Drinking Horse Mountain

Dogs Leashed

Features River/Creek · Views · Wildflowers

This trail area can be busy, but there are multiple route options that break it up. The path is also built to a good width for easy passing so you can choose your own pace. This makes a good alternative to The College M Trail, which is wildly popular and just across the highway from Drinking Horse.

From the trailhead/parking lot at Bridger Canyon Road, make your way downhill into the trees, following the most obvious route. You'll walk a short distance through the lowlands until you come to a magnificent bridge followed by a dirt road. Cross the road and head into the large, obvious gate that designates the Drinking Horse Mountain area.

There is one wide path to start, but it will eventually come to a signed junction with information about the easier vs. more difficult ascent route. Decide what level of physicality you are up for, and choose a path. These two paths come back together further up the mountain and join as one to gain the summit.

Take a few minutes to rest on the large rocks on top of the peak and take in the view of the surrounding landscape before making your way back down the trail.

Approximately 40 acres of land was donated by the White family in the early 2000s. This trail was completed in 2009 after nearly a decade of cooperative work between a local non-profit, the Gallatin Valley Land Trust, and the USFS for Gallatin National Forest.