Wildlife Along the Trail
The Nez Perce National Historic Trail ranges from the deeply incised Columbia River Plateau, across the Continental Divide and a succession of ranges, canyons, and valleys, through forests and plains, across thermal areas and major rivers. The Trail winds through some of the most rugged and spectacular scenery in western America. It traverses some of the largest undisturbed tracts of sagebrush steppe habitat, and a tremendous variety of wildlife and plant species thrive across the varied habitats of the Trail corridor.
The Nez Perce National Historic Trail supports relatively unaltered and increasingly uncommon native habitats, the quality and extent of which are unequaled in the Pacific Northwest and Great Plains. Because of the variety of terrestrial and aquatic habitats across this range, there exists a tremendous variety of plant and animal species along the Trail.
To learn more about the animal species, click on the name of the species below.
Thirteen-lined ground squirrel