Pipestone Pass Tunnel East Portal, Montana

Pipestone Pass used to be the main highway over the Continental Divide at Butte, connecting Butte to points east (formerly known as Highway 10, it is now Highway 2). When Interstate 90 was built through Homestake Pass, a few miles north, use of this road diminished. The transcontinental railway known as the Milwaukee Road came through here in 1909, connecting Chicago to the Pacific Northwest. The line, now abandoned, went through a tunnel under Pipestone Pass. The Milwaukee Road eventually lost out to BNSF, which abandoned the line in 1980, after which the tracks were removed. Though crumbling and dangerous, the half-mile long tunnel is one of several along the two abandoned railways southeast of Butte, enjoyed by teenagers and other explorers.