Garnet Mountain Trail is a 7.7 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Gallatin Gateway, Montana that features a river and is rated as difficult. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from March until October. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
January 21, 2021
January 2, 2021Beautiful views the whole way, it was a leg burner
December 19, 2020
December 17, 2020Great trail, only two other people up there on Monday. Snow coverage is spotty in some areas. But almost had a mountain lion encounter right on the trail so be aware (about halfway). Great view though!
December 7, 2020Went on a Monday morning & only saw 2 people! Beautiful views from the top.
October 6, 2020Hiked this after work on a Tuesday and saw no one. First part of the trail is shaded so great for a hot day. Beautiful views from the top!
September 19, 2020September 14, 2020Trail was well kept and easy to follow. The elevation gain is no joke. The trail is shaded by thick forest for almost the whole hike. This is nice because there are almost no flat stretches on this trail. Wear good shoes. The worst part is the last stretch to the top on the ATV trail. It was very rocky and washed out. Great views from the lookout even with the smoke. 1:45 up, 1:20 down.
September 12, 2020Saw bear poop halfway up, got scared, turned around. Really fun up until then!
August 11, 2020July 27, 2020Beautiful trail, many wildflowers. Incline is steady the entire way up. Very rewarding views at the top, although the flys do swarm you once you get onto the ATV trail pretty badly. It made it unpleasant to spend much time on the summit.
July 20, 2020This is a gorgeous hike with low traffic. We only saw 3 hikers the entire time. It’s a nice steady incline the whole way up, not too steep though. Took under 3 hours to complete, mostly shaded, were some horse flies biting, lots of marmots out, beautiful fields of wildflowers...
July 17, 2020Beautiful low-traffic trail! We started at 7:45am on a Friday and saw no one until we reached the lookout tower on top. Lovely climb through the forest, which is steep but shaded, followed by some great views through meadows. The ATV road at the end is steep and rocky but the stretch is quite short and the views are great so we didn’t mind. We only passed 2 hikers and 2 mountain bikers on our way back down, so it was quiet and scenic and we enjoyed it wholeheartedly.
July 4, 2020Great trail!! Even grade throughout; shaded at the beginning and sunnier near the end. Amazing views from the top. Up in 1:45, down in 1:25. 4 wheeler trail at the end which isn’t so nice — especially when they come tearing through. That’s only for the last 1/2 mi or so, though. Will be back!
June 24, 2020Great trail for a challenging run. The vert is no joke and there’s almost no flat sections. The final .5 mile turns into a dirt road that’s even more steep than the rest. It’s the least pleasant part of trail, but worth doing to get to the 360 views at the top. Would be 5 stars if it wasn’t for the dirt road section.
June 24, 2020Really nice low traffic (only passed 4 small groups the whole day one with two horses) hike with a decent amount of wildflowers along the way. The first third is less interesting but great views from there. Trails were dry and in good condition. Last half a mile was tough. Gave it 4 stars due to the service road at the end. 360 mountain views from the top. Cabin is not accesible as it’s owned by the forest service.
June 20, 2020Good trail run. Steady incline perfect for a steady jogging pace.
June 2, 2020Excellent! Amazing trail but may be tough for those arriving at altitude or as a first hike for the season. 13.4kms in/out. No snow no mud. Trail is dry.
April 4, 2020August 24, 2019great alternative to the busy storm castle trail across the road. harder, steeper, and much more rewarding! did the full finish to the lookout, and totaled 2 hours 50 minutes car to car, was certainly a workout and I was ready to collapse after a sustained downhill jog. Gets buggy near the top but never that bad.. views are phenomenal the entire way, and I only saw two people going up and one couple on my way down (on a Saturday afternoon), so very very lightly trafficked! 100% recommend!
August 17, 2019August 5, 2019For trail running this is an extremely technical, difficult trail. I would suggest only advanced to expert runners attempt it.
July 22, 2019Cinnamon is a much better fire lookout hike. This one was alright...the last half mile is on a gravel road in the wide open. The flies nearly ate me alive so bring spray!
July 1, 2019This trail is super great and I can not recommend enough for anyone who wants to take on this trail. It’s steep and more on the difficult side but the views absolutely make the climb worth it. Also, it’s much less traveled than the Storm Castle trail, and has better views. As the last 1/2 mile to the top of the trail is the hardest, the panoramic views make all of it worth it. This hike is a gem and do yourself a favor by skipping Storm Castle and go on this trail. Enjoy! Don’t be worried about the ATV riders on the trail to the lookout or the people staying at the lookout. You have just as much of a right to be up there as they do, it’s freaking public land. Never let them take that away from you.
May 20, 2019This was a totally amazing backpacking trip! (only a couple of caveats). We hiked up in the rain for about 4 hours to stay in the lookout at the top. Once the clouds cleared, the views were absolutely stunning. Biggest issue was someone wandering into the lookout while we were out on a day hike in the middle of our two night stay. Check out the video of our trip here! https://youtu.be/two_RpVPED8
May 11, 2019Full exposure to sun-great for spring hike. Road to trailhead still closed. Add approx 1.5 miles walking to get to trailhead.
October 7, 2018Less busy than storm castle, better views
