As KBZK reported, on July 18, a paddler named Missy Racht pulled her kayak up to the boat ramp at Lower Toston Dam Recreation Area and said that, although she lives in Broadwater County, she had never launched from that spot before. She usually puts in at Toston Dam itself or at York Island. That morning, though, she was there for a reason. The county was giving a name to the stretch of river she'd been floating past for years.
That's the part of this story worth sitting with. The water hasn't changed. The current, the cottonwoods, the twenty miles between Toston Dam and Townsend, all of it has been sitting there the whole time, open to anyone with a boat and a little know-how. What changed on July 18 is that it finally has a name, a dedicated launch point, and an official place on the map: the Missouri River Paddlers Trail 43.
What Actually Got Dedicated on July 18
The ceremony started at 10 a.m. at the Lower Toston Dam Recreation Area, followed immediately by what organizers called an inaugural community float down the river. According to KBZK's coverage of the dedication, the naming had been three years in the making, part of a longer effort to formalize hiking, biking, equestrian, and water recreation access across the county.
The new designation covers roughly 20 miles, running from Toston Dam north into Townsend and ending at the Indian Road Day Use and Campground near the Townsend bridge. Carol Hatfield, a member of the Broadwater County Trails Committee, put it simply to KBZK: recreation use is climbing across the county, and this stretch of the Missouri is some of the most scenic water you'll find anywhere along it.
The Water Was Always There. The Access Wasn't Official.
Here's the piece that explains why a river people have paddled for decades suddenly felt new enough to warrant a ribbon cutting.
There's already an older, established paddling route on this same river. The Broadwater County Trails Vision Plan, completed in November 2025, describes a Fish, Wildlife and Parks managed trail that runs from Headwaters State Park near Three Forks down to Toston Dam, a separate stretch of about 21 river miles. That segment has existed for years and carries its own FWP designation.
What never existed, according to the same plan, was a formal connection from Toston Dam onward into Townsend. The document is blunt about it: there were no current existing trail connections linking that upstream FWP trail to anything downstream. The water was floatable. It just wasn't mapped, marked, or treated as part of a coordinated system.
That's the gap the July dedication closed. Amy Currence, who owns Goats Floats Stand-Up Paddleboarding, told KBZK the naming itself should do real work here. Giving the route a formal identity and marking it on maps, she said, is what tells people there's a place to launch and that facilities and parking are already there waiting for them.
Where to Actually Put a Boat In
If you've been meaning to try this stretch, the practical details are simple enough to write on a sticky note:
- Launch: Lower Toston Dam Recreation Area, the river access site where the July dedication took place.
- Take-out: Indian Road Day Use and Campground, near the Townsend bridge.
- Distance: about 20 miles start to finish, which most paddlers will break into a shorter half-day float rather than doing in one push.
- Alternative entry: York Island, an access point some regulars have used for years, even before the trail had its current name.
The Trails Vision Plan also notes there are FWP-managed access sites along this stretch of river between Toston Dam and Canyon Ferry, so you don't have to commit to the full 20 miles if you'd rather do a shorter afternoon paddle and shuttle a car partway.
The Next Piece Already Has a Grant Application In
The paddlers trail isn't the only project moving under the same Vision Plan. Back in Townsend proper, the North Front Street asphalt trail, the walking and biking route that's become a daily fixture for residents of all ages, is next in line for resurfacing and safety upgrades. The Broadwater County Development Corporation has already applied for a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Trail Stewardship Grant to fund the work, according to the county's trail planning updates.
It's a smaller, less photogenic project than a river dedication with a community float, but it follows the same logic. Before the county chases new trail mileage, it's shoring up the paved path people already walk their dogs on every morning.
What Still Isn't Connected
Worth saying plainly, because it's easy to assume the county now has one continuous trail network: it doesn't, not yet. The Vision Plan flags a mountain bike trail complex at Copper City, in the southern end of Broadwater County, as a genuinely good riding destination that's managed by the BLM and simply isn't linked to any other trail system in the county. There's also an older pedestrian path north of the Missouri River bridge, left over from before the current Highway 12/287 was built, that the plan describes as seeing minimal use.
The honest version of this story is that Broadwater County is building a trail network one funded segment at a time, and the river dedication is the most visible piece finished so far. That's not a knock on the effort. It's actually the more useful thing to understand if you live here: know which pieces are live right now, and don't assume the whole system is stitched together yet.
If You Want In on the Next Ribbon Cutting
The Broadwater County Development Corporation's Trails Committee meets monthly, on the third Wednesday, at The Lodge in Townsend, and the meetings are open to anyone who wants to show up. If you've got opinions about where the next access point should go, or you just want to know before the rest of the county does, that's the room where it gets decided. You can find current meeting details and the full Trails Vision Plan through Townsend's community site.
This is the kind of local decision-making that shapes daily life here more than most people realize. A dam access point, a resurfaced sidewalk, a mountain bike trail nobody's connected yet. None of it shows up in a listing description, but all of it is part of what makes a Thursday evening float on the Missouri, or a morning walk on Front Street, feel like something worth doing after work instead of something you keep meaning to get to.
If you're curious what else is on the county's radar for outdoor recreation, our Townsend community page and our local events calendar both track what's coming up around the lake and river through the rest of the season. And if you've already found your own favorite stretch of the Missouri, we'd love to hear where you put in.
Whether you're a longtime Townsend local or just getting to know the water in your own backyard, Bronda Bowery is always glad to talk about what makes this stretch of Southwest Montana worth calling home. Let's Connect.
