Spanish Peaks is a 3,350 acre mountain community in Big Sky, Montana. Nestled in and surrounded by spectacular mountains including the Madison Range to the west, and the Gallatin Range to the east, Spanish Peaks is one of the premier residential communities in the entire Big Sky region.
Lone Mountain Land Company engaged Avid Trails to create their Spanish Peaks 2023 Trails Master Plan. We started the process by conducting a comprehensive audit of existing paths and trails, which included over a week of boots on the ground. We inventoried conditions of over 20 miles of trails, bike paths and fire roads, and made recommendations for repairs, reroutes and closures.
Once the existing trails inventory was complete, we then assessed areas that needed new trails and circulation options. For summer trails, we made new trail alignment recommendations for hikers and mountain bikes to a variety of destinations including blue ribbon trout streams, mountain top vistas, remote campgrounds, and other club amenities. Mountain bike only trails included three new downhill flow trails for beginner, intermediate and advanced riders, each with close to 1000 feet of vertical drop. To access these fun downhill trails, we designed a gentle pedal-up trail with average grade of below 5%, which make climbing easier for all abilities. Because winter is one of the most popular seasons for Spanish Peaks residents, our trails planning included specific winter trails. These alignments included nordic ski trails for all skill levels (green, blue and black trails with various distances and loops), snowshoe trails, and alpine ski trails to neighborhoods (ski in-ski out). All in all, we’ve planned and designed an additional 26 of miles of new trails for the community. As part of the trails planning process, we also are designing trail heads, signage and wayfinding, and an adventure park which will include a pump track, zip lines, climbing walls and frisbee golf.
3,350+
Acre Mountain Community
20+
