This beginner trail connects first to the historic Pioneer Cemetery and then leaves the trees for a beautiful loop around some nearby south-facing ridges. It also passes through a beautiful meadow that makes a nice place to take a break. From the Pio Cemetery Loop Trail you can connect to the Senate Meadows Loop Trail, and to other trails in the area.

To get to the Pioneer Cemetery Loop Trail from the lodge, follow around the back of the lodge and take the two-track road uphill. Cresting the hill at a bend in the road overlooking the highway, start down the other side, but look immediately for a sharp right-hand turn onto a singletrack marked with a sign pointing toward Galena View Loop. Turn right onto the singletrack to drop steeply to cross another two-track road, and then a footbridge over Senate Creek. After the footbridge you will immediately arrive at the trail's intersection with the loop portion of the Galena View Loop Trail. You can take the Galena View Loop Trail in either direction to get to the Pioneer Cemetery Loop Trail, but go right and stay headed south for the most direct connection.

Remember, all the trails at Galena are open to two-way traffic, so look for others who may be approaching from the other direction.

At the south end of the Galena View Loop you will arrive at an intersection of trails. Turn onto the signed trail towards Pioneer Cemetery. You are now on a spur leg of the Pio. Cem. Tr,. but not to the loop portion of it yet. Soon you arrive at another intersection of trails where you can get on the Senate Meadows Loop Trail, or you can keep heading toward the more southerly Pioneer Cemetery Loop Trail. For the loop portion of the Pioneer Cemetery Trail, take a right and follow the sign pointing toward Pioneer Cemetery. Soon you will arrive at yet another intersection of trails near to a two-track road crossing. The Pioneer Cemetery Loop can be taken in either direction here, or stop by the cemetery, which is close by to the intersection of the two-track road and trails.

The Pioneer Cemetery is an interesting place to stroll through. Its right next to the trail, very small, and its pretty well-shaded. An easy little side-trip wander.

Galena was a mining town during the Wood River mining boom that began in 1880. At its height Galena was the largest town in the Wood River Valley with around 800 residents. It boasted several hotels, a meat market, the Daisy Saloon, and a smelter in Senate Meadows.

Hope springs eternal and the hills and valleys of the Wood River Valley were heavy with miners who were sure that their lucky strike was just around the corner. In log huts with dirt floors and sod roofs, or living in tents, they tried to piece together a hard-scrabble existence; getting by until they could get rich, or so they hoped. As you travel around on the trails at Galena look around for signs of its mining past. The area is still full of treasure.

The Pioneer Cemetery holds the graves of three men from that long ago mining era. Elam Trim, the first white man buried in the Wood River Valley died in a dynamite accident. The only marked grave at the cemetery is that of Francis Marion Willmorth, the operator of the first hotel and livery at the townsite of Galena. He died in 1890. A third man is buried at the cemetery. He reportedly died in an avalanche as he tried to make it to the town of Galena from the smelter in Senate Meadows. He was headed to town, as he had heard news of a letter having been delivered to him there. It was said to be from his lover.

To get to Galena Lodge, take Highway 75 north from Ketchum for about 24 miles. The lodge will be on your right as you are heading up. If you are coming to Galena Lodge from the north, drop over Galena Summit and the lodge will be down on the left in about 6 miles.