PPL Montana employees help blaze a trail

In observance of National Trails Day on June 7, more than a dozen volunteers from PPL Montana; Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks; and the Great Falls Bicycle Club banded together to enhance hiking and biking opportunities near PPL Montana’s Ryan Dam. 

After a day’s work and a lot of sweat and muscle, the group constructed a half-mile of trail on the south side of a hill above Ryan Dam, which is on the Missouri River about 10 miles downstream from Great Falls. The trail provides a new link on the popular River’s Edge Trail from the Rainbow trailhead to Sulfur Springs below PPL’s Morony Dam.

“This was a very worthwhile community project because it provides an enjoyable route for hikers and bikers away from a sometimes busy service road,” said Rod Caldwell, an electrician and mechanic at Rainbow Dam and a longtime advocate of the River’s Edge Trail from Ryan Dam to Morony Dam.

“This half-mile is a very scenic route, and will be an enjoyable trail for public use for years to come,” he said.

PPL Montana supplied drinking water and T-shirts for all involved.

National Trails Day is an annual event sponsored by the American Hiking Society to promote awareness and cooperation among trail users.