// track pieces: 921, // elevation pieces: 921

To get to this trail from Ketchum take Warm Springs Road west for approx. 19 miles to the sign and road on the left marked for "Middle Fork Warm Springs/South Fork Warm Springs." Parking is limited here, and you must immediately ford Warm Springs Creek to access it. More parking opportunities can be accessed by crossing Warm Springs Creek, and then immediately crossing Meadow Creek. High clearance is needed for this maneuver. There is room for a couple of more vehicles on the right, just past the second creek crossing (unless someone happens to be camping in that spot). Another option for parking is to head further up the road where you will find more places to stash your rig.

On its low end, at its intersection with Warm Springs Road #227, the Meadow Creek Trail start off as a two-track road open to full-sized motor vehicles. If you like, you can drive up to its intersection with the Warfield-South Fork Trail #151 (about 0.7 miles up the road/trail), or drive up to the end of the road where the trail becomes open to vehicles 50 inches or less in width. This change in designation to an ATV trail occurs about 1.6 miles up the road/trail from its intersection with Warm Springs Road #227.

So, if you start at the bottom of the trail/road, at its intersection with Warm Springs Road, you will climb up the road for about 1.6 miles to reach the point where the route becomes an ATV trail. The trail climbs steeply from here; utilizing roughly eight switchbacks over the course of about a mile. At this point (approx. 2.5 miles up from the start of the trail/road at Warm Springs Creek) a side road comes in from the left. Stay right and continue climbing on the main road/trail. A couple of more switchbacks, and some more stiff climbing, brings you to a high ridge. The trail follows the ridge south now, still climbing, but more gently, and with some descents thrown in for good measure. After about 1.5 miles along the ridge you will reach another intersection where one two-track goes left to climb steeply up a rock strewn route, and another goes right to climb less steeply on a more well maintained two-track. For this trail description, stay right. In another couple tenths of a mile you will reach the south end of the Meadow Creek Trail #302 at its intersection with the Middle Fork-South Fork Trail #199. From here you can take the #199 trail left or right, or turn around and descend back to the start of the Meadow Creek Trail.

Note: Some of the signs in this area of the forest are missing or contain inaccurate information. On this trail some of the trail signs indicate that the trail number for the Meadow Creek Trail is 198. Others have it correctly identified as the #302 trail. Additionally, unsigned secondary roads and trails intersect with area system trails. Be advised that route finding may be made more difficult by these and other conditions. Traveling with others who know the way, and cross referencing reliable maps against other tools, such as a compass, a GPS unit, and/or a phone loaded with appropriate maps and tracking applications, can be very useful in staying on track in areas such as this. You may find it useful to upload the GPX file associated with this route description to a GPS unit or to an appropriate phone application.

The Motor Vehicle Use Map for the Ketchum Ranger District shows this trail as open to vehicles 50 inches or less in width.