Yellowstone Branch Line
(Variable Level, Average Level 2)

Yellowstone branch line trail is a trail that runs from Warm River to the Montana border totaling 39 miles.  There are a few places to jump on and off the trail as well as a few smaller trails that branch off of this larger trail.  A lot of the traffic covers small portions of this trail so not many people tackle the trail in its entirety.  It is difficult to decide what rating to give this trail from the small portion I hiked, but I would rate it as a 2. Although that depends on what you want to enjoy, so it can be anything from a 1 to 5. 

  The trail offers a variety of different activities.  It is open for backpacking, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, and all terrain vehicles under a certain size.  Depending on what you want to spend your day doing it’s a good idea to plan accordingly.

 

I hiked the northern part of the trail, and spent the afternoon bird watching.  Outside of Island Park, the area is considered fragile and limits the activities you can enjoy, such as camping in certain areas.  However, this provides wonderful scenes and great bird watching.  There are “pay” camp sites by the trail and I stayed at one outside of Island Park.  The campsite is nice and there were beautiful short walks, but it was a little busy.  There is no fishing in the area and the river is crystal clear so you can see all of the rainbow trout under the bridge, and this time of year you can also see the ducklings all over the river.

It is in a bear country so plan accordingly and bring bear spray.  If you do decide to camp you should hang your food, and take other precautions to avoid an incident.  Always bring the 10 essentials whether you’re hiking, riding, or any of the other activities you can enjoy on this diverse trail.