Hikes in Greater Red Lodge
Beartooth Trails Collaborative Trail Projects
Airport Trail
A sunny three-mile loop around the Red Lodge airport, rodeo grounds, and fairgrounds, with views of downtown and surrounding mountains. Feel free to walk, bike or horseback the trail, constructed in 2009 with $105,000 in grants secured by the city, county, and BRTA. Trailheads: (1) 15th Street at McGillen Avenue, (2) Highway 78 at Rodeo Grounds entrance, (3) White Ave. and Airport Rd. Three mile loop; packed sand; no elevation gain.
Coal Miners Park
The 49-acre park includes mountain biking trails, riverside walking trails, fishing accesses, picnic areas, a coal mining memorial, and a disc golf course. Trails wind around the top and drop down the east side to the pleasant Rock Creek. The city and the Montana Conservation Corps (MCC) constructed the park in 1994; more recently BRTA has garnered $50,000 in grants for maintenance and extension of trails along Rock Creek. Directions: Take Second St. to the Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary parking lot. Additional trailheads (very limited parking): Beartooth Lane and Fifth St. East.
Palisades Trail
A long three miles, gently sloped with 700’ elevation gain through ponderosa & lodgepole pine, fir and aspen forests and sagebrush meadows. To protect moose and other wildlife, no dogs January through June. This trail was constructed by the Forest Service in 2013, with Beartooth Trails providing volunteer labor and funding for MCC crews. It is popular with horse-riders, bikers, and hikers. It is also popular with wildlife, including predators. Be alert. For the north trailhead: from junction of Hwy 212 & 78, go west on 78 one mile, turn left (west); then 3 miles to end of Fox Rd. For the south trailhead: From Highway 212, turn right/west near the south end of Red Lodge on West Fork Road; go one mile on pavement, turn right onto Palisades Campground Road, then 1 ½ miles to the Campground. The trailhead is at the far west end of the camp ground. Hike about 100 yards on the Willow Creek Trail, then turn right/north onto the Palisades Trail.
Nichols Creek Trail
Good mountain biking on a four-mile trail with 1000’ of elevation gain. The Forest Service completed this trail in 2018, with Beartooth Trails providing volunteer labor and funding for MCC crews. The upper trailhead is at the Red Lodge Mountain parking lot (yep, same lot where the Willow Creek Trail connects). The lower trailhead is a quarter-mile down the West Fork Road from its junction with Ski Run Road.
Face of The Mountain
This trail follows switchbacks of the old Black & White Road (the original road to Beartooth Pass), 1700’ up Mount Maurice to gain views of Red Lodge and limestone spires. From the ridgetop, it continues south to the Wyoming border (Robertson Draw and Line Cabin) for a one-way total distance of eight miles. The Forest Service constructed the trail in 2011, with Beartooth Trails providing grants for MCC crews. Notes: 1) the first 1¼ mi crosses private, open sage land; please respect private property. 2) the next few miles are bear habitat; be alert. Directions: From Highway 212 on the south edge of Red Lodge, turn left onto Meeteetse Trail Road; drive 3.3 miles on this (seldom maintained, oft-muddy) county road to the trailhead on your right.