If you’re looking for an outing that combines education and recreation, then the Upland Young Forest Trail is the hike for you.
The 0.8-mile trail is located inside the Coram Experimental Forest near Martin City and shows the work that has gone on in the forest since it was established in 1933.
From the parking area, the trail heads into the woods and climbs a short ridge through a dense western larch forest.
Eleven interpretive signs explain the surrounding landscape and how logging, wildlife and wildfire can affect it. It’s an easy hike, but rewarding, especially in fall.
The Riparian Old Growth Trail is a 0.3-mile trail that leaves from the same parking lot and shows how land is influenced by water.
How to get there:
From Martin City, drive east through town into the Flathead National Forest on the South Fork Road.
A few miles out of town, take a left on Forest Service Road 497 and travel north and then east on until it splits.
The left fork will take you on Forest Service Road 590B and the trailhead is another mile down the road.