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Butte, Montana

July 5th, 2020 by Chris Taulborg (SoSimple Support)

Don't worry, it's a long-abandoned rail line :)

A couple years back we stayed in Butte, MT on our way from Glacier National Park to Ketchum, Idaho. At the time I made a mental note that we should come back and stay for a longer stretch as the local mountain bike and hiking trail system is fantastic! So this year we decided to stay for a full week to get as much out of the area as we could.

You can't tell from this photo, but this trestle bridge is crazy high up

After we setup our RV and got settled in, we set off for a hike on the same trail my oldest son and I road on the last time we came through, which is an old abandoned railway that includes a trestle and at the end a collapsed tunnel. While we didn't make it as far as the tunnel, we did get out to the (super high scary) trestle.

We timed the weather perfectly, as on our way to the trailhead (which was a ten minute drive from our RV) the sky was full of dark clouds and lightning. By the time we got to the trailhead, it had cleared out almost completely and we only had to wait about 5 minutes for me to feel confident that we wouldn't get struck by lightning.

As we did the last time we passed through Butte, we stayed at the KOA. This place has the best bathrooms and shower facilities, according to my son at least. So much so that he insisted on only showering in them versus in our rig. More hot water for the rest of us, so no complaints from me :).

In our particular section, while it's clean, there isn't much (anything) for shade, which during the peak of the day makes for a pretty hot time. However, its very cool (almost cold) in the mornings and evenings, and we turned on our electric fireplace heater at the beginning of pretty much every day during our stay.

The next hike we found was the Milwaukee Road-Rail Trail in Thompson Park, which is located in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, 9 miles south of Butte (~15 minute drive from our campground). This was expectantly very flat and similar in that way to our first hike, but deeper in the woods and complete with a tunnel not far from the trailhead (the kids were happy about this after missing out on the tunnel during our first hike).

My oldest son and I decided to come back with our bikes the next day and ride the entirety of the trail. It included two tunnels (one over 1000ft long) and a trestle bridge (this one felt much safer to ride on, especially with the safety rails on each side).

Beaver Pond Trail, Thompson Park, Butte MT

The next day we decided to up our hiking game and go deeper into Thompson Park. We went to Beaver Pond Trail, which is ~6 miles with a lot (more than I anticipated) of elevation gain. I got to carry our newest member of the family on this hike and by the time we turned around, him and I were a bit soaked from sweat (sorry little guy!).

There were a ton of cut down trees, and we even ran into a couple park rangers in the process of chopping down more. The woods were eerily quiet, but it was a good hike and I'm glad we were able to do it.

There were soooo many cut down trees on this hike

I had to get a "real" ride in, so I went big - I did an out and back section of the CDT trail within Thompson Park that goes up the mountain and back down the other side, with my turnaround point being near I90, and then the whole thing in reverse.

The next day we opted for a shorter hike, so we decided on Jons Gulch Trail, once again within Thompson Park (this place is so great, and so conveniently close!). This was a short "lollypop" loop and was the perfect end to my work week.

It's amazing what a hike in the woods can do for one's attitude.

Even with more mosquitos than we would have liked, totally worth it!

I finished off the week with a long bike ride on Homestake - Maud S. This was a brute of a ride, with a 8 mile climb, followed by a 1+ mile descent, and then the whole thing in reverse. Very glad I did it though, it was definitely a ride I would recommend for anyone traveling through (with 2-4 hours to spare).