Spring Hikes to Avoid Muddy Trails
Posted: March 12, 2024 By Mark L. Corner
We all get Spring fever when those first few 50° degree days happen and folks want to get outside hiking and biking. But spring is also the offical start of MUD season. Hiking or biking on muddy trails can cause damage that can last all year long. And road damage from your vehicle trying to get to trailheads with more primitive roads. The best advice is to stay off the dirt trails and roads in the spring and give them some time to thaw and dry. Instead, focus your hikes on the paved trails or engineered gravel trails where a layer of weedmat was put down then fine crusher gravel. These trails hold up well in the spring and are pretty clean to hike on, even on rainy days.
Here are my favorite spring trails:
Paved Trails separate from a roadway:
Story Mill Park to the M, 5.4 mi out & back
Belgrade to 4 Corners east side of 191, 12.8 mi out & back
Valley Center Rd from 191 to the Valley Center Underpass, 8.6 mi out & back
Manhattan High School to the Gallatin River Access along the Dry Creek Highway, 3.6 mi out & back
Headwaters State Park to Three Forks, 8.6 mi out & back
Three Forks Rodeo Grounds to the Jefferson River Fishing Access, 3.8 mi out & back
(12.4 miles out & back with the last two combined)
Lower elevation trails that dry out sonner:
Drinking Horse loops, 1.6 mi (naturally rocky/gravely)
Headwaters State Park trail loops, 2.7 mi
Buffalo Jump State Park loops, 5.9 mi
Bear Trap Canyon, 15 mi out & back
Lewis & Clark Cavern trail loops, 18 mi
(the top 10% is in the timber and can hold a little snow)
In-town trails that are engineered gravel or mostly graveled:
Library to Burke Park Hill, 2 mi out & back
Library on the Galligator Trail to Kagy, 3 mi out & back
Story Mill Park trail loops, 2.1 mi
Sourdough trail from Goldenstein to Valley View Golf Club, 3.4 mi out & back
Cherry River Access loops, 1.3 mi
Cherry River Access to Glen Lake, .8 mi
Cherry River Access to Glen Lake to the Legends & Creekwood subdivision, 5.8 mi out & back
(Creekwood also T's into the paved trail to the M to go even farther)
If you have a favorite spring trail, message me and I'll add it to my list.
Mark Corner