My old 1960s-era Volkswagen bus was down to first gear as it climbed the steep, curvy old White Bird Grade in north-central Idaho.

I’ll never forget that day in the early 1970s when a fully loaded logging truck passed me going uphill!

White Bird Grade was the old stretch of U.S. 95, which snaked up the hill from the town of White Bird to the summit just before dropping gently into the Camas Prairie and Grangeville area.

Back then, the narrow road was the main north-south route for Idaho and frequently referred to as the Goat Trail.

Today, modern U.S. 95 to the west speeds cars and trucks to the summit and the old grade is long forgotten. So is the beautiful scenery.

I drove the historic grade in recent years for old time’s sake, but this time in a vehicle with more horsepower. You have to really slow down on the scenic road and take in the beautiful mountain vistas. There are pull-outs where you can stop to see wildflowers and grasslands and look south to the Seven Devils. I had to chuckle that in the old days, locals would put troughs of water in the pull-outs so motorists could refill their car radiators after overheating on the climb.

Old Spiral Highway, as it was known, is considered an engineering feat, zigzagging up 2,900 feet in 14 miles, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Imagine, the two-lane road was originally only 16 feet wide. You’d surely hit the side mirrors of two of today’s large pickup trucks going in opposite directions. The road was widened to 18 feet in 1938.

When the new U.S. 95 was completed in 1975, west of the old highway, motorists never looked back.

There is still a chance to drive the Old White Bird Grade taking off from the bottom of the hill at the town of White Bird, 75 miles north of McCall.

After you’ve driven it, you can say you’ve driven on one of the oldest highways in Idaho.