Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in Montana, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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We rode early in the season which meant there was much less road noise than normal. That also meant the trail hadn’t been cleared yet. Lots of debris and pea gravel left over from melting snow. Lots of piled snow on the trail near access roads, not great for me on my road bike but my husband had no trouble with his hybrid. Beautiful wide trail with hills that get you breathing hard without killing you.
I am not a super hiker and sometimes you just want a place close to home to walk. This trail fits the bill. You cross the river a few times on well Maintained bridges. If you park at the Belgrade access, there are restrooms. It can get a bit loud with road traffic - as it follows an ever busy road. Less than 2 miles from home, so we enjoy often. The entire trail down and back is just about 4 miles.
The trail from around Main Street to the Granite Mountain Monument is very steep, but they have benches everywhere. It’s totally worth doing this section. The views are spectacular, you can hopefully see deer and the monument is amazing. I get choked up every time I go
The Yellowstone River bridge at I-90 is being replaced. Since the trail goes under I-90 at this location, the trail underpass will be closed until July 2024. The no nearby crossings for a detour. The web site for the construction is https://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/i90yellowstone/
Good for walking running or riding!
Perfect for a family ride. Took 5 of us about an hour to go from St Mary Rd in the Heights to the Yellowstone River parking lot just past the 90 overpass and back. Ages 13-49 were on the trip. We weren’t pushing it at all.
We rode ten miles north from Hamilton. Trail goes along a noisy highway, through ugly industrial/commercial areas. The trail is paved, wide and flat. They are the only positives I can see. Maybe the rest of the trail is better- don’t bother with the southern end. We went west on side roads on the way back. So much nicer.
2 9% grades but Ebikes are the way to go. Beautiful area and beautiful homes
For a trail with so much potential, this fell far short of expectations. Passes through beautiful scenery between a riverfront State Park, and cute little town.
Has not been given the attention it deserves. Asphalt surface cracked with painful gullies and erosions, NO signage. We rode back on a road with light traffic, but no shoulder and 70 mph speed limit to avoid having to ride this surface again.
Went from Saltese to Lookout Pass one day and Lookout Pass to Mullan the following day. Take a map. Only saw three signs indicating Northern Pacific Trail and they were on the Idaho side, very little help. The Borax tunnel is closed but a steep bypass route is available, hike-a-bike up this steep road. Again this is a multi-use trail, 10 ATVs passed by, campers along the trail, Forest Service truck and semi with excavator on a trailer came down the trail, plus a few bikers encountered on the trail. Saw a number of deer, including a very nice buck. Trail condition was good and easy enough to ride. On the Idaho side a couple mile section of the trail has a 4% grade, the norm is 2%. That section was easy to coast down with a little more effort to come up but still not terrible. The trail map shows the trail ending at the fish hatchery but the description talks about starting in Mullan. Estimate the overall trail length from Saltese to Mullan to be close to 28 miles. Don’t expect trail signage, take a map, and read the trail description details.
This completed my ride of the Montana section of the Great American Rail Trail. Rode from St. Regis to the East Portal of the Route of the Hiawatha and back down. Was a long day of riding, estimated 65 miles. This is a multi-use trail, so basically it is a gravel/dirt road with vehicle access on 90% or better of the route. Some vehicles were encountered on the return trip and two other bike groups were going west as I was coming back down. There is some trail signage, however at the 2.5 mile mark there was a confusing intersection, look for the ATV bypass sign and follow. The remainder of the trail was generally straight forward to follow. A few deer and one moose calf were seen on the trail. Overall the trail condition was good with a few sections of loose gravel but easy enough to get through. Being rail-to-trail the grade was a steady but gradual climb to the finish.
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