Lindley Park's New Accessible Trail Is Open. Here's What to Know.

Photo Credit: The MSU Exponent 

Summary: A new accessible trail has opened at Lindley Park in Bozeman, funded by a $42,000 City of Bozeman Community Grant. The compacted gravel loop connects the main event area to the pavilion and playground, replaces a mulch surface that blocked wheelchair access, and includes at least two accessible vendor spaces. A Phase 2 connector trail from Cypress Street is planned for 2027.

A new accessible trail has opened at Lindley Park, and it started with one person speaking up at a City Commission meeting. Ability Montana, the Bozeman-based nonprofit that advocates for people with disabilities, partnered with the City to build a compacted gravel loop through one of the park's most-used event areas, funded by a $42,000 Community Grant. For anyone who has struggled to navigate the Bozeman Farmers Market or Sweet Pea Festival in a wheelchair or with a stroller, the change is hard to miss.

What is Ability Montana and how did the Lindley Park trail project start?

Ability Montana is a nonprofit Center for Independent Living that has been operating in the Gallatin Valley since 1981, when it was founded as the Montana Independent Living Project. It rebranded to Ability Montana in 2022 and serves a 14-county region in southwest Montana from offices in Helena, Bozeman, and Butte. Its work covers accessible housing, disability navigation, transportation, and self-advocacy resources for people with disabilities.

The Lindley Park trail came directly from Liz Ann Kudrna, an Ability Montana board member and manual wheelchair user who lives a few blocks from the park. She regularly found herself locked out of the Farmers Market and Sweet Pea Festival by what Ability Montana's Ricky Burns described as a "very, very treacherous mulch surface" with uneven grades. 

About a year and a half ago, she brought that problem to a Bozeman City Commission meeting, and the conversation eventually led to a grant application and a construction plan.

What does the new accessible trail at Lindley Park include?

The trail is a compacted gravel loop positioned near the road where food trucks line up in the summer, connecting the main event area to the pavilion and playground. The width was designed to allow two wheelchair users to travel side by side, and the surface replaces the mulch that made the area effectively impassable for anyone using a wheelchair, mobility aid, or stroller.

The project also carves out at least two accessible 10x10 vendor spaces, giving disabled vendors a path to participate in the Farmers Market and Sweet Pea Festival for the first time. Per city planning documents, a Phase 2 connector trail from Cypress Street to the pavilion is planned for 2027, adding a direct accessible entry point from the sidewalk.

The trail runs through the section of Lindley Park that hosts most of the summer event activity, including the area where Farmers Market vendors set up near the park road. If you're heading to any Lindley Park events this summer, parking on the East Babcock or South Church side puts you closest to the new entry points.

Who funded the Lindley Park accessible trail?

The $42,000 project was funded through the City of Bozeman's Community Grant Program, with support from the Gallatin Valley Land Trust, HRDC, and the Sweet Pea Festival. Ability Montana applied for and received the grant, and the City of Bozeman Parks and Recreation team handled construction coordination. Burns, Kudrna, and fellow board member Jodi Hausen led the effort on the Ability Montana side, working with city arborists to make sure construction didn't disturb the park's established trees.

Bozeman Mayor Joey Morrison commented on the project in a city press release: "We want to ensure everyone, regardless of age or ability, is able to succeed and enjoy the amenities of the community."

Why does accessibility matter in Bozeman and the Gallatin Valley?

According to federal American Community Survey data, roughly 14% of Montanans live with some form of disability, and mobility challenges are among the most common. In a city that has grown as fast as Bozeman, public infrastructure doesn't always keep pace, and spaces like Lindley Park, which double as community gathering hubs, can end up inaccessible to a meaningful share of the population.

The Bozeman Farmers Market draws thousands of visitors each summer, and the Sweet Pea Festival is one of the valley's largest annual events. Making those spaces reachable for wheelchair users, parents with strollers, and vendors with carts matters in a community that values access to public life. As Burns put it: "My goal is to make Bozeman one of the most accessible cities in the United States, and this is one of those projects that is going to make that happen."

What is the First Annual Bozeman ADA Celebration at Lindley Park?

On Saturday, July 25, 2026, Lindley Park will host the First Annual Bozeman ADA Celebration from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is hosted by Ability Montana and the City of Bozeman and includes a 5K for adults, a fun run for kids, local vendors, food, and live entertainment. The day also includes a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new accessible trails and the public unveiling of the Bozeman Interactive Accessibility Map, a new tool designed to help residents navigate the city more easily.

Accessible restrooms and ASL interpretation will be provided at race registration and presentations. The event is free and open to the public.

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