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Makoshika State Park

May 26, 2019 - June 1, 2019

Trip Navigation

Makoshika State Park is Montana’s largest state park as it totals almost 12,000 acres in size. The park has 11 designated trails, visitor center, campground, PDGA disc golf course, archery range, pavilion for rent, and outdoor amphitheater that seats over 200 people. The park receives almost 100,000 visitors a year and in 2017 won the USA Today Best Montana Attraction award. One of the park’s main attractions is dinosaurs. Over 10 different species of dinosaur fossils have been found in the park. The visitor center also has a paleontology lab in the basement. The trail crew will be instrumental in helping with our partnership trail. The Buccaneer Trail connects the state park to the community college and travels over a BLM easement. This one mile trail needs some repairs and the BLM portion of the trail needs to be established. This trail work should not take more than two days. The other two days of work will include repairing the 1/2 mile Switchback Trail and Hungry Joe Trailhead. Tools used for the project will include Pulaski’s, McLeod’s, and shovels.

Host

Montana State Parks

Accommodations

Cabin/Lodge

Hiking/Access

Day hiking up to 1 mile each day

Project Rating

Moderate

Minimum Volunteer Age

16

Maximum Group Size

10

Area and Attractions

Makoshika State Park is the gateway to the famous Badlands that roam from Eastern Montana through North Dakota and South Dakota. The park is full of scenic vistas where the public can take photographs of wildlife, caprocks and the intriguing Badland beauty. The park is covered in ponderosa timber and open in other areas. The park has 11 designated trails, visitor center, campground, PDGA disc golf course, backcountry camping, archery range, pavilion for rent, and outdoor amphitheater that seats over 200 people. The paleontology lab is located in the visitor center basement. Glendive, MT has some great museums including the Glendive Dinosaur Museum and Frontier Gateway Museum. The Glendive Dinosaur Museum has one of the best dinosaur displays in Montana. The Frontier Gateway Museum is the local county museum which is rated one of the best county museums in Montana. Glendive also has one of the top music stores in the nation with Hell Creek Music. Inside Hell Creek Music is a 38-foot T-Rex. The longest free-flowing river in the lower 48 states is the Yellowstone River. The Yellowstone River flows through the middle of Glendive and provides great fishing and floating opportunities. The town of Glendive also has some unique local shops and has many restaurants including Mexican, Chinese, Italian, and of course American cuisine. Other area attractions that are not too far away include the famous Medora tourist attraction in North Dakota, Teddy Roosevelt National Park, Miles City, MT and all its historic Cowboy fame and the Evelyn Cameron Gallery in Terry, MT. There is also some spectacular bird watching north of Glendive, MT at the Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge. As part of your day off activity you could take in a paleo project in the lab working on dinosaur fossils or explore Teddy Roosevelt National Park and Medora, ND which is about 60 miles away.

Accommodations Description

Volunteers will stay in cabins in the park. The cabin complex is called Sleepy Hallow. The largest cabin can accommodate eight people comfortably. The cabins have beds with linens and new pillows and some have end tables and dresser drawers. The cabin complex also has a separate building for the kitchen and dining area and has a common area. The kitchen was just remodeled in 2017 and includes gas stoves and ovens, microwave, sinks, pots, pans, bowls, plates, and utensils all for use. The kitchen area also has a dining table. The patio which is located outside the kitchen building has two propane BBQ’s on it for use. A separate building has the bathrooms and showers. The Sleepy Hallow complex is managed by the local Lions Club and is secluded away from the nearest campground. Sleepy Hallow is very quiet and relaxing and has a fire pit and benches. Volunteers should bring their own personal gear.

Travel

Airport pickup provided from Glendive Airport. Airport pickup and dropoff times will be sent to registrants when the trip is confirmed.

Location

Makoshika State Park
1301 Snyder Av, Glendive, MT 59330 United States
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