Adventure comes easily in the terrain near Great Falls in Central Montana. Here, where wide-open prairie meets dramatic mountains, a trove of outdoor experiences awaits.
Russ Ehnes knows it firsthand.
“We sit in a really unique spot here because we’re at the foothills of the Adel Mountains, which is a subrange of the Big Belt Mountains, and then it’s prairie to the east. The Missouri River runs through Great Falls, and we have such an amazing variety of landscapes here. We have so many different things here in this area,” says Russ, who was born and raised here and still calls Great Falls home.
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To be sure, residents and visitors alike are spoiled for choice year-round when it comes to outdoor recreation. Fishing, hiking, mountain biking, hunting, boating, snowshoeing and downhill skiing are all within easy reach. For Russ, the variety of rocky, mountainous terrain and wide-open hilly areas is perfect for the outdoor activity nearest and dearest to him: off-highway vehicle recreation.
Russ has ridden dirt bikes all through the Great Falls area and all over Montana, on public and private lands — including the grounds of Willo Ranch, a cattle ranch where he serves as ranch manager. And he’s been at it a long time.
“I started riding dirt bikes on Montana’s public lands in the ’70s and there weren’t that many of us back then,” says Russ.
“But off-highway vehicle recreation has really grown in popularity to the point where there’s a lot of people that live in Montana that recreate on off-highway vehicles and we have a lot of people that come and visit and enjoy our public lands and the trails we have to offer.”
OHV recreation isn’t simply a pastime for Russ. You could say it’s a lifelong passion, one that he’s devoted years of time to — professionally and personally. As a teenager, he started volunteering to maintain off-roading trails on public lands, helping to make sure people had clear, safe routes to recreate with their OHVs. From 1998 to 2017, he was executive director of the nonprofit National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council, which works to create a positive future for responsible OHV recreation. Today, he’s president of the Great Falls Trail Bike Riders Association, his local club of the statewide Montana Trail Vehicle Riders Association — of which he’s also president.
In his leadership roles with GFTBRA and MTVRA, nonprofits that promote and protect OHV use on public trail systems, Russ is instrumental in OHV education efforts, coordinating trail maintenance volunteers and helping to secure state grant funding for seasonal trail workers and mechanized trail clearing. He also works to foster a strong community of folks who love off-roading like he does and recognize the benefit of having such incredible places to get outside. Such efforts, in conjunction with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ hard work and commitment to managing the public lands that provide riders a place to roam, mean Russ is able to share his love of the region’s trails with people who travel far and wide to ride them.
“Montana has always been a special place for me and I thought it was just because it’s always been home. But the more I traveled, the more I realized that we have so many opportunities to do so many things here that just don’t exist in other places. It’s just rich with opportunities,” he says.
As Russ’ lifetime of dedication to OHV recreation shows, there’s a responsibility to take care of the places where we recreate to make sure adventurers of all disciplines can enjoy outdoor pursuits for years to come.
“There’s a lot of things we can do — we can fish, hike, hunt and bicycle ride — and all of that can be done in a responsible way and we can protect our opportunities for us and our kids into the future.”
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