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.