Project Background:

The Garnet Range/Centennial/ Jump Over Road network provides access to Garnet Ghost Town. The Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA) surrounding Garnet Ghost Town provides a variety of opportunities to tour the historic buildings, access trails and interpretive sites, and access the winter cabin rental opportunities. Wheeled vehicles can access the road network for approximately eight months of the year (May–December) depending on snow levels, and the road provides snowmobile and cross-country skiing access during the winter months (January–April). Garnet Ghost Town is a fee site with an approximate annual visitation exceeding 28,000 visitors. Recreational demand is projected to increase significantly over the next several years due to local and international interest in the area. The Garnet Range Road network is composed of four segments:

• Garnet Range Road (Paved) – 3.7 miles
• Garnet Range Road (Gravel) – 6.4 miles
• Centennial Road (Gravel) – 0.8 mile
• Garnet Jump Over Road (Natural Surface) – 1.0 mile 

The Garnet Ghost Town Roads network is managed by the BLM Missoula Field Office and is located east of Missoula, Montana, off Montana Highway 200.

Project Description:

The proposed project consists of upgrading the driving surfaces and improving safety of the road network as follows: 

• Chip seal the existing pavement on Garnet Range Road (3.7 miles).
• Reshape and resurface, with stabilized aggregate, the Garnet Range Road, from the end of the current pavement to the intersection with Centennial Road (6.4 miles).
• Resurface Centennial Road with stabilized aggregate (0.8 mile).
• Provide stabilized aggregate surfacing on Garnet Jump Over Road (1.0 mile).
• Widen or improve isolated horizontal curves and existing pullouts.
• Improve drainage (culvert replacement, special ditching, etc.).
• Limited vegetation removal along curves to improve sight distance.
• Signage.  

Project Goal:

The goal of the project is to provide an improved, safer roadway network to benefit the visitor experience through:

• Improved accessibility and reduced congestion. 
• Design updates to the road network to keep pace with increasing recreational demands.
• Reduced dust and improved air quality through improvement of Garnet Range Road and Centennial Road. 
• Overall safety improvements that include increased site visibility on the roads, elimination of washboard hazards, increased pullouts or better placed pullouts, and improved sight distance.

Project Partners:

• Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Missoula Field Office
• Federal Highway Administration - Western Federal Lands Highway Division

Contact Information:

Outdoor Recreation
Planner: Nick Bode
Phone: (406) 214-2078
Email: nabode@blm.gov

Bureau of Land Management
Missoula Field Office 
3255 Fort Missoula Road
Missoula, MT 59804
United States
Phone: 406-329-3914