East Gallatin Recreation Area


East Gallatin Recreation Area is a recreation area in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It was formerly a landfill site.
The conversion of the city landfill into a recreation area was awarded a national Take Pride in America award.

History

The East Gallatin Recreation Area began as a gravel pit and the city dump. Early photos show a steep sided water filled pit, surrounded by weeds and old refrigerators and car parts poking out of the bare ground. The land was transferred to the state parks department by Glen Hash, whose business owned the gravel pit and some adjacent land.The cleanup was accomplished through local donations and volunteer labor.
The area is named for the East Gallatin River which forms the eastern edge of the park.
Early volunteer work was performed by local volunteers and businesses under the leadership of the volunteer group organized as the East Gallatin Recreation Area Task Force. After about ten years the newly formed Bozeman Sunrise Rotary Club took over the volunteer leadership and has made great progress.
https://bozemansunriserotary.org/SitePage/east-gallatin-recreation-area-1
As of 2018 detailed plans have been created to improve the roads and parking sometime in 2019. Plans are also underway to build an additional large picnic shelter in 2020.
These large projects have been undertaken in cooperation with the City of Bozeman, the State of Montana and surrounding property owners. In December 2018 a 50-year lease was signed allowing the City to manage the lake area of the park which is on state owned land.
Part of that lease agreement calls for the park to be renamed as "Glen Lake Rotary Park"
For current information, consult the website of the Bozeman Sunrise Rotary Club or TripAdvisor