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