Moderate, 5.2 mi Out and Back
1,109 ft elevation gain
Hiked 7/11/25
c/wildlifephoto post of a Mountain Bluebird seen on the trail from above.
One of the longer trails in this small state park in eastern Montana, it is mostly easy with a couple large hill climbs. After is along a ridgeline looking down into badlands valleys dotted with hoodoos. Park is known for its dinosaur fossils and the KT boundary, also has a disc golf course.
The trail leads on to some weathering sections of badlands in this area. Good footing, but watch for sinkholes.
A collection of hoodoos from the small garden area.
A small boulder field from where the columns collapsed under their capstones.
Any connection between Hungry Joe and Hungry Horse? Your recent posts near there brought it to mind. What a beautiful state park! Eastern MT has some real gems.
Hmm, I’m not too sure. Seems like half of the things named in that area are food terms repurposed or ‘hungry ____.’ Probably just a bunch of people that have been caught out in the badlands being hungry haha. I’ll have to look up hingry horse sometime, not sure if I know that one. Yeah, I don’t make it to eastern Montana as often, but it has some really great spots for sure.
a bunch of people that have been caught out in the badlands being hungry
There’s a great book, Bad Land, that talks about the eastern MT struggle for white “settlers.”
Ooh, I’ll add it to the list, thanks!
