Wilsall to Livingston
MT · Wilsall → Livingston
A farm railroad up the Shields River, in the shadow of the Crazy Mountains.
The Shields River Valley Railway was incorporated in 1908 and finished a 22-mile line from Mission, near Livingston, north to Wilsall in 1909. The Northern Pacific absorbed it in 1914. It served ranching and grain towns — Clyde Park, Chadborn and Wilsall — below the Crazy Mountains.
Burlington Northern abandoned the branch in 1985. The Wilsall depot, grain elevators and several bridges still stand along the old right-of-way. Near Wilsall in 1968, construction workers found the Anzick burial — a roughly 12,600-year-old Clovis-era grave that gave scientists the oldest human genome ever recovered in the Americas.
⚠️ Before you go: every railroad on this map is private property. A line that looks abandoned may still be owned by a railroad, used to store rail cars, or put back into service at any time — sometimes with no warning. Before going near any track, make sure it's truly abandoned (no recent use, rails not polished, no signals or cars stored on it) and that you're allowed to be there. Never assume a track is dead.
📷 Photos & stories from riders
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