Non-Motorized Transportation & Trails

Healthy communities thrive on access to the outdoors, public lands and public commons, like parks and trails.

Study after study shows that investing in sidewalks, pathways and trails results in more resilient, healthier communities. In Park County, our high quality of life is tied to the outdoors. Whether we’re working, hiking, running, biking, walking, wheeling or strolling, time spent outside is time well spent. It’s not only good for our personal health but a life experienced outside is part of our Montana identity.

The Active Transportation Coalition works to create opportunities for individuals to naturally spend more time outside, moving around our town, in nature, with one another, creating safer, healthier, happier and economically more prosperous communities. With a mission to increase the walkability and bikeability of our county, influencing planning decisions for a connected community, and use design that supports our people, culture, history and neighborhoods. This group is facilitated by PCEC.

Active transportation, which literally refers to active rather than passive transportation (the kind of transport that requires an automobile), has not been a pillar of planning in recent decades. But the coalition is working to change that.

Yellowstone Heritage Trail - Emigrant Section

In a powerful collaborative effort, we are working with Park County, the Trust for Public Land (TPL), and local landowners to advance the Yellowstone Heritage Trail, a 56-mile separated multi-use path from Livingston to Gardiner that serves as a vital link in the nationwide Great American Rail-Trail. This summer, our collective focus centers on breaking ground on a transformative 3-mile paved segment through the heart of Emigrant—a community that currently lacks sidewalks or safe shoulders. Thanks to Park County’s dedication to protecting 23 acres of open space, this project will also establish Emigrant’s very first community park system. See map below.

By routing the trail adjacent to senior and low-income housing, our partners are ensuring safe, equitable outdoor access so that neighbors of all descriptions and abilities can safely walk, push a stroller, or learn to ride a bike.

Beyond creating a vital recreational asset, our partners are designing this corridor to serve as a connective, interpretive hub for the entire community. TPL is leading the charge to collaborate with residents, utilizing thoughtful signage to honor the valley's deep history, from its Indigenous heritage and historic buffalo jumps to railroad remnants, local birding spots, and an accessible fishing bridge over the irrigation canal. Together with our partners, we are investing in a landscape that nurtures physical and mental well-being, stimulates the local Emigrant economy, and deepens our shared connection to this extraordinary place and to one another.

Visit the Park County Website to Learn More

View the Yellowstone Heritage Trail Feasibility Assessment

City and County Planning

In recent years, the group has worked to incorporate thinking about active transportation into city and county planning processes. This has included submitting public comments on documents like the Livingston Growth Policy and the Downtown Master Plan, as well as orchestrated demonstration projects, like pedestrian flags.

The group gathered community members for public input and participation and developed a 2020 Bicycle Audit to understand barriers and opportunities of connecting within and to neighborhoods, and also conducted a Park Street Crossings Walking Audit, 2018, that informed the priorities of a rapid flashing pedestrian beacons on Main Street, Geyser and Park and near Mark’s In & Out. We are thrilled that with community and City support, they were finally implemented in Spring 2026. Notably, the Active Transportation Coalition also worked with the Livingston Recreation Department and Western Sustainability Exchange to permanently close River Drive to vehicle traffic during Farmer’s Markets.

Livingston Montana Trails and Active Transportation Plan

In 2021, the Active Transportation Coalition worked with the City to encourage developing an Active Transportation and Trails Plan, and as a result, the City Parks and Trails Committee received $50,000 to begin a new Parks and Trails Plan. PCEC was part of the steering committee, provided opportunities for the public to give public input, and kept our members updated on the plan as it proceeded. In 2022 The CoL’s Trails and Active Transportation Plan was adopted and added as an Amendment to the Growth Policy. The work continues to ensure development decisions incorporate the plan’s vision, discover more below.

The Plan identifies nearly 32 possible trail, sidewalk, and bikeway projects within the City. These projects were generated through input from Steering Committee members and the public, as well as field review and analysis by the Plan’s consultant. This resulted in a list of 12 top tier priority projects totaling nearly 9 miles of sidewalks, bikeways, and trails. Those projects are illustrated in the map below, including an overall City of Livingston Trails Master Plan and vision.

If you’re interested in getting involved to implement this plan, please contact us.

Park County MT, Active Transportation Plan

Review the full Park County Active Transportation Plan here.

The ATC’s Vision:

Park County is a harmonious and fun place to safely explore and connect with our friends and neighbors in all of our communities, due to its thoughtfully designed and beautiful paths, streets, trails and as a result is a healthy, safe, welcoming, and inclusive place to live, visit, or start a business.

Mission:

WE promote healthy, active, safe and connected communities

FOR all residents and guests

BY engaging in thoughtful design and consideration of all modes of transportation