Missoula-area hikers could get more than 13 miles of new trail, but the projects are still proposals.

Two applications are pending for money from the Parks and Trails Bond that city and county voters approved in November 2014, according to Missoula County.

That $42 million bond set aside $3 million for county trail projects.

Mount Dean Stone: about 12 miles of new trail

Five Valleys Land Trust has requested $234,000 toward a project with a total cost of about $788,565, according to the county.

The plan calls for about 10 miles of trail connecting the Miller Creek area to the Pattee Canyon trail networks, about 2 miles of neighborhood loops near Miller Creek and a three-quarter-mile accessible trail at the Skyline Ridge Trailhead.

Five Valleys created the Mount Dean Stone Community Forest on the mountain’s south side after buying roughly 2,500 acres from The Nature Conservancy, according to the land trust.

It already has more than 16 miles of trail reached from trailheads including Inez Creek, Little Park Creek and Skyline Ridge, and it drew more than 7,500 visitors in 2024, according to Five Valleys.

Woody Mountain and the Lolo hillside

Missoula County has requested $62,619 toward a $77,619 project, according to the county.

It would build about 0.45 miles of trail up Woody Mountain and a 0.25-mile lower loop at West Riverside Park, and formalize about 1.2 miles of existing social trails on the Lolo hillside, connecting to the Belltower subdivision trails.

Wildlife is part of the conversation. “There are some bighorn sheep that hang out up there,” county recreation specialist Kelsey Phillips told the Missoula Current, which reported that a leash rule and a spring closure could be considered.

Neither has been adopted.

Where the requests stand

Both projects are listed by the county as active applications, not approved or funded.

The county’s Parks and Trails Advisory Board was scheduled to make a recommendation on the Woody Mountain request Oct. 15 and on Mount Dean Stone on Nov. 19, according to the county’s project schedule. We could not confirm the outcome of the Oct. 15 meeting.

Final decisions rest with the Missoula County commissioners. Their votes have not yet been scheduled.

How to weigh in

The county is taking public comment online through its Missoula County Voice project page, linked from the Trails Bond page.

Questions go to county trails staff at (406) 258-3458.

We’ll report the advisory board’s recommendations and the commissioners’ decisions.

Sources

• Missoula County Parks, Trails & Recreation, Trails Bond page and project schedule: missoulacounty.gov
• Missoula Current, “Trail projects planned” (Martin Kidston), Oct. 5, 2026: missoulacurrent.com
• Five Valleys Land Trust, Mount Dean Stone: fvlt.org; 2024 annual report: fvlt.org