5.8 miles
Distance
1,032 ft
Climb
-183 ft
Descent
01:16:03
Avg time
Supporters, Builders, Maintainers & Land Managers of South Cottonwood (Lower) Trail

Details

  • Activities
    • Mountain Bike
    • Horse
    • Hike
    • Trail Running
  • Riding Area
    Northern Gallatin Range
    Bozeman, Montana
  • Ref Number
    #424
  • Difficulty Rating
    Blue rate
  • Voted Difficulty
    Blue (1 vote)
  • Hiking SAC Scale
    T1 Hiking
  • Trail Type
    Singletrack
  • Bike Type
    AM, XC, Fat
  • Direction
    Both Directions
    Popular in reverse
  • Climb Difficulty
    Blue
  • Physical Rating
    Moderate
  • Trail Visibility
    Always easy to follow
  • Season
    June-October
  • Dogs Allowed
    Yes
  • eBike Allowed
    No
  • Ride in Rain
    Yes
  • Global Ranking
    #89876 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • #2926 in Hiking
  • Local Popularity
    85 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • 70 in Trail Running
    • 95 in Hiking
    • 5 in Horseback
  • Land Owner
    USFS

Mostly a scenic, rolling, wide singletrack that follows South Cottonwood Creek for 6 miles to the Fox Creek Ranger Station. First half of this trail maintains a moderate grade (with a short steep climb out of the parking lot) and would be fine for beginner to intermediate bikers. After about mile 3 the trail becomes more rocky, rooted and steep. This gets worse as you head farther out. While the beginning of the ride is a solid intermediate trail, the later half should be labeled as an expert trail. I'm only rating it as blue so people riding the first part aren't scared off.
Keep in mind there are a few short climbs on the way out so save a little energy. This topography and soils in this drainage hold moisture longer than most trails in the region. Give it plenty of time to dry out and avoid riding when wet.

Local Trail Association
Traditionally Indigenous Territory
More Stats for South Cottonwood (Lower) multi-use trail trail
  • Altitude change
    850 ft
  • Altitude min
    5,746 ft
  • Altitude max
    6,596 ft
  • Altitude start
    5,746 ft
  • Altitude end
    6,598 ft
  • Grade
    2.8%
  • Grade max
    -30%
  • Grade min
    37.6%
  • Distance climb
    5 miles
  • Distance down
    5,148 ft
  • Distance flat
    1,050 ft
  • Avg time
    01:16:03
  • Avg reverse time
    01:19:56
  • view trail stats
Status:
on Mar 24, 2025
Snow Cover Partial
Avg: 3.82 (5 votes)
Your vote: 0

view (1,524)
close
  • BasemapMap 
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
3D
Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Snow Cover Partial
  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
  • Icy
  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Ideal
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
Trail Flow (Ridden Direction)
Trailforks scans users ridelogs to determine the most popular direction each trail is ridden. A good flowing trail network will have most trails flowing in a single direction according to their intension.
The colour categories are based on what percentage of riders are riding a trail in its intended direction.
  • > 96%
  • > 90%
  • > 80%
  • > 70%
  • > 50%
  • < 50%
  • bi-directional trail
  • no data
Trail Last Ridden
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine the last time a trail was ridden.
  • < 2 days
  • < 1 week
  • < 2 weeks
  • < 1 month
  • < 6 months
  • > 6 months
Trail Ridden Direction
The intended direction a trail should be ridden.
  • Downhill Only
  • Downhill Primary
  • Both Directions
  • Uphill Primary
  • Uphill Only
  • One Direction
Contribute Details
Colors indicate trail is missing specified detail.
  • Description
  • Photos
  • Description & Photos
  • Videos
Trail Popularity ?
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine which trails are ridden the most in the last 9 months. Trails are compared with nearby trails in the same city region with a possible 25 colour shades. Think of this as a heatmap, more rides = more kinetic energy = warmer colors.
  • most popular
  • popular
  • less popular
  • not popular
ATV/ORV/OHV Filter
Max Vehicle Width
inches
US Cell Coverage
Legend
cell carrier legend

Radar Time
x Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public ridelogs from the past 6 months.
  • mountain biking recent
  • mountain biking (>6 month)
  • hiking (1 year)
  • moto (1 year)
Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public skilogs from the past 12 months.
  • Downhill Ski
  • Backcountry Ski
  • Nordic Ski
  • Snowmobile
Winter Trails
Warning A routing network for winter maps does not exist. Selecting trails using the winter trails layer has been disabled.
x Missing Trails
Most Popular
Least Popular
Trails are colored based on popularity. The more popular a trail is, the more red. Less popular trails trend towards green.
Jump Magnitude Heatmap
Heatmap of where riders jump on trails. Zoom in to see individual jumps, click circles to view jump details.
Trails Deemphasized
Trails are shown in grey.
disable
Only show trails with NO bikes.
enable

Save the current map location and zoom level as your default home location whenever this page is loaded.

Save
      Directions to south-cottonwood-lower trailhead (45.539930, -111.092470)
      update trails status or condition

      South Cottonwood... Trail Reports

      statusdatedescription
      Mar 24, 2025 @ 10:28am
      Mar 24, 2025
      		 reporter
      Mar 22, 2025 @ 11:39am
      Mar 22, 2025
      		 reporter
      Oct 2, 2024 @ 6:44pm
      Oct 2, 2024
      Tree free from Fox down.
      Jul 31, 2024 @ 5:23am
      Jul 31, 2024
      		 Tree that was reported on 7/19/2024 is still down, if not, a similar looking one is
      Jul 19, 2024 @ 7:35pm
      Jul 19, 2024
      		 Tree down about a quarter mile past the third bridge. It's about 12" diameter and could be taken with a larger Silky, but you'd be there a while.
      view all reports »

      Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

      Past Week
      • 0 rides
      •  
      6 Months
      • 0 rides
      •  
      All
      • 166 rides
      • Last: Aug 6, 2024

      Technical Trail Features (TTF)

      Photos

      more »
      46 |
      Jul 12, 2022 @ 3:26pm
      Jul 12, 2022
      45 |
      Jun 20, 2022 @ 1:30pm
      Jun 20, 2022
      5 |
      Jul 19, 2024 @ 7:35pm
      Jul 19, 2024
      36 |
      Jun 27, 2022 @ 4:45pm
      Jun 27, 2022

      Trail Lists

      Routes with this trail

      more »
      titledistance
      DT BZN > Sourdough > History > South Cottonwood45 miles
      Blackmore to South Cottonwood17 miles
      Bogart > History > Blackmore > Wheeler > Bogart57 miles
      Fox to S. Cottonwood13 miles

      Trail Products

      3 Reviews & Comments


      We hope you've been enjoying Trailforks!

      Create a FREE account to view trail comments and much more.

      Create a Free Account

      Videos

      no videos have been added for South Cottonwood (Lower) yet, add a video.

      Nearby Trails

      Northern Gallatin Range

      • By dirtweaselTF Pro & contributors
      • #64499 - 4,957 views

      You must enter a description before submitting.