Old Yellowstone Trail is a road leading from Three Forks into Willow Creek. The speed limit signs say 60 miles per hour, but people in the area say they have to drive way under the speed limit just to stay safe.
“I don’t remember it being that rough,” said Chris Zier, a Manhattan resident.
And his buddy, Harold Nibbley agreed.
“It’s gotten worse over the years, that’s for sure; it’s definitely not the smoothest road in Montana,” he said.
Nibbley and Zier drive into Willow Creek quite often to grab lunch at the Willow Creek Café and Saloon—despite the bumpy ride.
“I picked him up in Three Forks and on the drive over we were commenting on how bad the road is,” said Zier.
Nibbley says they don’t drive it every day, but they can imagine the frustration of those who do, like Jessica Owens who commutes from Norris to her job here at the café and saloon 5 days a week.
“And my kids go to school in Three Forks so we go back and forth a lot,” said Owens.
Owens says even though the speed limit is 60—
“If you go that speed, you might bounce right off the road,” said Owens.
Owens says she hopes the Montana Department of Tranportation will fix it soon because she is concerned for people’s safety.
“The no shoulder and the bumping make it easy to lose control so I don’t think anyone should be going over 40 mph,” said Owens.
We have yet to hear back from MDT on whether they have any future plans to fix the bumpy road.
“It would be nice if it was fixed, who wants to bounce around for 6 miles,” said Owens.
But until then?
“We’ll bounce around for six miles to come eat here,” said Nibbley.
UPDATE, 02/07/2023: The Gallatin County Sheriff's Office notified the public that MDT has now lowered the posted speed limit on Old Yellowstone Trail to 45 miles per hour.
