MWA Announces 2016 Wilderness Walks

HELENA — Beginning in May and lasting throughout the summer, Montana Wilderness Association (MWA) is offering more than 100 free day hikes, field trips, trail building and maintenance projects and wildland inventory outings across some of the state’s most magnificent backcountry, including wilderness areas, proposed wilderness areas and roadless lands.

Since the program’s beginnings in July of 1962, when MWA founders Ken and Florence Baldwin led 40 hikers on the first Wilderness Walk to Table Mountain in the Spanish Peaks, the intention of the Wilderness Walks program has remained the same—to build grassroots support for wilderness and public lands by uniting a community around Montana’s special places.

Now in its 54th season, MWA’s Wilderness Walks program continues to offer hikers of all ages and experience levels an opportunity to participate in traditional recreation opportunities while enjoying Montana’s quiet beauty and remaining wild places.

Below is a detailed list of all the hikes hosted by MWA’s Shining Mountain Chapter and located in the western region of the state.

In addition to the day hikes, MWA is also offering these following adventures:

Wildlands Inventory Outings: Volunteers can help us build the case for new wilderness by helping us document wildlife encounters, campsites, noxious weeds, and trail conditions.

Volunteer Trail Projects: Often in partnership with organizations, MWA organizes trail stewardship projects designed to create trails, remove weeds and prevent erosion.

CDT Montana: Interested in getting your hands dirty and helping to complete the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail? CDT Montana, MWA’s volunteer trail stewardship program, has 15 projects scheduled for this summer.

All MWA outings are free and open to the public but participants must first register. The complete 2016 Wilderness Walks schedule is now available online at http://www.wildmontana.org/walks.

For more information on the Wilderness Walks program, contact Amanda Hagerty at (406) 443-7350 (ext. 108) or at ahagerty@wildmontana.org.