3 minute read
Overview
BILLINGS PARKS AND RECREATION
The diversity in the parks system provides for a wide variety of activities and experiences. Besides providing open spaces and scenic beauty, parks serve as sites for scientific inquiry and educational opportunity. Additionally, they contribute environmental benefits like oxygen production, urban cooling, and filtering particulates from the air. Billings parks are treasured by area residents, as indicated by the 2017 Comprehensive Masterplan Study which found 86% of households use a City Park at least annually (compared to a national average of 79%). To find a list of Billings’ parks, or to search for a park, use the Billings Parks and Recreation Park Finder at www. billingsparks.org/park-finder.
Advertisement
RECREATION, SPORTS AND SWIMMING Swimming Pools:
• South Park Pool • Rose Park Pool
Wading Pools:
• Pioneer Park • Hawthorne Park
Splash Pads:
• Highland Park • Terry Park • Castle Rock Park • South Park • North Park
Billings proudly boasts a few extraordinary community amenities in the parks that may not be expected. • The Strike Zone Batting Cages
at Stewart Park
(406) 657-8371 • Billings Skate Park
27th St and 1st Ave South • Amend Park Community Garden
(406) 657-8308 • Billings Community and
Senior Center
(406) 657-3050 • Par 3 Golf course operated by
the Exchange Club DOG PARKS
• High Sierra Dog Park
West End of Wicks Lane • Centennial Park 32nd Street West and St. John’s Ave. Centennial Park is our newest community park in Billings! This 23acre park features many amenities for the citizens of Billings to enjoy including five baseball fields, two large multi-use open spaces, a 6-acre dog park with two doggie drinking fountains, four shade structures, 10 benches and a small dog area. Access to the park is available off of 32nd Street W including a parking lot with 80 parking stalls and a year round restroom facility. Centennial Park is designated as an arboretum. Over the next five to seven years parks staff will plant over 300 trees and provide citizens an opportunity to see a variety of unique trees that grow in the Billings area. There are still additional amenities planned for the park and will be installed as funding becomes available, including a playground, splash pad, two picnic shelters, basketball and pickle ball courts, and additional parking.
SOFT SURFACE TRAILS Two Moon Park
This is a County Park situated on the east side of the Heights along the Yellowstone River just east of Bench Blvd. with an access road by Centennial Ice Arena. There are over 4 miles of natural trails encircling this riverside park with beautiful vistas of the Yellowstone River and riparian terrain. Trail use includes hiking and mountain biking and there is also boat access to the river.
Riverfront Park
Located north of the Yellowstone River and east of South Billings Boulevard, this park has some older asphalt trails, but numerous miles of natural trails skirting the river and small ponds and lakes.
Norm Schoenthal Island and Conservation Education Center
Natural park located on the north side of the Yellowstone River just west of South Billings Boulevard. There is a parking lot with a restroom and bridge access to the island and numerous gravel trails. Several trails wind around the ponds and berms that have been created within the Montana Audubon Center area along the channel.
Zimmerman Park
A county park located west of Zimmerman Trail with parking access south off of Hwy. 3. This is a scenic, natural park area with numerous dirt trails overlooking the City along the face of the Rims. There is also a short hard surface trail that directs visitors to a historic, informational kiosk.
Phipps Park
Located on the southwest side of Molt Road on the west end of Billings. There is a parking lot on the south side of the road just west of the railroad underpass. This is a natural park area with access to the top of the Rims and numerous trails with spectacular views of the Yellowstone Valley and Billings. Trail use includes hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding and a challenging Disc Golf Course.
HARD SURFACE TRAILS Swords Rimrock Park Trail
The trail is two miles long and is located along the Rims south of Airport Road and east of the N 27th Street Airport entrance. It is a beautiful section of trail as it meanders across the Rims and provides spectacular vistas of the City and the Yellowstone River Valley.
Jim Dutcher Trail
This trail starts in the Heights on Mary Street on the old railroad bed east of Bench Boulevard. It extends approximately 6.5 miles, passing by Two Moon Park and trailhead, dropping down off the Rims by MetraPark, along the Yellowstone