In late June, Friends of Pathways crews were on the state land section on Munger Mountain. They cleared trail corridor, treated weeds and set the first of three planned bridges. By the Friends of Pathways July 2 trail report, the finished network would add about five miles of loops connecting the Butler Creek and Red Top Meadows neighborhoods to the Forest Service trail system on Munger.
That network sits on land with its own winter rules. Teton County's lease on the parcel bars the County from maintaining any access points between September 10 and June 30 each year, "to promote undisturbed winter wildlife habitat." When this post goes out at the end of October, that restriction has been in effect for seven weeks and runs eight more months. The County may maintain access points on the Munger State trails for about ten weeks a year, and the rest of the year is set aside for wildlife.
The Calendar Written Into the Lease
The parcel is a 640-acre section of Wyoming state trust land. The County holds it under a 35-year special-use lease, which the Teton County commissioners approved on June 3, 2025. The lease text sets a year that looks like this:
Period | What the lease and its partners allow or require |
|---|---|
July 1 to September 9 | No seasonal restriction on maintaining access points. |
September 10 to June 30 | No maintained access points, to protect winter wildlife habitat. |
Year-round | The state reserves casual day use, fishing and hunting under the rules of the Board of Land Commissioners. Snake River Ranch keeps its grazing rights. |
Each lease anniversary | The County files a progress report covering habitat work, weed mitigation, estimated public use and an updated trail map if trails were added. |
The lease's access window lines up closely with the Forest Service's own calendar next door. At the Munger Mountain North Trailhead, just before Red Top Meadows off Fall Creek Road, the Bridger-Teton allows motorcycles from July 1 to September 9. The small gravel lot is the main non-motorized way into Poison Creek #4207, Wally World #4207A, Tuscany #4206 and Paamus Naokwaide #4205B. On both the state section and the national forest, heavier summer use ends the same week in September.
How a Glamping Pitch Became a Rent Check
The lease answers an older question about what Wyoming would do with this square mile. State trust land exists to earn money for public schools, and in 2020 the state was looking for ways to raise that revenue from its Teton County sections. The Jackson Hole News&Guide reported that in fall 2020 Under Canvas floated a preliminary concept for upwards of 90 seasonal tents on 30 to 40 acres of the Munger parcel under a 25-year lease. The state never issued a request for proposals, so no formal proposal was ever submitted.
What followed was a different kind of offer to the state. The Jackson Hole Land Trust led a coalition with Teton County, Friends of Pathways, Friends of Munger Mountain, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Snake River Ranch and the Bridger-Teton National Forest. In March 2024 the County submitted a proposal for a 35-year recreation and conservation lease. On August 1, 2024, the state board approved it unanimously. Buckrail reported that Teton County pays the state $75,000 a year, more than $2.6 million over the term plus an inflation adjustment. The Conservation Opportunities Specific Purpose Excise Tax is the money source that made the payments possible.
That structure keeps the land working for the state's school fund while it stays open land. The Land Trust put the lease's value at $2.625 million for Wyoming's K-12 public schools. Speaking to Buckrail, Land Trust president Max Ludington called the approval "a huge win for the community and a huge win for the State." Katherine Dowson, executive director of Friends of Pathways, told Buckrail that it "took a village to get the proposal across the finish line."
The Land Trust's case for the parcel explains the winter clause. In the coalition's description, the section supports active grazing leases and critical wildlife habitat, including elk migration and calving areas, and it is popular for fall hunting. The Land Trust and its partners have conserved nearly 1,900 acres in this part of the valley over three decades. A lease justified by elk habitat was always going to give the elk most of the year.
Why the Trails Open Gradually
The trails existed before the lease. According to the Land Trust, the routes on the parcel already connected to the Munger North Trailhead and the Wally's World system and were "well-used but under-maintained." The plan was to formalize and maintain existing trails rather than cut new ones on the state section. The 2024 proposal described ten miles of trail and five bridges. By this summer, Friends of Pathways described the work as three bridges.
The pace of public use is tied to weeds as much as to the calendar. On February 3, 2026, Teton County commissioners unanimously approved a three-year memorandum of understanding with the Jackson Hole Land Trust and Friends of Pathways. No one spoke during public comment on the item. The agreement assigns each partner a role:
- Jackson Hole Land Trust raises the money for, and contracts with Intermountain Aquatics on, a three-year noxious weed program.
- Friends of Pathways evaluates trails and access, handles bridge construction and routine maintenance, installs trail counters, and creates and distributes free trail maps once weed control is complete and the partners agree public access warrants them.
- Teton County Parks and Recreation coordinates the partners, with Snake River Ranch, holder of the grazing rights, as a primary stakeholder.
- All parties hold at least one public meeting a year and review the agreement at least once a year.
The staff report presenting the agreement said the parcel is open to the public, but that staff and stakeholders "will not encourage access until noxious weed control and a plan for habitat enhancement have been identified." Under the agreement, the free map, which is the usual sign that a trail system is ready for wider use, waits on the weed program. The weed program runs across three growing seasons.
The July 2 field report gives the order of work. Crews cleared corridor and set bridge one, and they treated weeds on the Munger State Lands the same weeks they worked on Game Creek, West Game, Putt Putt, Sidewalk and the new Trail Creek Connector. In Friends of Pathways' most recent posted update on Munger, from July, two of the three bridges were still to come.
What the Parcel Holds Between Now and July
The lease clause covers maintained access points. It does not close the land. Under the state's reservations, casual day use, fishing and hunting remain allowed under the rules of the Board of Land Commissioners. The lease and partnership agreement are public through Teton County, and the exact terms there govern rather than any summary of them. This post is general information, not legal advice, so readers with a specific question about access or hunting on state land should confirm it with the Office of State Lands and Investments or Wyoming Game and Fish.
The Forest Service land around the parcel moves into its own winter calendar soon. The Bridger-Teton's annual winter notice from last November explained that winter wildlife restrictions and the dog leash order begin December 1, when most Forest roads also close to wheeled vehicles. Fall Creek Road is one of the stated exceptions and stays open to wheeled travel until December 15 each year, unplowed and unmaintained. The Forest posts its current alerts ahead of each season, and those alerts override last year's notice.
On the state section, the next fixed date on the calendar is the lease anniversary. Each year the County's progress report must estimate public use and include an updated trail map if any trails were expanded or created. The partners' annual public meeting is the other regular check-in. Together they are the public record of how much of the planned five miles of loops connecting Butler Creek and Red Top Meadows to Munger's Forest Service trails was built in 2026. The County's next maintained-access window under the lease opens July 1, 2027.
If you own land near Munger Mountain or are considering a parcel in the area, Tom Evans & Ashley DiPrisco Real Estate can walk you through how these arrangements apply to a specific property. Request a Confidential Consultation.
Written by Ashley DiPrisco, a Jackson Hole REALTOR® raised in the valley, with Tom Evans & Ashley DiPrisco Real Estate at Jackson Hole Sotheby's International Realty.
