New walking trail being constructed on Saddle Butte

After years of work, Havre Trails, Hill County, Montana Land Reliance and the Lieberg family have established the necessary easements to allow for the creation of a new hiking trail at the south end of Saddle Butte, which could be open as soon as this summer.

Havre Trails President Lindsey Brandt-Bennett said the trail will be about 1.75 miles long starting about a fifth of a mile east of where pavement currently ends on Bullhook Road, though they may expand the trail with more loops in the future.

Brandt-Bennett said the Lieberg family has been interested in preserving the ecologically unique area for many years as well as ensuring public access to it, with Rick Lieberg having come to the very first Havre Trails meeting in 2015, and having talked about the possibility even before that.

A press release from Montana Land Reliance says that Saddle Butte’s rocky formations and deep coulees were formed by ancient lava flows and pressure seams, and the high elevation allows for excellent views of the Sweetgrass Hills, the Bear Paw Mountains and the Highwood Mountains.

“Wildflowers are prolific in the spring and early summer, and mule deer, bald eagles and sharp-tailed grouse can be found on the property year-round,” the release adds.

The Lieberg family has been working toward preserving the land and public access to it for many years now, with the help of these organizations, but the lack of an active land trust in the area made the process a bit complex, as they had to find another entity to hold the necessary easements.

“When we bought this land years ago, we knew it needed to be protected,” said Rick Lieberg in the release. “We feel like this place should be enjoyed by everyone, not just us.”

Brandt-Bennett said Montana Land Reliance holds conservation easements, but not public access easements, which are typically held by land trusts like those found in areas like Missoula, but Havre doesn’t have one, so they had to find another entity that could and would, and they found one in Hill County.

She said the process of getting everything set up took longer than normal because it is a bit of an unusual partnership and all parties had to do a lot of work to make sure legal language was such that the Lieberg’s wishes couldn’t possibly be misinterpreted.

Brandt-Bennett said Attorney Kaden Keto did a tremendous amount of work on the project as well, and she wants to thank him along with the county for being partners in this endeavor.

“I’m super excited, the Liebergs are super excited and I think the community will really enjoy that area,” she said.

The final step of the approval process was completed last week when the Hill County Commission approved legal language of the public access easement, and now work can begin on the trail.

Brandt-Bennett said the trail will not take long to create, but they need a parking lot constructed and some fence modifications, which will take a bit more time.

She said there isn’t a solid end date, but she’s hoping the trail will be open by summer or soon after.

In the release Brandt-Bennett said the Lieberg family has provided the community access to an incredibly beautiful landscape.

Montana Land Reliance also thanked the Liebergs for their dedication to protecting an important part of the Havre community.

“It’s exactly what we had in mind when we started this project three years ago,” Rick Lieberg said in the release.