Prickly Pear Park adds fishing access, new trail in East Helena
Crews are adding four fishing access points and a new trail at Prickly Pear Park, making Prickly Pear Creek easier to reach for more East Helena visitors.
Crews at Prickly Pear Park in East Helena are building four fishing access points and a new trail that will open more of Prickly Pear Creek to the public while making the park easier to use for people of different ages and mobility levels. Montana Conservation Corps members are doing the work alongside Prickly Pear Land Trust, including a route that cuts through a cottonwood grove and is meant to give visitors a more natural, more engaging walk to the water.
The project arrives as the 240-acre park draws heavier use than planners expected. Prickly Pear Park and The Grove have already seen about 75,000 visitors since opening last year, a level of traffic that has made access improvements and trail upkeep more urgent. Land trust staff say the goal is not just to add mileage, but to shape a park layout that is easier and safer to navigate, with clearer entry points for fishing and a trail system that works for more families, older adults, and people who need gentler grades.
For East Helena, the build-out is part of a longer shift from industrial land to public open space. The park sits on the former ASARCO smelter site, where more than a century of lead smelting left behind contamination that has since been remediated and restored into wetlands, creeks, and wildlife habitat. East Helena asked Prickly Pear Land Trust in 2011 to help establish two parks on the former smelter land, a request that has now taken shape in The Grove, which opened in 2023, and Prickly Pear Park, which opened to the public on May 1, 2025.
The land trust says the work at Prickly Pear Park also serves as hands-on conservation training. Montana Conservation Corps crews gain experience building trail and access infrastructure that is visible to the public almost immediately, while the land trust strengthens the stewardship of a system that spans about 50 miles of trails and land. The project fits into a much bigger regional network as well: Prickly Pear Land Trust says the long-term Greenway Trail is intended to connect East Helena with Montana City.
That larger vision has made the park more than a local amenity. It is part of a public-access corridor that now includes three new parks created by the land trust, plus more than 80 miles of trails built in Helena’s South Hills since 1995 and more than 1,300 acres added to Mount Ascension Park and Mount Helena City Park. In East Helena, the current work is a practical next step, turning a reclaimed industrial site into a place where more people can reach the creek, stay on the trail, and spend time outdoors with fewer barriers.
Know something we missed? Have a correction or additional information?
Submit a Tip
