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.

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

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.

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!

We just spent the weekend in Missoula, MT and rafting was on my bucket list of things to do. Not…read moreonly did L&C make that possible, it made one of the best memories possible. Our guide was Alec, who answered every question and curiosity we had, but led us up the river at ease. The other guides, Kyle, Cheyanne, and 2 more i forgot (please forgive me) were excellent. We managed to see several bald eagles, some osprey, and take in a beautiful part of Montana. Lunch was provided, and we even had the chance to jump off some rocks. If you're looking to raft, go with these guys. It's one of the best ways to take in the scenery of Missoula. Thanks from Texas

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.

Spending the day with a resident expert in her field was so extra special i can't even say enough!…read moreWenFei answered our myriad of questions perfectly and made our trip out to Bison National Park memorable! In addition to knowing all things (and i do mean all) about the local birds, including their sounds and habitats, she could also share information perfectly about the bison, the antelopes (that we saw that day) and the native grizzlies. The local donuts were amazing as well as our lunch out with some local Montana fare. All in all a superb day, chock full of information that will have your feeling like an expert too! Don't miss this opportunity!

Wenfei organized a full day trip for us to the Flathead Wilderness Area. We went driving on bumpy…read moremountain roads, hiking up the side of a mountain alongside a picturesque babbling brook and picnicked next to a sparkling lake with a view of the mountains. Our focus was photography, and our route did not disappoint on that score. We also stopped for fresh baked goods and coffee on our way out of Missoula which made the ride that much more pleasant. We are generally outdoor people but we chose to use a tour company because we were traveling with a baby and didn't know how to find routes that would be child friendly and not overly demanding. We would definitely recommend Wenfei's guiding services and have referred several friends to her Big Sky Safaris for Montana travel. In particular her being a biologist makes an outstanding enhancement to hiking - we are not very knowledgeable about birds and animal droppings, and Wenfei pointed out all sorts of interesting things for us as well as small details worth photographing that we wouldn't have noticed on our own. Wenfei made us very comfortable, gave us excellent gear advice, and spared us many hours of poring over maps to identify good areas to visit. She also was really knowledgeable about the local plants and birds during our early autumn MT trip. This was a great splurge during our MT trip and one we'd do again in a heart beat.

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.