Project: City Open Space Trails
Sound of Music, MoZ, South Hills Spur
MTB Missoula has been helping the City maintain, re-route, and tune up trails on our Open Space lands for as long as we've been around.
We've bermed the corners on MoZ to reduce brake bumps and improve rideability, re-opened the North Jumbo saddle ridge trail after grant-writing and designing an intensive sustainability re-route (now known as Sound of Music), and in 2017 helped build the South Hills Spur trail.
Our volunteers have mowed down Tumble Mustard to keep derailleurs tangle-free and to manage the weed. They've cut brake bumps out when the soil moisture is right--and always on their weekend day off. They've even raked gravel from corners in the heat of summer to help keep your rubber side down.
In recent years these projects have become more complicated: on the South Hills Spur, volunteers gently removed the native Rough Fescue Bunchgrass, replanting it on the backslope of the freshly-cut tread to reduce the chance of encroachment by invasive weeds.
We're proud to be able to do our part and help the City manage these nearest (and maybe dearest) Missoula public lands.
MoZ, back in the day
South Hills Spur Trail looking south. The Spur forms the northern end of the Mount Dean Stone project and includes bike-friendly trails.
Partnership: Montana Conservation Corps
Of course, sometimes it's nice to have a little extra horsepower, and that's where MCC comes in. By working together to identify projects, write grants, and leverage volunteer labor with Corps members, MCC and MTB Missoula have changed the recreation landscape in Missoula.
The fruits of this collaboration can be seen not just on City trails but at all our tread work project locations: Rattlesnake NRA, Marshall Mt, and Dean Stone. Since the Fenceline re-route in 2014, we've been hosting a trail day alongside MCC and REI every year on National Public Lands day.
