Yellowstone Country

Out Riding ... Coming Soon!

Blackfoot Meadow

Trail Summary

• 5 miles to Blackfoot Meadow and beaver pond
• crosses Little Black Foot River (creek) a few times, easy crossings
• mostly wooded, shady, moist, lodge pole pine forest
• mostly level, but some short steeper parts, mild elevation gain
• trail intersection offers option for loop back to campground by taking Larabee Trail 359, total of 13 miles

Green Forest and Bubbling Creek: My Ride Story

I had been hearing about the Blackfoot Meadow trail from several of my friends.  They kept suggesting I ride it because it is relatively close to Helena and easy to find. But, until now, I never followed up on this suggestion, probably because it seemed too close to offer new scenery.  But, on Saturday, I wanted to ride. My friend, Juli, offered to ride with me.  She suggested that we ride at Blackfoot Meadows since, even though we had to drive west over MacDonald Pass, the trail was closer to her house than other trails I had suggested. I was just happy to have a friend to ride with, so I picked up Juli and her horse, Blackie, and off we went.

The Blackfoot Meadow trail head is at Kading Campground, which is situated on the Little Blackfoot River on the west side of the Continental Divide. To get to Kading Campground from Helena, you travel about 21 miles west on Hwy 12 over MacDonald Pass. About 1 mile before reaching Elliston, you turn left (South) on Little Blackfoot River Road (Forest Road 227).  You follow the Little Blackfoot River Road for about 17 miles, where you will come to a forest service cabin on your right and a campground on your left.  The road ends just passed the cabin, but there is room to turn around and park the horse trailer along the side of the road, though you shouldn't block the turn around.

Juli and I found the parking space near the turnaround taken, so we pulled into the campground and parked at a site were I could just pull through rather than back in. I'm not sure campground regulations actually allowed for us to have horses in the campground, but I didn't think to check on it until after we left.  At any rate, there were only about 3 families camping in the campground, so there was plenty of space.  No one batted an eyelash when we parked; and we were sure not to leave any messes behind.

We brushed our horses, picked their hooves, applied horse spray, tacked up, mounted, and headed to the southern end of the campground, where we found a path that led us to the trail head.  We were on our way from the trail head by about 1:45 p.m.


The Blackfoot Meadow Trail (No. 329) is only open to motorized vehicles at certain times.
Many people like to hike and camp along this trail. We encountered a fisherman and a couple of bow hunters.  We also saw evidence that horses had recently traveled the trail. Since we didn't catch up to them, it was likely they were packing in for an overnight stay.

The trail was wide to start with, leading us through a lodge pole pine forest with beautiful green undergrowth.  We crossed the Little Blackfoot several times. All were easy crossings.  For the most part, the trail had great footing, soft forest floor soil, though this is still part of the Rocky Mountains, so yes, there were some rocky spots.  Sometimes we encountered water trickling off the hillside and across the trail. So, there were a few muddy spots, too.  I wondered how wet the trail would be in the spring if there was this much moisture in mid-September. I really enjoyed how peaceful the trail was as we rode.  And, being close to the Little Blackfoot and the sound of the water running over the rocks was very soothing.

Juli and I talked as we rode. Before we knew it we had ridden about 3 miles, where we came to a trail sign and a Y in the trial.  If we continued right on Trail No. 329 we'd reach the meadow and pond. Going left would  take us 2.5 miles to Larabee Gulch Trail No. 359, where we would climb the ridge, pass Cottonwood Lake, and loop back down to Kading Campground, a total of 10 more miles.  The sign also pointed to Monarch Creek Trail No. 362, but neither Juli nor I knew anything about that trail, and the sign didn't give us any other clues.

As we pondered our options we started to hear the rumble of thunder. We looked up to see dark gray clouds gathering to the south.  We knew that we'd better save the rest of our explorations for another day. Donning our raincoats, we headed back, grateful even for the brief ride and hoping we could beat the thunderstorm home. We did. Thankfully, the storm decided to move to the southeast.  The sun came out and graced us with a golden afternoon ride back to the trailer, where we arrived  safe, sound, and dry at around 5 p.m.

Southeast Montana

Out Riding...Coming Soon!

Missouri River Country

Out Riding...Coming Soon!

Central Montana

Out riding...Coming Soon!

Glacier Country

Out Riding...Coming Soon!

Southwest Montana

Trails

From Helena:

• Blackfoot Meadows - beautiful creek, Forest Service cabin for rent with corral
• Trout Creek - limestone cliffs - no horse camping at Vigilante Campground
• Refrigerator Canyon -

From Augusta:

• Dearborn River/Devil's Glen - no horse camping area
• Smith Creek
• Elk Creek
• South Fork Sun
• Straight Creek
• Mortimer Gulch

From Lincoln or Ovando:

• Heart Lake - Scapegoat Wilderness access, horse camping area
• Monture Creek - access to Bob Marshall Wilderness, horse camping area
• North Fork of Blackfoot River - access to Bob Marshall Wilderness 

From Seeley Lake:

• Holland Lake - access to Bob, vistas and waterfall, horse camping area, corrals, Forest Service cabin rental

From Ennis or Cameron:

• Indian Creek - trailer parking, no horse camping area
• Bear Creek Campground Trails (central horse camping area, panel corrals, hitching rails, Forest Service cabin rental): Mid Cr Tr No. 325 -  Trail Fork Tr No 326
• Beaver Creek Road Trails (central horse camping area, hitching rails, no corrals): Sentinel Cr Tr No. 202 - Jct Hilgard Basin Tr - Expedition Pass - Cabin Creek - Red Cub Tr. No. 205 - Beaver Cr/Lightening Lake Tr No. 200 - Minnie Wapati Tr No. 203 - West Fork Beaver Cr Tr No. 222 - Avalanche Lake - Blue Danube Lake

Points of Interest

Seeley Lake -

Helena - Be sure to visit the Capitol Building and the Montana Historical Society.  At the Capitol, you will not only enjoy numerous restored historical artwork and the classic rotunda, but also the massive 25 ft x 12 ft wall mural by Charles M. Russell that dominates the front wall of the House of Representatives.  Painted in 1912, the mural depicts Lewis and Clark meeting the Flathead Indians at Ross' Hole.  The Montana Historical Society museum features other original C.M. Russell artwork  and a gift shop.  You can also catch the Last Chance Tour train that will take you on a guided tour of  town and fill you in on Helena's rich history.  Helena is or has been the home of Steven Ambrose, actor Gary Cooper, actress Myrna Loy, James Earp (brother of Wyatt Earp), and others.

Augusta -

Butte -

Ennis/Cameron -

Dillon -

Additional Information

• Scapegoat Wilderness;
• Bob Marshall Wilderness;
• Lewis and Clark National Forest;
• Helena National Forest;
• Elkhorn Wildlife Management Area; and
• Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest - Jefferson Ranger District.

Inspired in Ennis

It all started in Ennis, a fly fishing mecca in the Madison River Valley. Ennis is just 60 miles southwest of Bozeman and about 70 miles northwest of Yellowstone National Park.  My family had made a tradition of attending the 4th of July rodeo there and taking in the old mining town history of Virginia and Nevada Cities, which are just to the west of Ennis.  On one of these visits we decided to keep following Hwy 287 south out of town so we could take in the spectacular scenery of this large grassy river valley, which is accented by the Lee Metcalf Wilderness on the east and the Gravely Mountain Range on the west.  Just on the edge of town on the west side of the highway we noticed a hotel, the Rainbow Valley Lodge, with very nice looking paddocks for horses.  We thought, wow, wouldn't it be great if we could stay there sometime with our horses and trail ride in this beautiful area? 


Paddock at Rainbow Valley Lodge

My teenage kids were busy with other things, so I snagged my best friend, Teri, and we planned a "girls weekend" for trail riding. The lodge grounds are beautifully manicured and the paddocks were very well kept up.  We could observe our horses from the back window of our hotel room.  It was awesome to be so close to our equine companions. 

Indian Creek Trail

We asked the owner of the lodge where he would recommend riding.  He gave us directions to Indian Creek, just south of Cameron on the east side of Hwy 287.  To reach the trail head, we traveled south on Hwy 287, passed Cameron, and continued several miles (probably about 30 miles from Ennis) until we saw a sign for CB Ranch. We turned left at that sign and followed the dirt road until we reached a parking lot large enough for several trailers.  Hitching rails were also available.

We happened to be riding on the last day of bow-hunting season and just before rifle season opened, so we donned hunters orange vests and tied orange ribbons on the saddles and bridles of our horses just to be safe.

Indian Creek

The trail starts on the far side of a green hinged gate that is  right at the parking lot. The trail forks initially.  One fork leads up the hill to the right. The other cuts into the side of the hill to the left. We took the trail to the left. About 200 yards around the hill, we encountered and proceeded through a barbed wire gate.  From there, the trail dropped down and came out on a two track road that runs along a rail fence to private property. Horses and hikers are granted access to the property, so the trail leads across a bridge and through the  front yard of a cabin. About 1/4 miles passed the cabin, the trail leads on into the Lee Metcalf Wilderness.  The trail follows Indian Creek, sometimes climbing above the creek,  where the sides of the trail can get steep in a few places.  But, the footing is good.  We enjoyed the sound of the water in the creek and the variety of fall colors. 

We encountered hikers returning from their hike who said there was a beautiful waterfall further on.  If only we had known there was a waterfall, we would have planned for a longer ride.

As it was, we had to turn around to make it back to the trailer in time to make the trip home. 
But, as we rode, we talked about how nice it would be to have a trail guide for horseback riders like us. Then, we might have been able to plan better and make it all the way to the waterfall.  Also, we knew there must be many more wonderful trails to explore in this stunning area. We talked about how the guide could also include a directory of great places to stay with horses, such as the Rainbow Valley Lodge, and of points of interest to visit, such as Virginia City, as part of a weekend trail riding getaway. 

Thus, the idea for our guide was born.  We also vowed to return to Indian Creek and finish our ride to the waterfall and to gather more detailed information for our guide.  So, stay tuned.  There is more to come about Indian Creek and trail riding near Ennis.