Revitalizing Bozeman Creek: City, group partner on vision for downtown waterway

Bozeman Creek’s headwaters are nestled high in the Gallatin Range, nearly 10 miles south of downtown Bozeman. As flows make their way into downtown, running alongside the Gallagator Trail, through downtown, and through Bogert Park, the water travels through tunnels, under buildings, and along reconfigured routes established as the city was developed over the last two centuries.

“A lot of people knew it was there, but it was almost an afterthought,” Steve Nobel, co-founder of citizen group See Bozeman Creek, said. “It’s the principal source of water for the City of Bozeman, and yet it was paved and built over and neglected for decades and decades.”

Bozeman Creek partnered with the city, hosting an “open house” in downtown Bozeman, presenting the Bozeman Creek Vision Plan to the public. The event, held in Soroptimist Park, offered community members the opportunity to learn about the plan to revitalize Bozeman’s namesake creek.

“Having a citizens group working hand-in-hand, shoulder to shoulder, with the city is a very unique collaboration,” Nobel said. “It’s a great public-private partnership that’s really leading this initiative and the resulting vision plan.”

Neon Post-it notes speckled billboards with community feedback on some of the proposed actions in the preliminary plan.

While many notes expressed support with messages like “Great idea!” and “Love to see it!”, others voiced concerns about things like displaced infrastructure and encroachment on private land.

The Vision Plan identifies five primary goals: enhancing flood mitigation efforts, improving water quality, increasing access to parks and trails, supporting economic development opportunities, and strengthening community connection to the creek.

“Everybody has a stake in this water source, and we want to be transparent and bend over backwards to include the perspectives of community groups in the planning process,” Nobel said.

The open house is the first stop in the Vision Plan draft phase, which will stretch through August.

The push to revitalize Bozeman Creek started in earnest in 2020, when the Downtown Bozeman Partnership reached out to Mountain Time Arts, testing the waters to see if art installations would help raise awareness of the creek, Nobel said.

Mountain Time Arts, a nonprofit, uses art and programming to bring awareness and foster public engagement with stories, culture, and the environment throughout the region. Jim Madden helped found the organization and See Bozeman Creek.

Mountain Time Arts created four installations for See Bozeman Creek.

“It’s been really instrumental in raising awareness of issues surrounding water, the way the water moves, and the healthy ecology associated with water,” Nobel said.

Then, in 2024, then-Mayor Terry Cunningham made revitalizing Bozeman Creek one of the city’s top ten priorities.

When the City Commission approved Resolution 5626 in August 2024, the Bozeman Creek Vision Plan was officially listed as a Commission priority.

“That’s when it really got some legs,” Nobel said.

In 2025, the Bozeman Creek Flood Mitigation and Reconstruction Preliminary Engineering Report was released. The PER serves as a review of flood hazards along Bozeman Creek, creating the basis for proposed flood mitigation efforts.

The findings of the PER, coupled with stakeholder meetings and community feedback, will be used to develop the proposed solutions that will be featured in the final Vision Plan, which is set to be finalized and presented to the Bozeman City Commission by the end of the year.

“I hope the project continues to grow and that community members will continue to put more energy towards it,” said Victoria Cheyenne, an event attendee and former Mountain Time Arts board member. “I’ve always liked the name See Bozeman Creek because it’s so clear. So many people aren’t thinking about it because they’re not seeing it, but it’s pivotal to all of us.”