Park Interpretation and Signage in North Riverside Parks

Thank you for your participating in this survey! The survey is now closed.

New information about this project will be posted here. Visit the Missoula Parks and Recreation website for more information about future park planning.

The North Riverside Parks & Trails Media Implementation Plan needs your input. In thinking about what makes these Parks a crucial part of our community, what signs and stories should be shared here? Please take the survey below to give your input and ideas. The survey is open until March 27, 2023.

Join us for an in-person Open House!

Friday, March 3

4:00 - 6:00 p.m.

At 101 S. Higgins Ave: Unseen Missoula Pop-Up Museum in the Hammond Arcade Basement

Parks exist at the heart of Missoula.

Nestled in a valley shaped by glacial ice dams and floods, it is a place rich in natural history and human history. The Séliš and Ql̓ispé have considered the valley their home since time immemorial, gathering bitterroot and camas on the river banks and fishing long before Caras Park and Bess Reed park received their names. Missoula’s industries also grew along the river, from sawmills and railroads to farmer’s markets and guided river trips. The stories told in Missoula’s parks should be the stories of the varied people, enterprises, and people who have shaped these spaces into centers of the community.

Park Interpretation and Signage in North Riverside Parks - Project Background

Missoula Parks and Recreation, the Downtown Missoula Partnership, and Destination Missoula are working to develop a Media Implementation Plan. This plan includes three unique and adjacent parks: Caras Park, East Caras Park, and Bess Reed Park. The three parks are connected by Ron’s River Trail.

These parks are public spaces, and the vision for their use and development has been an ongoing collaboration with community members. The North Riverside Parks and Trails Plan is the product of public outreach, stakeholder meetings, survey, and design work. The goal of the plan has been to create multi-use spaces to support year-round activities, develop better trail connections and gateways, update materials and landscaping, and ensure enhancements to the riverfront respect natural processes while providing better access for everyone.

Development of the North Riverside Parks is ongoing. In 2021, the first phase of development began in Caras Park with a significant collaborative effort between the Missoula Downtown Association, Missoula City Parks and Recreation and Public Works and Mobility Departments. The changes resulted in renewed amphitheater seating, widening the trail and adding lighting, improved accessibility, and installation of a stormwater filtration system to protect the river.

Additional changes are coming soon. Many elements of the parks will remain the same during development; the Returnings (fish) and Brennan’s Wave art features are staying. Other elements, pending your input, may change and expand. This plan seeks to prioritize new interpretation opportunities in the three parks.

This plan, when complete, will provide guidelines for developing interpretation in the three park units and along the river trail. It will include tools to help develop signage such as graphic guidelines and accessibility recommendations. The plan will also identify the types of signage that will be part of Caras Park: everything from wayfinding to help visitors find parking to heritage signs exploring Missoula’s past.

This effort relies and builds upon other recently conducted planning efforts. Missoula updated and adopted the Downtown Master Plan in 2019. In 2020, Missoula adopted the Missoula Downtown Heritage Interpretive Plan to guide and shape the stories we share in our public spaces. View a large image of the features found in Caras Park, East Caras Park, and Bess Reed Park.

Map of features found in Caras Park, East Caras Park, and Bess Reed Park