Yellowstone Heritage Trail

Residents of towns in Paradise Valley have few safe options for walking to the local store or hopping on their bike to visit a friend down the road. And visitors to the valley have little reason to stop and recreate in the towns they drive past on their way to and from Yellowstone National Park. Steeped in history and natural splendor, the surrounding communities are largely ignored because of lack of walkability and the shortage of easily accessible trails.

A long-abandoned rail corridor offers a new opportunity for the Paradise Valley. When the first train steamed into Yellowstone in 1903, it carried Teddy Roosevelt—and the park’s first wave of visitors. Over time, that railroad disappeared, but the corridor it occupied was never developed. The communities have a solution: remake the former rail line into the Yellowstone Heritage Trail a dynamic trail for walking, hiking, cycling, birding, and more.

With the goal of connecting everyone in the Paradise Valley to the benefits and joys of the outdoors, Trust for Public Land and our partners are creating the Yellowstone Heritage Trail, a 56-mile trail that will enhance the entire valley’s connectivity to Yellowstone National Park. Residents of towns like Emigrant, Gardiner, and Livingston can hop on a bike and head safely to their local grocery store on a protected trail or head out on the trail to meet friends at the river to go fishing.

Trust for Public Land has started design and construction of the first three miles of this trail in Emigrant, Montana, but the journey is far from over. Continued collaboration, fundraising, and community support are crucial to achieving the ambitious goals of connecting Gardiner to Livingston and establishing Emigrant’s first park and trail.

As more national parks experience a record-breaking number of visitors, Trust for Public Land is committed to helping gateway communities tap into their own assets—and stay vibrant in the face of natural disasters that shut them down—to bolster their economy, expand health benefits, and provide safe connectivity for people. In Emigrant, that means remaking its abandoned rail line into a dynamic trail.

Transforming these old rail lines into a trail will also add a missing piece to the Great American Rail-Trail, a flagship initiative from our friends at Rails to Trails to create a multiuse trail from coast to coast. With your help, we can unlock this community’s potential to build a well-loved and well-used trail for visitors and residents alike.