Polebridge Merc hosts new trail

Several U.S. and Canadian environmental groups have carved out a new educational “Transboundary” trail up the North Fork on land owned by the Polebridge Mercantile.

The quarter-mile long stroll runs through scrub brush left from the 1988 Red Bench Fire and offers expansive views of the Livingston Range.

Several interpretive signs along the path provide information on history, geography and biology of the area, historic perspectives, threats to the ecosystem as well as triumphs, including efforts to ban coal and other mining projects in the watershed.

The trail is free and open to the public and is located about 50 yards north of the Northern Lights Saloon.

The trail was conceived with help from the Polebridge Mercantile owner Will Hammerquist, the National Parks Conservation Association, Headwaters Montana, the Sierra Club and several other organizations.