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Fort Benton and possibly Fort Peck. That was definitely different
planning from any other trail I walked," says Costanza.
He says he appreciated the Montana Trail's website, mon-
tanatrail.org, which breaks the trail into 25 sections and offers
descriptions of each, including specific trails to take and what
to expect, such as where you can pick up cell service again and
how to find the nearest trail town. Downloadable GPX files cre-
ated by Montana's OnX Maps are available for each section, or
travelers can download them from the OnX app itself.
Timing the start of the trip depends upon snowpack in the
higher elevations, and Costanza's late July 2024 departure
worked out well. "I thankfully had zero snow on the PNT sec-
tion. There was good trail and roads to walk for sure, and many
of the trails were well maintained with minimal blow-downs."
The first hitch travels through heavy forests and striking
mountain passes through Yaak, Rexford, Eureka, and Glacier
National Park, which is also where travelers share the same path
as the CDT until it reaches Section 9, the Wise River area south
of Butte. "Leaving the CDT and heading into Wise River I did
deviate from the trail a couple of times, but that was my fault,
really. Still not all of the trail is well-used, and navigation can be
challenging at times."
While Glacier and the Bob Marshall Wilderness are renowned
for their beauty, Costanza says, "You get into some really, re-
THE MONTANA TRAIL
WILL ONLY BE AS GOOD
AS THE SUPPORT IT HAS IN THE SMALL
COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE STATE.
