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.

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.

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.

As noted by others, Travelers Rest State Park contains the only physically verified campsite of the…read moreLewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-1806. The Park is well worth a visit if you are nearby. There is a ver nice interpretive center, walking trails and access to Lolo creek. I particularly enjoyed the Creek access. Lewis and Clark camped here twice. Once on the first leg of their journey traveling west and then on their return east. On their return the expedition temporarily split up to explore independently. This was the place they split so this is indeed a historical spot. I visited with my children and grandchildren. The kids particularly enjoyed wading in Lolo Creek as did our Labrador Retriever Gigi who retrieved lots of sticks. I am very glad we took the time to visit and highly recommend Travelers Rest Park.

This is only the second site along the Lewis and Clark trail where physical evidence of the Corps…read moreof Discovery has been found. This is one of the few spots where the Corps stopped both on the westward and eastbound legs of their journey. It was a serendipity discovery made when archelogists were trying to calibrate an instrument that detected magnetic anomolies. They moved it about 300 feet from a power line and turned it on. Amazingly, the instrument detected metal traces. By moving it around they found a rectangular area of trace mercury depositions. They had found the latrine for the Corps! The mercury was from soldiers taking a laxative pill called "Dr. Rush's Thunderbolts" that contained mercurous chloride (calomel). In the weeks the Corps camped nearby, the members of the expedition "excreted" enough of the medication to permit a thin layer to be detected. By referring to the Army Field Manual used by Lewis, who did everything by the book, they were able to find the camp, just 200 feet away. There they uncovered some bits of melted lead dropped from making bullets and found evidence of a blacksmith operation. There is an small museum that tells more of the story of Lewis and Clark. Occasionally, you may also find local reenactors who have set up a replica of what the Corps of Discovery's camp might have looked like. When in Lolo, visit Traveler's Rest!

The trailhead is located 3.1 miles up Pattee Canyon Road. The parking area is on the left and is…read morewell marked by a brown sign on the right hand side of the road. There is ample parking and a restroom at the trailhead, but no water source. Here are the stats: Distance: 6.5-7 miles r/t depending on which route you take for the final ascent up to Mt. Sentinel Elevation gain: ~1,500 feet Intensity: Mostly easy-moderate, with the last half mile being more strenuous Trail: Fire access road for most of the trip, well maintained, rocky in spots Three miles into the hike you will reach a point where the crazy canyon trail and the Hellgate canyon trail meet. At this point, you can either take the easier path to the right, which ascends via switchbacks, or you can continue straight up the road in front of you. The later is very strenuous, and a bit rocky, so I only recommend it if you are prepared for the challenge. At the top you will find a 360 degree view of Missoula, the Rattlesnake Wilderness, Pattee Canyon, Lolo Peak and East Missoula. Even though the trail gets a fair amount of traffic, you will usually find you have the top to yourself, something you never find when hiking in California.

This center is great! The bathrooms are pretty nice, and there are informational signs around if…read moreyou want to read about the area and its wildlife. There's a trail behind the center that is well-maintained. Unfortunately, the visitor center was closed when I stopped by, but there was still plenty to do in the area. Peeking in the windows, it looks well stocked with things to buy and exhibits. I'll hopefully stop by when they're open next time!

If those bathroom are open 24 seven. Why where they closed Thursday Oct 16 2025. There was alot of…read morepeople wondering why. And your add said that store was opened. And each time I come it's closed.

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.