Ellis Juhlin is MTPR’s Rocky Mountain Front reporter. Ellis previously worked as a science reporter at Utah Public Radio and a reporter at Yellowstone Public Radio. She has a Master’s Degree in Ecology from Utah State University. She’s an average birder and wants you to keep your cat indoors. She has two dogs, one of which is afraid of birds.

ellis.juhlin@mso.umt.edu
406-272-2568

Nature is my church, and I keep the Sabbath holy.

After a long week with a July 4th holiday, I treated myself to a road trip and hike to the Natural Bridge Falls on the Boulder River south of Big Timber.

While the actual rushing water and gorge and forest were all natural, the trailheads and lookouts have been developed to a Tolkien Elvish pristine.  You wonder if Gandalf the wizard or a Hobbit would appear.  The paved paths were edged with stacked rocks.  A wooden bridge spanned the Boulder to the other side where the dirt path began.

The river itself crashed underneath then falls into the rock.  A short way’s farther shows the water cascading into a level basin for less than a hundred yards before the continued falling down the gorge.

The beginning dirt trail is quite gentle and easily traversed by kids.  The green foliage can make the track really narrow.  The morning air in the sunshine has a warm pine and earth smell, while the shade is appreciably cooler.

There is a Canyon Bottom Access trail to get where the river pours out of the rock, but that is the real challenge.  Have a walking stick handy.  This switchback trail is much steeper and rockier, and if a little muddy is much trickier.  A real strain on the knees.  The signs say Do Not Cut Across Switchbacks and they mean it; the slope down is steeper than 45 degrees with rocks at the long bottom.  A slip and fall will definitely hurt you.

Take your time and pick your way down carefully, and you can get to about 25 yards from the falls safely.  The roar of water fills the air.

If you can’t risk the Canyon Access trail, no loss; the overhang lookouts provide all the majesty on gentle paths and stone stairs on top of the gorge ridge.

How to Get to Natural Bridge Falls

Exit the interstate at Big Timber, cruise 1st Street to McLeod which is also Highway 289. Turn south and follow it all the way to the pavement’s end.  Do not turn off of the road at all.

289 is a narrow, winding, 2-lane road so slow down and enjoy the drive.  You will pass farms and modern homesteads in a sweeping basin of countryside.  There are a couple bumpy patches of highway with warning signs, so both hands on the wheel.

Watch for the signs that verify you are on the right road.  The Natural Falls trailhead will be to the left just before the pavement end.  If you start driving on gravel, you have gone just a bit too far.

It’s a little over an hour and a half to drive there from Billings, but it is a great expedition for the day.  Enjoy in the little Adventure.

Clifford Allen Nelson passed away at Logan Health in Chester on July 5, 2024. Cliff was born to John & Louise Nelson on 11 June 1948, in Havre. Cliff was the oldest of 8 children.

A Celebration of Life BBQ, will be Saturday July 13th at 1:00 in the Joplin Memorial Park, Joplin, Mt. Military honors, by Malmstrom AFB Honor Guard.

Cliff only made it to the 6th grade in school. He helped at home raising his siblings & doing farm chores. He later went to work for Buttery’s as a baker. This went well until they realized he wasn’t 18. In 1968, he was drafted into the Army & Viet Nam he went. He spent 18 months there. On returning, he moved to Hungry Horse, there he worked at Anaconda Aluminum plant and went into construction work & got married. This marriage produced 5 children, after a stent in Hungry Horse, they moved to Havre where he worked at the post yard and met his lifelong friend Chad. He later moved his family to Browning where he worked at the bus garage.

Cliff went to Havre & learned how to fly an airplane. It didn’t take much training. He bought his1st plane & flew back to Browning. He then moved to Great Falls, divorced, worked for DJs Mazda & started his own car body & mechanic shop. His dear friend Frank and he became involved with stock car racing, which he continued to do until a couple years ago. He raced a variety of classes in Northwest United States and Canada. Cliff moved back to Havre & went back into the construction business. He helped his good friend Chris (who was the Chief of police) with police work & hunting coyotes. They were licensed by the state to do predator control. In 1979, he met his now wife, Nancy & they had 1 child. In November of 1980, they lost their home to a fire & moved to Kremlin. Cliff got the older boys involved with boxing in Havre. Work then took him and his family to Evanston, Wyoming. There he was a top mechanic in the oil field. After a few years there, Great Falls called him home. He started his body shop up again & also back to racing!

He then ventured back to Hungry Horse, & on to Alaska. In Alaska he mainly did construction work, but also worked a gold mine, which involved the whole family.

In 1986 we moved back to Hungry Horse & started Nelson Construction. Cliff became a hunting guide for a friend & spent most of the hunting season in Spotted Bear, which he really enjoyed. Wintertime was for boxing, where he helped start a boxing club & trained & traveled all over with the boxers. Cliff became involved with the Hungry Horse Vol. Fire Dept. He later became Chief until he retired from it in 1999.

Cliff was asked to be Santa in Hungry Horse. He really loved visiting the kids & giving them gifts. He loved it so much, he started being Santa in Chester, then later in Joplin. No matter how rough he felt, being the flying Santa was always a must! He loved the children!

In 1998, an opportunity came to run the Tiber Marina. 11 years spent running the marina & Cliff still worked construction in Hungry Horse. Cliff loved being at the marina & meeting so many wonderful people. He enjoyed putting on BBQ’s & good parties! He enjoyed being back on the east, side & so we moved to Joplin.

He enjoyed fishing, & he did several tournaments with his friend Chris. They managed to win Fresno & Tiber! They did tournaments all over the state & even traveled to Canada for some.

In 2011, we purchased the Joplin Bar which he helped run until his health started to get the best of him. He was able to venture out at our last Art in the Park & Car show to see everyone.

Cliff is survived by his wife Nancy, sons Jr (Jenny) of Hungry Horse, John (Darci) of Ulm, Jay of Joplin, Josh of Hungry Horse. Daughters Janey of Kalispell, Judy (Christopher) of Harrison, & Kim of California, son Joe of Iowa. Sisters Karen, Sharon (Greg) of Kalispell, Margaret of Ashly Lake, Donna of. Missouri, Brother Leonard (Trudy) of Vaughn. 31 grandchildren & 31 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his son Jim, his parents, his in-laws Ed & Billie Ribich, brothers Melvin & Carl, numerous other family & friends.