Whitefish Trail gets $150,000 grant for two new trailheads
Sam Wilson Daily Inter Lake | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 9 years AGO
The Whitefish Trail got a $150,000 boost after the popular community trail system was awarded a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant last week.
Along with a matching $150,000 in private donations required under the grant, the money will fund construction of 5.5 miles of new trail and two new trailheads: one on city-owned property along Reservoir Road and another on Big Mountain Road.
Whitefish Legacy Partners Executive Director Heidi Van Everen said a kickoff party next month in Depot Park will launch a fundraising campaign through the rest of the year, with work anticipated to begin next spring.
“It’s the first time in five years we’ve had [a grant] this big, so we’re pretty excited that this program did not get cut from the federal budget and that we’re getting support at this level,” Van Everen said.
Work on the Whitefish Trail began in 2010 after years of planning, and she said the group, working with the Whitefish Parks and Recreation Department and other local partners, has built 36 miles of trail and 10 trailheads in the years since.
When complete, the trail system will include a range of different trails totaling 55 miles and completing a loop around Whitefish Lake.
The Reservoir Road trailhead would be similar to a city park, Van Everen said, with a parking lot for 30 to 40 vehicles and a picnic area. The property is about a half mile from Wisconsin Avenue and includes historical remnants of buildings that were once part of a homestead.
“There’s an old stone wall [and] an old stone chimney, and we’re going to incorporate some of those features into the amenities of the trailhead,” Van Everen said.
From the parking area, 5.5 miles of new trails would connect to the existing trail system leading into Haskill Basin.
Van Everen said the other trailhead, located above the Lookout Range subdivision, would be built in partnership with Glacier Nordic Club and the Iron Horse subdivision on an easement provided by Whitefish Mountain Resort.
Van Everen noted that the popular winter trail system has limited access, and a parking lot and new trailhead would boost the number of cross-country skiers and snowshoers using the groomed routes. Summertime users would also be able to use the trailhead and roughly half-mile connector trail to access the rest of the Whitefish Trail system.
If the fundraising and construction go according to plan, Van Everen said a significant amount of work still remains for the trail system encircling Whitefish Lake. Closing the loop will require a final trailhead at Holbrook Overlook and about 15 miles of technically ambitious trail with three river crossings and one railway crossing.
“We never thought we could do what we’ve done, but that fact that we have makes us want to just keep going,” she said. “If we can connect Whitefish to the mountain and over to the head of Whitefish Lake, we have such an opportunity to teach people about water quality and the value of conservation in our community. People are excited about it, so we are embracing that.”
The Whitefish Legacy Partners, the city of Whitefish and the Trust for Public Land will hold their fundraising kickoff at an Open Lands Month celebration July 16 from 10 a.m. to noon in Whitefish’s Depot Park.
For more information, call Whitefish Legacy Partners at (406) 862-3880 or visit www.whitefishlegacy.org.
Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.
ARTICLES BY SAM WILSON DAILY INTER LAKE
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