After years of repairs following the 2022 floods, The Beaten Path is back open and about to see a huge increase in visitation. Can a friendly little Bozeman versus Billings fundraising competition help ensure the path is treated with the respect and reverence it deserves?

For generations, we knew it simply as “going over the top.” For the last 30 years, the 26-mile journey from East Rosebud Lake to the Clark’s Fork Trailhead near Cooke City has become known by a single, evocative moniker: The Beaten Path. 

ABWF’s 2025 Crew Leader, Finnian Bentler, shares his end-of-season reflections. Read on for a behind-the-scenes look at what a busy summer season is like for a wilderness crew leader like Finn. 

Ever since the historic floods of June 2022, The Beaten Path has been all but inaccessible to the countless hikers and backpackers hoping to check the iconic route off their backcountry bucket lists. Luckily, we’ve lined up nine great alternatives.

View to the south from the High Lakes Wilderness Study Area, Wyoming. Under the current Senate Reconciliation Bill, a majority of the public land in this viewshed could become available for sale. Photo Joe Josephson.

The Beaten Path is one of the most popular trails in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. But since a key bridge was lost in the floods of 2022, it’s also currently not safe to attempt.

Two virtual climbers race to the top of Granite Peak in this playful fundraiser to see which community loves the AB more: Bozeman or Billings.

On Valentine’s Day, 2025, a majority of the Wilderness stewardship staff on the Custer Gallatin National Forest were terminated without notice or cause.

Photo courtesy David Wells.

We are thrilled to introduce the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness Foundation (ABWF) Blog—a space where stories of stewardship, adventure, and a shared commitment to the land come to life.