M trail parking lot full by 5:47 AM as hikers attempt to beat crowds they are

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 10:23:07 +0000

The M Trail parking lot reached capacity at 5:47 AM Tuesday, according to the Forest Service counter installed last spring and the three Subarus idling with headlights off beside the kiosk. By 6:15, a line of headlamps stretched up the switchbacks like a slow-moving constellation. Everyone interviewed said they came early to avoid the crowds.

“I got here at 5:30 and there were already twelve cars,” said Dale Henderickson, 34, who moved to Bozeman in 2019 and works remotely for a Denver software firm. “Unreal. It used to be empty at this hour. I remember in twenty-twenty you had the whole mountain to yourself.” Henderickson was wearing a headlamp, a Patagonia Capilene hoodie, and carried a Nalgene stickered with the logo of a brewery that opened in 2021.

M-Trail on The Bozeman Daily Bee

M trail parking lot full by 5:47 AM as hikers attempt to beat crowds they are