Find the top rated birding trails in Missoula, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
This trail is a segment of the Great American Rail-Trail (GART).
Location: Piltzville, MT
Trail Condition: Average pavement.
Signage: No directional, some warning.
Comments: This trail also parallels a highway. Not overly scenic but okay.
This trail is a segment of the Great American Rail-Trail (GART).
Location: Bonner, MT
Trail Condition: Very good fairly new pavement.
Signage: None.
Comments: TrailLink indicates this trail is 0.6 miles but from the Blackfoot River bridge to the Milltown State Park – Confluence Area I had a mileage of 1.2 miles. A new trailhead is at the nicely renovated bridge. The bridge is worthy of a stop. Otherwise the trail just parallels a busy road to the confluence area.
This trail is now signed as The Milwaukee Road Path.
This trail is a segment of the Great American Rail-Trail (GART).
Location: Missoula, MT
Trail Condition: Gravel from The Milwaukee Road Path connection and around a part of the golf course. Then nice paved path until end at eastern end.
Signage: Some warning signs. Watch for golf balls when near the golf course.
Comments: This is a nice add on to the end of The Milwaukee Road Path when coming from the west. Travels through a nice golf course/community on one side and river the other.
Milwaukee Trail (The Milwaukee Road Path)
This trail is a segment of the Great American Rail-Trail (GART).
Location: Missoula, MT
Parking: Parked along street on west end of trail.
Trail Condition: Nice paved path until the University area and then becomes gravel to end. The gravel portion isn’t real rough and did see folks on road bikes on this part of trail.
Signage: Overall good directional signage with exception of one intersection.
Comments: This trail is actually 6 miles in length. TrailLink indicates this trail ends at the “hub” but it now officially continues east past the hub for about 4.2 miles to the underpass with the train tracks and I-90. TrailLink shows the Kim Williams Nature Trail starting at the hub but none of the trail signage indicates this trail. The Milwaukee Road Path does pass through the Kim Williams Nature Area. Overall I really enjoyed this trail as it passed through residential areas, parks, and into the nature area along the river. Highly recommend as a Missoula option.
This trail is a segment of the Great American Rail-Trail (GART).
Location: Frenchtown, MT
Trail Condition: Very nice asphalt path with a newly completed section of excellent condition.
Signage: None.
Comments: A new portion of the trail has recently been added to the trail. From Mill Creek Rd (east end of trail) going southeast to junction with Hwy 93 near Wye is 6 miles of new trail. It parallels the frontage road, like the original section of trail. This new section of trail does encounter a couple hills. Thus not level like the original section. Overall nice trail. Lots of clover growing along the trail and smelled good the day I rode. A new other trail users were encountered.
It was an awesome walk. Pretty scenery. Easy walk.
This is a wonderful, ride with many options for eating, exploring, camping, fishing and lodging along the way. With all due respect to one of the reviewers, the elevation gain over 50 miles from Missoula to Hamilton is roughly 400 ft NOT 4000+. The trail does parallel US Hwy 93 the entire length and is noisy but the views are gorgeous the entire length. A short, fun option is to ride Missoula to Lolo with a stop at the Lolo Brewery for good food and beverage.
Rode this bike path from 3rd Street in Missoula to its terminal end south
of Hamilton, at the bridge over the Bitterroot River, out and back, with a couple of short side trips, total ride was 104.8 miles.
Rode from Missoula to Florence and back. The adjacent highway is heavily traveled and quite noisy. In Missoula the trail puts you onto local streets and is not well marked. It's easy to get lost. Local drivers have been very courteous in giving the right of way, and the trip back to Missoula is easier riding than to Florence. Traveler's Rest State Park at Lolo is a nice diversion and resting point, and Glen's Café in Florence serves very good pie.
We started in Missoula and found that not all of the trail to Lolo is complete. It was a great ride all the way to Hamilton and back and plan on doing it again. One bad thing to report is that some of the bridge approaches have sunk below the bridge decks. About thirty miles from Missoula on the way back I destroyed my wheel because of the problem
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