Middle Cottonwood Trail

Approach

Starting from the town of Bozeman, head north up Springhill Road. About (10) minutes from town, make a right hand turn onto Toohey Road (dirt / gravel road). Follow this for several miles until it connects with Walker Road. Make a right turn on to Walker Road which will turn into Saddle Mountain Road at the 90 degree bend. Just follow Saddle Mountain Road to the end where the parking lot is located. The trailhead begins at the end of the parking lot.

Route Description

The trail initially is a rather slight incline and makes for a nice hike along Middle Cottonwood Creek. The trail is well marked along the lower portions and would be difficult to miss. There is one foot bridge early on along this hike. As you begin to reach the steeper sections of the climb, the trail became a little more difficult to follow (we climbed in April when there was still a considerable amount of snow - this would probably be different in the summer). As you begin to approach the bottom slopes of Bridger Peak, the trail departs from the bottom of the canyon and begins to cross over the side of the lower mountains. Once past Bridger Mountain, the trail stays to the west of Middle Cottonwood Creek and becomes very steep (we chose to cross the creek and attempted to summit up an even steeper incline). Follow the trail to the bowl between Saddle Peak and an unnamed peak. Once along the top of the bowl, head directly to the east to the summit of Saddle Peak (which we did not reach). I found the USGS Quad map for Saddle Peak to be a real asset on the mountain.

Essential Gear

For early season climbing, bring your ice axe, crampons, snow shoes, and associated cold weather gear. I would also bring the Quad map. For summer climbing, I'll update in a few months when I try again.

Miscellaneous Info

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Images

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