This is our go-to place for hiking. Known simply as "The Rattlesnake" to locals, here you can find…read morea variety of hiking trails for people of all ages. This area is gorgeous and full of natural beauty. Regardless of which hiking trail you decide to explore, you will be taken back by the beautiful Montana scenery. My family and I have been coming here for 13 years now, and it still remains our favorite spot to soak up some nature. If you are just traveling through the area and came to this review, I promise you won't be disappointed. Here's a little secret: during huckleberry season, you will find there are plenty of huckleberry bushes scattered throughout the different trails. I would suggest grabbing a handful to snack on while you are hiking. If you aren't sure what they look like, Google "huckleberry bushes." The second you taste the sweetness of one, you will know. Be sure to bring some water with you if this is your first time. Also, don't forget to take lots of pictures!

Wonderful hiking area with abundant wildlife! Fortunately we did not come across any bears!read more

Greenough Park is many things to many people. While it definitely is one of Missoula's oldest…read moreparks, with all the amenities that one would expect to find in a Montana park of this type: hiking trails, picnic areas, and plenty of open & wooded areas to enjoy, there is much more. It's a Central turning-point to a ying-yang gear, A Zen way-station for transitioning to and from. It's a source of inspiration and a place to forget. A location to vanish into the ether, returning only when you choose. A point to recharge. Without a doubt, Greenough Park is one of my most favorite and cherished places on the planet, and is the soul of the Missoula community. Given as a gift to the city of Missoula by Thomas and Tennessee Greenough in 1902 so that the residents of Missoula would always have a place "during the heated days of summer, the beautiful days of autumn and the balmy days of spring find a comfortable, romantic and poetic retreat." (With one catch: attempt to develop it and the ownership would immediately revert to the Greenough heirs) the park's one-hundred plus history has seen its share of change and alteration, but for the most part has remained untouched by the areas encroaching development. And while Missoula doesn't have near the stress & tension found in a megapolis, it's still great asset to have that give you an opportunity to have a picnic in the woods, meditate or read a book by the creek, or get "lost" for an hour or an afternoon on one of the many trails. The park and space mean different things to different people. So much so, that if you were to ask ten different people what Greenough means to them, you would probably get ten very unique answers. So, the best thing one could do is to visit. Sit by the flowing waters of the Rattlesnake, or explore the many trails and come away with your own perspective. It's definitely time well-spent

The folks living near this 42 acre park are lucky. A oasis in Missoula with lots of trees and a…read morecreek called the Rattlesnake Creek running through it. When I was there it seemed that many locals had walked to the park with their dogs. They are supposed keep their dogs on a lease per local ordinance though three people were letting the dogs run around of the lease. This is a problem especially when the dogs are not well trained and jump up on strangers. I was not to happy about a wet dog jumping on me. There is a small free parking area near Spruce Street with boards put up by the local Audubon Society to educate visitors to what type of birds like the park. Most of the park was donated by The Greenough Family in 1902.

I LOVE the M trails in Montana! I've never seen anything like it in other states but they're so…read morecute and always great little hikes. I live in Bozeman so I was very excited to compare M trails. The parking here was a little stressful as there are only 3 visitor spots and the rest you need a campus tag. It's nice for the students that it's so close by (that's not the case in Bozeman) but hard if you're not a student. There is only one way up to the M while there are several ways up to the Bozeman one. I loved the Strava map that showed all the crazy looking switch backs but in reality it was an easy hike with amazing views. The wildflowers were so vibrant and I loved that you can touch and sit on the M. The bathrooms are also fantastic! The hike is 1.8 miles with a little more than 500ft elevation so it's very fun and doable for most people.

It's a nice uphill work out! Much shorter than I thought but overall a fun hike. It was smoky when…read morewe stopped by here so I know the view is so much better when cleared

Missoula really likes their big letters: right across the "M" Trail is the Mount Jumbo trail that…read morehas the big "L" on it. I'm surprised I don't see the rest of the alphabet! To get here type in "Mount Jumbo Trailhead" on Google Maps. It'll take you to a residential area with a couple parking spots which is basically neighborhood street parking; you'll see the trail head with a sign as you pull up. There are a lot fewer people here than the "M" but there are also fewer parking spots, so come early if you can. Similar to the "M" Trail there's a bit of an incline to the "L" Trail. I think the initial incline for the "M" is slightly harder but this is still a decent incline hike. When you get to the "L" on the mountain there's a set of stairs on the left of it to continue going. Not long after some narrow walkways you'll end up on this wide-open area with tons of wavy hilltops which is just beautiful. There are mountains and trees all around and is very peaceful and quiet. If you go 2 miles you'll reach the highest point of the trail but that's technically not the end. There's a slight decline after the highest point for another mile until you get to the saddle. It's called that because it's in between the two hilltops. Unfortunately it was very cloudy from all the smoke in the area so the view wasn't what I was hoping for and I didn't go all the way to the saddle and but it was still a nice hike and still decent views of the city and surrounding areas.

I don't want a medium sized mountain. Not even a large one. Nope. I want a Jumbo Mount. Well, here…read moreyou have it. Mount Jumbo. This is also known as Mount Loyola for some reason, but nobody is "loyala" to that name. It's iconic and it is beautiful and it truly towers over Missoula in the western part of Montana. The locals called it "the thing in the way" which is a pretty awesome name for a mountain. It's definitely one of the most beautiful mountains in the country and they spent about eight million trying to make sure this mountain would always be protected, which is good so well done to the locals for doing that. Honestly other Republican states would have exploited the sh** out of their rural monstrosities, but not this town... which is a very very liberal town. It's absolutely stunning. And I will always like this town for being a tiny pocket of blue in a sea of red as they say.

Thank you Wayne and Gia,…read more Absolutely fantastic trip. Every detail was organized perfectly. Particularly enjoyed both the quality and quantity of food. Tremendous lasagna and then a pork tenderloin. Staff are amazing. Also the attitude of we're out in the wild let's do some fun stuff. Absolutely amazing. Thank you very much

We did the Clark Fork afternoon trip. Jack was our guide. We had a 7-year-old and a 10-year-old in…read moreour group. We all loved it. The photos were worth it, especially since the price was so cheap, but the experience was incredible. Jack was perfect! We loved this and would do it again!

endless trails for puppy tails…read more.. Love Blue Mountain...I take my dogs there on a regular basis to run, hike, and retrieve their favorite ball. We love going here because there is a new, undiscovered (by us) trail around every bend. You can go on a short, quick hike or make it an all-day affair. Awesome place just minutes from downtown Missoula.

This is a small park right by the hotel that I stayed at. I stopped here a few times on my trip to…read moresome steps in and also enjoy the spectacular views. There is a nice trail that goes through the park if you want to get a real walk/run in. My favorite part of the trip was one evening when I sat on the embankment and enjoyed some quiet time looking at the river and taking in the views of the mountains.

Idyllic little spot with beautiful trees and large spaces for pups to roam. Our dog had a great…read moretime exploring by the river and there were nice benches that were under trees. Will definitely be back.

We walked around Jacob's Island and the University of Montana's nearby parks. This felt like the…read moreoriginal old part of the city, because of its proximity to hiking trails and the river. The river winds through Missoula, at times too rough for tubers and canoes, but perfect for experienced kayakers and rafters during springtime melt. The area around Jacob's Island was full of college students on summer break, jumping into the water from the bridge, swimming, and tubing down a calm section. It was so hot the day we were there that I considered jumping in myself, but when you don't have a towel or a change of clothes, it's not possible. I'm not sure if river water smell ever gets out of cloth seats. The Clark Fork River outside of Missoula is quite impressive and begs all comers to throw in a line or drop in a canoe. In town, the river is a place to cool off, but it doesn't maintain the magical feeling of a Montana wilderness river. It may have had the feeling at one point, but the town is too built up now to still be there.

At 5,806 feet above sea level, the summit of University Mountain looms almost half a vertical mile…read moreabove the University of Montana campus, with plunging views into nearby Hellgate and Pattee Canyons. Despite such prominence, it is far less visited than Mount Sentinel (elevation 5,158 ft.), marked halfway up its steep slope by the letter "M," which acts like a magnet for students and trail runners alike who switchback up and down on a regular basis. Even joggers and hikers who use other trails in Pattee Canyon rarely make a stop here, preferring instead to drop down to the Clark Fork and the Kim Williams Trail (via Crazy Canyon Road and the Hellgate Canyon Trail). That's too bad. Because University Mountain is a key stopping point on what I consider to be the best short hike that you can do from the university district: a four summit loop that visits, in sequence, the summits of South Sentinel, University, Radio Tower Peak (elevation 5,543 ft.) and North Sentinel before dropping down back into town. The loop begins and ends at the Evans Ave trailhead. It's around 7-8 miles long with 3,000-3,500 feet of elevation gain/loss, depending on which trail connections you choose. Parts are fairly steep (more than 1,000 feet gain over less than 1 mile of distance), but the views are incredibly rewarding. From the exposed ridgelines, you can gaze in various directions at other prominent peaks outside of Missoula - Lolo, St. Mary's, Stuart, Cha-paa-qn, Sheep, etc. It's a convenient way to orient yourself in three-dimensional space, gazing across miles of open sky in all four compass directions. When the snow falls, as it did earlier this week (October 3), then this hike is particularly lovely, although you may need snowshoes if the accumulation is heavy. The feeling of isolation is very strong, despite the proximity of Missoula down below. But 2500 ft. is a *lot* of empty space, and one of the pleasures of this loop is the chance to gaze down into Hellgate Canyon below your feet, or back South towards the Bitterrroot Range, or West towards the airport where tiny-looking planes are landing, or North into the Rattlesnake, or East at the Sapphire Range. The smells of fresh pine, the feel of rushing wind, the crunch of frozen snow, the sound of your beating heart, it all flows and fixates in your imagination. Three or four hours later, as you walk the residential streets on your way home, you gaze up at the steep slopes of Sentinel and remember what it was like to be perched atop its twin peaks, to disappear into the tree-filled saddle between them, to struggle step-by-step up the exposed ridges, and to reach the cluster of radio towers at the halfway point of the hike. This is not a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It's close enough to become a part of your seasonal routine. Each season the loop feels and looks different, and it's doable 12 months out of the year. As much as I love the university down below, the best classroom is higher up, at the summit of University Mountain. You'll learn more there than you can in any seminar, about nature, about time, about space, about the untapped reservoirs of strength in your body, and about where you fit, in a metaphysical sense, in it all. Standing alone on the summit, where the terrestrial colors of land melt into the blue infinity of sky, you perch on unsteady feet, pause to let your pulse subside, and discover in a lightning flash of unexpected insight just what a great thing it is, to be able to breathe. Then, when your eyes have adjusted to the immensities of distance, you blink, swallow, and smile. Time to move on. The next summit awaits.