Run 125 - S Billings Blvd and Frontage Road

October 2, 2023

I decided to switch my long run days from Tuesdays to either Mondays or Thursdays so today I set up a route that would be the best of 9 miles and deal with some streets I haven’t been looking forward too.  South Billings Blvd is, once south of King Ave., a really busy and high speed road. The Frontage road is almost as bad and neither has much in the way of sidewalks.  

I started at Riverfront Park and went across the Yellowstone River to the other side of the bridge.  I don’t know if I knew that the bridge had a name but I do now.

Heading north on S. Billings Blvd.

I turned east on Frontage Road and ran past some businesses before doing  an out and back on Micro Court and then turning on Orchard and running through this large trailer park.

I got back Frontage Road and continued east.

Another out and back, this one on Intermountain.  That’s Riverfront Park across that field.

 

There are two large warehouses being build here.  It’s led to lots of speculation as to who might be moving in.

I made it to the south end of Sugar which is where I turned around and went back the way I came.

It used to be possible to access th east end of Riverfront Park from the old Washington Bridge street but that’s been taken over by a business and it’s now fenced.  However, this gravel road goes parallel to it.  There is a canal behind that fence on the right and I know that there is a small bridge across it up by those trees but when I got there I also found a new bridge.

This is the east end of the new paved trail that was installed along the north border of the park.

Below, this is the old road that went to the now removed Washing Street bridge across the Yellowstone River.  It was dedicated to Bill Dutcher and you can barely make out the monument in the weeds.

I have mixed feeling about paving what used to be dirt trails but I don’t want to stand in the way of progress and I think this is a link in the Marathon Loop, a bike trail that supposed to go around the entire city.

Cochran Pond in Riverfront Park.

My find of the day was a roll of green electrical tape.

A new Boy Scout project in the park.

I didn’t get 9 miles but got close enough to it.