The 3-mile Mud Creek Trail Loop offers a beginner-friendly mountain biking route located about a mile south of Big Sky off of U.S. Highway 191. PHOTO COURTESY OF SARA MARINO
The Michener Creek Trails quickly gained traction and popularity since being built by Terraflow Trail Systems in 2019 through private funders. The trails came under the Big Sky Community Organization trail system in May of 2021 thanks to the help of the Blackfoot Hills Property Owners Association and at that point the trails reverted to their historical name of Mud Creek.
The Mud Creek Trail loop is 3 miles in length and climbs about 450 feet in the first 1.5 miles, providing an opportunity to get your blood pumping a bit before the fast and flowy descent with berms and terrain features to enhance the ride. The trail should be ridden counter-clockwise and features a beginner-friendly climb and the descent is in the intermediate range.
For those beginners that are nervous about the descent they can return the way they came up on the climbing trail. Hikers are welcome on the climbing trail but should steer clear of hiking on the descending trail for everyone’s safety. There is signage at the 1.5-mile mark to indicate where the trail changes from two-way traffic to recommended downhill use only.
The Mud Creek Trails are easy to access. From Big Sky travel about a mile south on U.S. Highway 191 and turn at the Michener Creek Road located between The Whitewater Inn and Canyon Adventures. Or, leave your car at home and bike the paved Lone Mountain Trail that runs from Town Center to the Big Sky Conoco. At that point the trail becomes the Gallatin Canyon Trail which keeps you safely off the road the entire time ending at Ophir Elementary School. BSCO added an informational kiosk and trail signage and plans to add a bear-proof trash receptacle for users’ convenience.
If you haven’t checked out these trails yet, do yourself a favor and get out there. Trail maintenance from the BSCO team is helping these trails ride great. Be bear aware and have fun!
Sara Marino is the new community development manager for the Big Sky Community Organization. She comes to BiSara Marino is the Development Manager for the Big Sky Community Organization. BSCO creates recreational and enrichment opportunities for people through leadership of partnerships, programs and places.
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a
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We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a limited palette to create different color combinations? Are you tired of carrying around 15-20 different tubes when you paint plein air? Have you ever wanted to create a certain “mood” in a painting but failed? Do you create a lot of mud? Do you struggle to achieve color harmony? All these problems are addressed in John’s workbook in clear and concise language!
Based on the bestselling “Limited Palatte, Unlimited Color” workbook written by John Pototschnik, the workshop is run by Maggie Shane and Annie McCoy, accomplished landscape (acrylic) and plein air (oil) artists,exhibitors at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery and members of the Big Sky Artists Collective.
Each student will receive a copy of “Limited Palette, Unlimited Color” to keep and take home to continue your limited palette journey. We will show you how to use the color wheel and mix your own clean mixtures to successfully create a mood for your paintings.
Each day, we will create a different limited palette color chart and paint a version of a simple landscape using John’s directives. You will then be able to go home and paint more schemes using the book for guidance.
Workshop is open to painters (oil or acrylic) of any level although students must have some basic knowledge of the medium he or she uses. Students will be provided the book ($92 value), color wheel, value scale and canvas papers to complete the daily exercises.