Whitefish Legacy Partners celebrates multiple steps toward closing the loop

The Whitefish Trail recently added almost four miles of looped trails with tremendous vistas accessible from Big Mountain Road while also making progress on another large project north of Whitefish Lake.

Whitefish Legacy Partners (WLP) joined with the U.S. Forest Service and the City of Whitefish to celebrate the opening of the Holbrook Trail Overlook on Big Mountain Road last Thursday evening.

The area has sweeping views and the trailhead is landscaped with extensive rockwork that forms several tiered viewing sites. The completion of the overlook includes a few benches spread out and one covered bench area along with interpretive signs and a large, informative kiosk.

On Thursday, folks gathered at the site to celebrate the opening of the overlook and the progress made connecting the Whitefish Trail loop.

Years ago, the Holbrook Overlook was a scenic picnic area but it went mostly unused after 2008 when Big Mountain Road was re-routed.

“We’re excited to bring outdoor recreation back to this special place with these amazing views (with) four miles of the Whitefish Trail here,” said Whitefish Legacy Partners Executive Director Heidi Van Everen.

The Holbrook trail is the latest section of the Whitefish Trail to be built and represents the first phase of recreation development under the Flathead National Forest Taylor Hellroaring Project. The Taylor Hellroaring Project involves a network of community trails to be located on the face of the Whitefish range and is a collaboration with WLP, the U.S.F.S. and Flathead Area Mountain Bikers. The Holbrook trail represents the first time WLP has partnered with the Forest Service.

“None of this would be possible without our strong public-private partnership and it’s pretty exciting that Legacy Partners, the City of Whitefish, Flathead National Forest and the whole Whitefish community can create amazing places like this,” Van Everen began.

Tom Mulholland, Tally Lake District Ranger, described the Holbrook area as a tremendously beautiful trailhead and shared his thoughts with attendees during his brief remarks.

“We kind of raised the bar pretty high now,” he said with a smile. “I know I’m going to come back with my friends and family and I sure do hope you do, too. “

Whitefish City Councilor Steve Qunell described the magnificent first impression the trailhead provides and said he was happy that this part of the Whitefish Trail has such a great view.

“We’re excited to continue the partnership between the city and Whitefish Legacy Partners,” Qunell said on behalf of the city. “We appreciate all the work Whitefish Legacy Partners has done to create the trail system here. It's such a great amenity for our community.”

Van Everen also described the overall vision for this area of the Whitefish Trail to the crowd and the plan for it to eventually link up with trails near Smith Lake.

“The trail heads west from here into Hellroaring Basin and then it’ll bring folks out to the head of Whitefish Lake at Smith Lake and Swift Creek,” she said during the presentation. “And that Smith Lake Legacy is Legacy Partner’s newest conservation and recreation project — to protect 600 acres and create a family-friendly, quiet recreation area with trails and improved lake access in 2022 and 2023.”

“Additionally, this area will provide the connection to the community trails projects that are slated to begin in 2025 that will connect Whitefish Mountain Resort along the ridge north and down into Hellroaring Basin and back out this way,” Van Everen continued.

At last week’s Whitefish City Council meeting, the council voted unanimously to approve the Smith Lake Public Recreation Use Easement (PRUE) application. This opens the door for more trails to be built around the lake and is a step toward the goal of closing the loop, or making the trail completely circumnavigate Whitefish Lake.

Whitefish Legacy Partners has been working with the City of Whitefish and State Trust Lands for several years to acquire the easement. According to Van Everen, after the application is approved, the next big steps are the survey, an appraisal, easement negotiation and payment terms. There will also be opportunities for the public to add their input to the process.

The initial proposal for the easement was submitted in 2017. In October of 2023, if the Land Board approves, paying the bill will begin. The money from the purchase of the development rights goes into a trust that pays Montana State University and School for the Deaf and Blind dividends in perpetuity.

The Smith Lake Public Recreation Use Easement seeks to protect approximately 600 acres of public land including existing and future Whitefish Trail routes. With the easement secured, the state will manage the timber and the city will take over the right to manage the recreation.

Whitefish Legacy Partners seeks to connect the Whitefish Trail from Smith Lake to the adjacent U.S. Forest Service Taylor-Hellroaring Basin Project with private landowner partners in future projects.

“The Smith Lake Public Recreation Use Easement in this application will surround Smith Lake and will offer concentrated new recreation opportunities around Swift Creek and Smith Lake,” Van Everen said. “The Smith Lake PRUE will remove development opportunities, provide permanent public access and allow a variety of recreation improvements including stacked loops and lakeshore improvements to support family-friendly quiet recreation, enhance our conservation values, provide wildfire protection, wildlife protection, and clean water in Whitefish Lake.”

The Whitefish Area Neighborhood plan of 2004 is a 20 year plan that, according to Van Everen, operates with the belief that varied uses on public lands are compatible and they can serve each other. While it set the stage to do conservation on the land around Whitefish Lake, in 2006, the Whitefish Trail Master Plan set forth the community’s vision to have conservation land around Whitefish Lake and have them be connected by a trail.

“To make that vision a reality, it requires working on private lands, on State Trust Lands as well as on Forest Service lands. It really is a patchwork,” explained Margosia Jadkowski, Whitefish Legacy Partners Director of Lands and Partnerships. “Smith Lake is a great example of how that’s done on State Trust Land and Holbrook is a great example of how that can be done on federal lands as well.”