Riding the newly built Gnomadic, Bozeman’s first machine-built flow trail. Photo by Leslie Hittmier / Curious Creatures

Mountain biking in the greater Bozeman area can be a bit rough, to say the least. Along with high elevation, many of the trails in the area are fairly rugged and cater to intermediate and advanced riders. They are spectacular, but aren’t necessarily the “flow” experience some may be looking for.

Last year, we covered Bozeman’s first dedicated flow trails at Crosscut and Bridger Bowl. Dirt Concern, the Bozeman chapter of the Southwest Montana Mountain Bike Association (SWMMBA), is adding two more trails to the system, hoping to balance the user experience.

Two new trails at Crosscut and Bridger Bowl 

Dirt Concern is adding two new trails at Crosscut and Bridger Bowl, one up and one down. Bridger Bowl is a privately owned ski area just north of Bozeman. Crosscut, a cross-country ski zone, is right next door. While the lifts don’t run during the summer at Bridger, mountain bike trails wind through both areas, and the public has an open invitation to come ride.

“The new climbing trail will effectively reroute the existing climbing trail,” Drew Maier, President of Dirt Concern, told us. 

Appropriately named “What Goes Up,” the directional climbing trail starts roughly halfway up the network, climbing over a mile but not quite reaching the top. Maier said that is one of the issues that made Dirt Concern decide to do a significant redo of the climbing trail. He also mentioned that the trail has some fairly steep, punchy sections, likely pushing it outside its intermediate-rated range.

But, the most significant problem is where What Goes Up is currently located. Maier mentioned that the trail cuts across the fall line that the organization is working with. Other trails head down this fall line, creating multiple intersections. Future expansion would either result in even more trail intersections or require investment in expensive wooden overpasses. 

Though the latter may be fun, it is also expensive, and rerouting now seemed like the best course of action. Along with adding a bit of length, the rebuild will set the trail at an average grade of 5% and, of course, eliminate those intersections. It will also continue to remain an uphill-only trail.

Maier said they have already begun working on What Goes Up and will keep it open for a large portion of the season, if not the entirety. While it will need to be closed for “future phases” of work, Dirt Concern doesn’t expect that to happen until at least next year.

Photo by Leslie Hittmier / Curious Creatures

A new DH trail for beginners

Last year, Dirt Concern added Bozeman’s first machine-built “flow” trail. The intermediate trail, dubbed “Gnomadic,” stretches two miles and descends nearly 1,000 feet from its starting point. While Maier said the trail wasn’t a full-on jump trail, it does feature some large tabletop jumps and berms, and allows riders to carry fairly high speeds.

Basically, it can be a bit intimidating for beginner riders. 

Dirt Concern was also running into another problem in the area, as Maier explained that the available descent options are currently limited. After climbing to the top, which typically happens on a trail called Big Thigh Country, riders have two options. One option is to descend Gnomadic. If they don’t want to deal with Gnomadic’s jumps and features, the other option is to go back down Big Thigh Country, which has a lot of uphill traffic.

To remedy the issue, Dirt Concern is opting for another DH trail near Gnomadic, but more beginner-friendly this time. The green trail will stretch over two miles, descending “all the way to the bottom” of the system. 

“[It] should be a non-stop roller coaster of rollers, berms, and family-friendly features,” Maier explained. “Again, the goal of this trail is to ensure we’re serving our entire community, families, adaptive riders, and beginners, as well as our more experienced bikers.”

Photos by Terraflow Trail Systems

So much public land, why build on private?

Millions of acres of public land surround Bozeman. The Custer Gallatin National Forest alone contains more than 3 million acres. With so much federal land surrounding Bozeman, why is Dirt Concern opting to build at the privately owned Bridger Bowl and Crosscut?

Simply put, new trails on federal land have been an uphill battle for Dirt Concern and SWMMBA, largely due to the proximity to Yellowstone National Park and opposition from environmental groups. 

“New trail development is years in the planning stage and generally has to be multi-use and multi-directional, which limits the style and type of trails we can build on public land,” Maier told us. 

The limits they faced prompted Dirt Concern to focus on opportunities at Bridger and Crosscut, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t trying to work with the Forest Service. In fact, they hope to extend the trails at Bridger Bowl and Crosscut onto surrounding USFS land. The ski areas operate on a special-use permit from the Forest Service. If they are allowed to expand outside their existing limits, the number of feet descending could nearly triple. Dirt Concern certainly has its fingers crossed for that expansion, but it also told us that there is currently no status update.

Much more to come

“None of this would be possible without [Crosscut and Bridger Bowl], and we couldn’t be more grateful to have such wonderful partners in our community,” Maier said. He also mentioned that they were able to begin construction within a couple of years of broaching the subject with the ski areas.

And this current build only represents phase two out of eight, with an ultimate goal of 20 miles of purpose-built singletrack for the Bozeman community.

Maier said the current project totals roughly $165,000, with quite a bit of funding already coming in. They received two grants from Gallatin County Open Lands and Montana’s Recreational Trails Program totaling $136,000. In addition, donations and fundraising are between $5,000-$10,000, leaving roughly $25,000 remaining.

For phase two, Dewolf Trailworx is tasked with the rebuild of “What Goes Up,” while Shire Built won the contract for the new green DH trail. Maier said both crews started in June and expect to be done before the end of August.