Montana State Parks seeks public comments on recommended Montana Trail Stewardship Grant Program (MTSGP) awards for the current 2021 grant cycle. Public comment on the recommended awards is open through Friday, June 18, at 5 p.m.
Montana State Parks administers the MTSGP, a new program funded through a portion of Montana’s light motor vehicle registration fee. The program provides grant funding for trail and trail-related projects across the state. Eligible projects include development and rehabilitation work on urban, rural and backcountry trails; construction of community trails; and snowmobile and cross-country ski trail maintenance and grooming operations.
In its first year, the MTSGP received 45 applications requesting over $1.5 million. Approximately $1.25 million is available to award. The 41 recommended awards total $1,150,087.53.
A complete list of recommended awards is available online at: https://fwp.mt.gov/aboutfwp/grant-programs/trail-stewardship under the “2021 Grant Application Cycle” tab. Copies of individual MTSGP applications, including environmental review documentation, is available upon request at michelle.mcnamee@mt.gov.
Public comments must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday, June 18, 2021. To comment, email FWPRecreationalTrails@mt.gov and include “MTSGP” in the email subject line.
Comments by regular mail should be sent to: Michelle McNamee, Montana State Parks, PO Box 200701, Helena, MT 59620-0701.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
Monday, May 31, 2021
Thursday, May 27, 2021
Headed to Glacier National Park This Summer?
Are you planning a visit to Glacier National Park this summer - or anytime down the road? I wanted to let you know about an eBook we published last year that provides hikers with access to detailed trail information while hiking in the park.
Exploring Glacier National Park is the mobile version of HikinginGlacier.com, the most comprehensive website on the internet for hiking trail information in Glacier National Park. This book was published to provide readers with convenient access to the information contained on HikinginGlacier.com while in the park, or on the trail, where internet access is most likely not available. Additionally, the format of this book will provide a much better experience for smartphone users.
Exploring Glacier National Park covers 68 hikes. Like the website, the book includes driving directions to each trailhead, detailed trail descriptions, key features along the route, difficulty ratings, photographs, maps and elevation profiles, which provide readers with a visual representation of the change in elevation they’ll encounter on each hike. Some hikes will also include historical tidbits related to the trail. Whether you're looking for an easy stroll in the park, or an epic hike deep into Glacier's backcountry, this book provides all the tools you'll need to make your hiking trip as enjoyable as possible.
As with our four websites, this book also contains several directories that will help you choose the best hikes suited to your preferences and abilities. This includes hikes listed by location within the park, hikes listed by key trail feature, and hikes sorted by difficulty rating. I’ve also included lists of our top 10 hikes, the best easy hikes, the top fall hikes, and the top early season hikes.
The book is now available on Amazon.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
Exploring Glacier National Park covers 68 hikes. Like the website, the book includes driving directions to each trailhead, detailed trail descriptions, key features along the route, difficulty ratings, photographs, maps and elevation profiles, which provide readers with a visual representation of the change in elevation they’ll encounter on each hike. Some hikes will also include historical tidbits related to the trail. Whether you're looking for an easy stroll in the park, or an epic hike deep into Glacier's backcountry, this book provides all the tools you'll need to make your hiking trip as enjoyable as possible.
As with our four websites, this book also contains several directories that will help you choose the best hikes suited to your preferences and abilities. This includes hikes listed by location within the park, hikes listed by key trail feature, and hikes sorted by difficulty rating. I’ve also included lists of our top 10 hikes, the best easy hikes, the top fall hikes, and the top early season hikes.
The book is now available on Amazon.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Many Glacier Road Opening Postponed
Glacier National Park announced this morning that Many Glacier Road will remain closed to vehicle, hiking and bicycling traffic through Memorial Day weekend.
The road was expected to open May 28. Inclement weather has caused delays in construction, preventing the road from reopening to traffic in time for the holiday weekend. The road is now projected to open June 3.
After its opening visitors should expect travel delays up to 40 minutes each way from Babb, MT, to the Many Glacier Hotel. The road opening postponement will not affect scheduled openings of services at Many Glacier.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
The road was expected to open May 28. Inclement weather has caused delays in construction, preventing the road from reopening to traffic in time for the holiday weekend. The road is now projected to open June 3.
After its opening visitors should expect travel delays up to 40 minutes each way from Babb, MT, to the Many Glacier Hotel. The road opening postponement will not affect scheduled openings of services at Many Glacier.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
Monday, May 24, 2021
April previews busy summer season at Grand Teton
Grand Teton National Park hosted an estimated 87,739 recreation visits in April 2021, a 48% increase compared to April 2019. The park was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020. Park statistics show that April 2021 had the highest number of recreation visits on record for the month of April.
The list below shows April recreation visits over the last several years:
2021—87,739
2020—Park was closed due to COVID-19 pandemic
2019—59,105
2018—60,541
2017—58,403
Park staff are working to provide quality visitor experiences as a predicted busy summer season approaches. Visitors to the park are highly encouraged to plan ahead and recreate responsibly in order to make the most of their visit and to help ensure this iconic landscape may be enjoyed by future generations.
Park employees will also collect data and conduct visitation studies to better understand changing visitation trends in the park.
Visitors to Grand Teton are encouraged to “do your part” and recreate responsibly. Visit Recreate Responsibly to learn helpful tips on how to be good stewards of National Parks and other public lands. Visitors are also encouraged to plan ahead and know they will have a place to stay overnight upon arrival. Reservations are required for all park campgrounds and can be booked on Recreation.gov. Visit the park’s plan your visit webpage for more helpful planning tools.
With more than 240 miles of trails meandering throughout the park, hiking is the absolute best way to see Grand Teton National Park. In addition to the hikes listed above, the park offers a wide variety of outstanding hikes that take-in the best scenery the Tetons have to offer. If you do plan to visit Grand Teton this year, please note that our hiking website also offers a wide variety of accommodation listings and other things to do to help with all your trip planning.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
The list below shows April recreation visits over the last several years:
2021—87,739
2020—Park was closed due to COVID-19 pandemic
2019—59,105
2018—60,541
2017—58,403
Park staff are working to provide quality visitor experiences as a predicted busy summer season approaches. Visitors to the park are highly encouraged to plan ahead and recreate responsibly in order to make the most of their visit and to help ensure this iconic landscape may be enjoyed by future generations.
Park employees will also collect data and conduct visitation studies to better understand changing visitation trends in the park.
Visitors to Grand Teton are encouraged to “do your part” and recreate responsibly. Visit Recreate Responsibly to learn helpful tips on how to be good stewards of National Parks and other public lands. Visitors are also encouraged to plan ahead and know they will have a place to stay overnight upon arrival. Reservations are required for all park campgrounds and can be booked on Recreation.gov. Visit the park’s plan your visit webpage for more helpful planning tools.
With more than 240 miles of trails meandering throughout the park, hiking is the absolute best way to see Grand Teton National Park. In addition to the hikes listed above, the park offers a wide variety of outstanding hikes that take-in the best scenery the Tetons have to offer. If you do plan to visit Grand Teton this year, please note that our hiking website also offers a wide variety of accommodation listings and other things to do to help with all your trip planning.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
Thursday, May 20, 2021
Stabilization Efforts Underway on Mormon Row Historic House in Grand Teton
The National Park Service and Grand Teton National Park Foundation are working in partnership to preserve and stabilize the historic John Moulton property, including the Pink House, on Mormon Row in Grand Teton National Park. The area will be closed to the public now through mid-summer for preservation activities.
The project will include structural foundation work to stabilize the Pink House and its iconic stucco, serving to improve the visitor experience through preservation of this important historic landscape. Preservation and conservation professionals completed analyses of the building’s condition and recent monitoring efforts indicated that the implementation of preservation actions should be completed soon.
Specialists with the National Park Service Historic Preservation Training Center will be responsible for the temporary removal, documentation, and storage of the stucco skirt and brick chimney. A contractor will move the building off the existing foundation, remove the existing foundation, pour a new foundation, and reattach the structure. Additional preservation on the homestead, including a full stucco preservation project, roof replacement, and rebuilding of the chimney, will occur within the next several years.
The Pink House is a 1.5-story historic home constructed in 1938. It retains a high level of historic integrity with original doors, windows, cabinetry, wallpaper, flooring, and woodwork. The house is surrounded by a historic barn, bunkhouse, several other outbuildings, and cultural landscape elements including irrigation ditches, corrals, and fencing.
Work at the Pink House marks the beginning of a multi-year public-private partnership project between the National Park Service and Grand Teton National Park Foundation that will preserve the entire Mormon Row Historic District. The multi-million-dollar effort will, for the first time, holistically address preservation needs and improve the ways visitors learn about and experience the remarkable legacy of the district, bringing the history of this place to life.
In 2018 the Foundation was instrumental in the National Park Service acquiring a 1-acre parcel, the last privately held land along Mormon Row. The structures on the property are being used for park seasonal employee housing. Improved visitor access such as a pedestrian connection between properties on Mormon Row, walkway, toilet, and additional parking was constructed in 2016.
The Mormon Row Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. It offers visitors an opportunity to connect with the history of the park and understand the difficulty and isolation associated with historic settlement in Jackson Hole, as well as experience the scenic beauty of the Tetons.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, established homesteads east of Blacktail Butte beginning in the 1890s. The community of Grovont was created, today known as Mormon Row. The homesteaders clustered their farms to share labor and build community, a stark contrast with isolation typical of many western homesteads.
The Historic Preservation Training Center is located in Frederick, Maryland, and dedicated to the safe preservation and maintenance of national parks or partner facilities by demonstrating outstanding leadership, delivering quality preservation services, and developing educational courses that fulfill the competency requirements of National Park Service employees in the career fields of historic preservation skills, risk management, maintenance, and planning, design, and construction.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
The project will include structural foundation work to stabilize the Pink House and its iconic stucco, serving to improve the visitor experience through preservation of this important historic landscape. Preservation and conservation professionals completed analyses of the building’s condition and recent monitoring efforts indicated that the implementation of preservation actions should be completed soon.
Specialists with the National Park Service Historic Preservation Training Center will be responsible for the temporary removal, documentation, and storage of the stucco skirt and brick chimney. A contractor will move the building off the existing foundation, remove the existing foundation, pour a new foundation, and reattach the structure. Additional preservation on the homestead, including a full stucco preservation project, roof replacement, and rebuilding of the chimney, will occur within the next several years.
The Pink House is a 1.5-story historic home constructed in 1938. It retains a high level of historic integrity with original doors, windows, cabinetry, wallpaper, flooring, and woodwork. The house is surrounded by a historic barn, bunkhouse, several other outbuildings, and cultural landscape elements including irrigation ditches, corrals, and fencing.
Work at the Pink House marks the beginning of a multi-year public-private partnership project between the National Park Service and Grand Teton National Park Foundation that will preserve the entire Mormon Row Historic District. The multi-million-dollar effort will, for the first time, holistically address preservation needs and improve the ways visitors learn about and experience the remarkable legacy of the district, bringing the history of this place to life.
In 2018 the Foundation was instrumental in the National Park Service acquiring a 1-acre parcel, the last privately held land along Mormon Row. The structures on the property are being used for park seasonal employee housing. Improved visitor access such as a pedestrian connection between properties on Mormon Row, walkway, toilet, and additional parking was constructed in 2016.
The Mormon Row Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. It offers visitors an opportunity to connect with the history of the park and understand the difficulty and isolation associated with historic settlement in Jackson Hole, as well as experience the scenic beauty of the Tetons.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, established homesteads east of Blacktail Butte beginning in the 1890s. The community of Grovont was created, today known as Mormon Row. The homesteaders clustered their farms to share labor and build community, a stark contrast with isolation typical of many western homesteads.
The Historic Preservation Training Center is located in Frederick, Maryland, and dedicated to the safe preservation and maintenance of national parks or partner facilities by demonstrating outstanding leadership, delivering quality preservation services, and developing educational courses that fulfill the competency requirements of National Park Service employees in the career fields of historic preservation skills, risk management, maintenance, and planning, design, and construction.
Jeff
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
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