Marshall Mountain Park

In 2025, Missoula County worked with the Wildland and Recreation Management Lab (WARM) at the University of Montana to complete a visitor use study at Marshall Mountain Park. From June to October, traditional game cameras and vehicle counters were placed in the park to determine visitation numbers. Students from WARM also conducted surveys and offered GPS devices for users to carry with them to map their experience at the park.

Highlights from the report include:

• 87% of respondents were returning visitors to the park
• 15,496 vehicles were counted in the parking lot
• 88% of respondents visited the park to mountain bike

Click here to download the full report. Click here to see the survey questions.

Missoula County recently received a 2026 Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grant award totaling $838,722.89 for infrastructure improvements at Marshall Mountain Park. The LWCF Program is a federal grant program administered by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. The grant rounds out the remaining funds needed for the Marshall Mountain Park Base Area Redevelopment project, which focuses on improvements to the base area that will enhance the visitor experience, public safety and park accessibility.

The project scope covers essential improvements outlined in the Marshall Mountain Park Conceptual Master Plan, adopted in 2023. You can view the plan on this pages under "Documents."

Improvements include providing drinking water and shade, constructing a main trailhead and completing early phase trails, improving site accessibility for all abilities, addressing the poor condition of ski hill era infrastructure and repurposing elements where feasible, renovating the outdoor event and community space, and upgrading utilities and maintenance facilities to support park operations. Construction and renovations are anticipated to start in 2027 while Missoula County staff and partners use this calendar year to focus on remaining design and engineering.

LWCF requires a 50% non-federal match. Friends of Marshall Mountain, a nonprofit that supports the park, has raised more than half of the local match needed for this project through a network of community and private donors. The Missoula Mountain Bike Coalition will put a $40,000 Montana Trail Stewardship grant it secured in 2025 toward the project and will also provide in-kind staff and volunteer contributions. The remaining required match will come from the voter-approved Missoula County Trails Bond and City-County Open Space Bond.

Other project partners and supporters include Friends of Missoula Parks, Missoula Parks & Recreation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Izzy Dog LLC, Five Valleys Land Trust, The Conservation Fund, Run Wild Missoula, Missoula Adaptive Recreation and Sports and many more individual donors and organizations.

The Missoula County Wildfire Mitigation Program will be conducting prescribed slash pile burning at Marshall Mountain Park (MMP) when conditions allow this spring. All prescribed burning will be on the west side of the park property, uphill of the main parking area. No closures planned for the MMP base area or trail system.

Piles will be burned between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. as allowed per local ordinance. Smoke may be visible from the valley floor. Piles will only be burned when airshed conditions allow for smoke to ventilate outside of the Missoula Valley and when there is significant moisture to limit fire spread away from piles. Burning will follow all Missoula County and Missoula Public Health regulations on prescribed wildland burning.

This project will burn slash created by recent forest thinning treatments, which reduces fuels after treatments are completed. This process can reduce the intensity and likelihood of future wildfire. All burned piles will be reseeded with native plants to support site restoration and compete with invasive weeds.

Recent forestry improvements at MMP are possible thanks to a Forest Action Plan grant from the Montana DNRC, a generous contribution from Friends of Marshall Mountain, and the time and expertise of Missoula County Wildfire Mitigation Program staff.

Marshall Mountain Park now has an award-winning trail system. Mission to MARS is the region’s first downhill specific trail designed for adaptive riders and topped Singletracks “best new trails of 2025 list” in the adaptive MTB category.

We are also thrilled to announce the addition of Marshall Arts. A delightfully steep double black diamond trail, irreverent towards gravity. Rounding out the skill progression at MMP, Marshall Arts is emblematic of the outdoor recreation upside afforded by public ownership and management. Continued thanks to the Missoula Mountain Bike Coalition for advancing the trail offerings at MMP!

Friendly faces with clipboards hanging around the base area? GPS gizmos tracking laps? That’s UM’s Wildland and Recreation Management team in action.

Their research is digging into and mapping out how Marshall Mountain fits into the daily lives of Missoula County residents. It’s giving us a better idea of who is here, how use has changed or stayed the same since public ownership, and why this place matters to so many. Next time you see them at the base area, stop to say hi! Take the survey and become part of the heat map. Your voice helps guide what’s next at Marshall Mountain. As you eagerly await the study findings (expected to drop early 2026), check out the Marshall Mountain Winter Use Study.

Starting Saturday, Sept. 13, catch the FREE Mountain Line shuttle to the park! The Marshall Mountain Line is a temporary pilot program that will run hourly from the downtown transit center on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Sunday, Oct. 26.

The shuttle will also stop at the Missoula College and Sha-Ron Fishing Access stops on the outbound route only.

Want to bring your bike? No problem! The Marshall Mountain Line can accommodate up to 16 passengers and 16 bikes.

Remember no e-bikes or dogs allowed at the park or on the shuttle. There is no drinking water available at the park, so be sure to bring your own water bottle!

Visit mountainline.com/marshall for more information.

Marshall Mountain Park sits between East Missoula and Bonner and is publicly owned by Missoula County. Many lifelong residents learned to ski there as kids, and the legacy of learning continues today.

This week, the commissioners spoke with Park Manager Jackson Lee to hear what’s new at Marshall Mountain Park since the County acquired it in spring 2024. They discuss new trails, planned improvements, forest health and Commissioner Slotnick’s nascent mountain biking career.

Click here to listen or find it wherever you get your podcasts under "The Agenda with the Missoula County Commissioners."

How did we get here?

Marshall Mountain Park is a United States Forest Service (USFS) designated Community Forest, one of only two in the Missoula Valley. An Interim Community Forest Plan was developed in the summer 2024. This plan set forest management areas and priorities at Marshall Mountain.

Thanks to the Missoula County Wildfire Program, a Forest Action Plan grant from the DNRC and a generous contribution from Friends of Marshall Mountain, we can now begin the first phase of forestry work within the highest priority management units. These areas coincide with the legacy ski runs at Marshall Mountain.

Actively maintaining the ski runs is the No. 1 improvement request from the winter recreation community and designated essential within the Marshall Mountain Park Conceptual Master Plan.

MMP staff worked with Montana Forest Consultants in the winter 2024-25 to develop a project plan that is consistent with the natural resource priorities of the Community Forest Plan and the recreation priorities of the Master Plan.

Why this project?

• Forest health: Insect and disease disturbance is present across Marshall Mountain. Thinning will reduce the spread of insects and address diseased trees, while also promoting resilience through species composition and biodiversity across the project areas.
• Wildfire risk reduction: Tree density is currently too high to effectively manage wildfire risk. Increasing space between trees, creating fuel breaks and removing ladder fuels are all part of the plan.
• Winter recreation improvements: Dense regeneration of small trees is reducing space for skiing in previously cut and managed runs. This project frees up more skiable terrain while staying in line with forest health and wildfire risk priorities.

Project Timeline and Impacts:

Forestry activities will start the first week of September and continue until the snow flies. Trail closures are not planned. Vehicles and machinery will be traveling on the double-track roads within the park. Notices will be posted at the park entrance and near project activities. Follow along for project updates on the Marshall Mountain Park Instagram page. You can see the map of the project area in the Community Forest Plan document on this page.

On July 1, the Missoula County commissioners approved $176, 581 from the 2014 Trails Bond to fund trailhead facility improvements at Marshall Mountain Park.

These funds will be used as local match for an upcoming Land and Water Conservation Fund grant application, which will be focused on base area redevelopment at the park.

Facility development at the base area includes kiosks for maps and signs, bear-resistant trash cans, bike racks, drinking fountains and an ADA-compliant double-vault restroom.

The trail bond request accounts for roughly 10% of the total project budget for the broader redevelopment of the base area.. Private and community contributions from Friends of Marshall Mountain's ongoing capital campaign, Missoula Mountain Bike Coalition's 2025 Trail Stewardship Award, and remaining Open Space Bond dollars from acquisition round out the local match package.

From Monday, July 7 through, Friday, July 11, a contractor will be removing the cable from the old ski lift. The towers and other ski-era infrastructure along the lift line will remain in place. The cable is no longer in use and is being removed for public safety considerations and to prepare the base area lift terminal for conversion into a shade shelter.

Cable removal operations will affect certain trails and portions of the base area. Dual Slalom and Lower Hello Kitty will remain closed for the duration of operations, with most impacts expected on Tuesday and Wednesday. Bjorn Again, Moose, and Upper Hello Kitty will also see impacts and be closed for specific windows dependent upon removal operations. Signage and traffic control will be in place along the project site.

Upcoming Events at Marshall Mountain Park

Signs will be posted at the corner of Marshall Canyon Road and Highway 200 notifying recreators of base area activity, limited parking and impacted trails.

Registration and more information about these events can be found through the host organization.

**This list only reflects larger special events. Youth mountain bike practices, outdoor education programming and beginner clinics will be ongoing on weekdays and evenings from April through July.**

Questions about operations at Marshall Mountain?
Email marshallmountain@missoulacounty.us
or call 406-258-4657