Axtell Bridge Fishing Access Site

At both ends of the Axtell Bridge, barricades narrow the approach so that only a single vehicle without a trailer can pass. A sign on the bridge gives the year it was built, 1919. Beside the crossing is the Axtell Bridge Fishing Access Site, a day-use parcel on the Gallatin River kept by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.

The access beside the truss

The site lies 4.3 miles south of Four Corners on U.S. Highway 191, at the turn onto Axtell Bridge Road. By the Bozeman Daily Chronicle’s reckoning, that is about 2 miles north of Gallatin Gateway. FWP lists the ground at 4.2 acres in one record and 4.25 acres in another, at an elevation of 4,819 feet. There is a toilet and a hand launch, and FWP rates the site for easy accessibility. It is open from January 1 through December 31, and the discharge of weapons is prohibited year round. FWP designates it for boating and fishing. The Visit Montana listing adds rafting, picnicking, and photography, and notes that pets are allowed.

The state lists it as a fishing access, but Visit Bozeman reports that plenty of Bozemanites come to swim. Visit Bozeman describes the site as a 15-minute drive from town along the highway toward Big Sky and calls it a safe spot to wade into the cool, clean water of the Gallatin. The bureau warns that the current can run a little fast early in the summer. It advises saving the trip for late June or early July and being courteous to those fishing. Some of the fishing happens from the bridge itself. On July 14, 2023, a Chronicle photographer recorded a truck crossing the span, and on the same day he photographed Beckett Knowlin, 13, looking along the bridge for a place to drop a fishing line.

A one-lane crossing on Axtell Anceny Road

The bridge is a one-lane truss that carries Axtell Anceny Road over the Gallatin, just off Gallatin Road. Gallatin County Commissioner Jennifer Boyer has said it provides access for local residents and serves visitors as “a great fishing and recreation spot.”

In July 2019, when the bridge was 100 years old, county commissioners said it was in serious need of repair. Commissioner Joe Skinner set out three courses: repair the bridge, replace it, or move it to a different spot on the river. “Either of the options with the new bridge will definitely be a two-lane bridge, and it’ll be a bridge that’ll last probably another 50 to 100 years,” Skinner said. “For where we just restructure — refabricate the old bridge — you know, that might be a 20 to 50-year fix.” He said the Montana Department of Transportation would fund most of the work, which would cost at least $1 million, and that construction would not start for at least three years.

That October the county and MDT held an open house on a Tuesday night in Gallatin Gateway, and dozens of residents attended. The county’s account says most of the early comment acknowledged the need for a new structure without the old bridge’s size, weight, and single-lane limits. People also talked about road safety, better access to the FWP fishing site, and what to do with the existing bridge. The options on the table were a two-lane bridge with the road realigned near its ends, a replacement in the current location, or rehabilitation of the old span.

In 2023, MDT announced that it was planning to replace the 104-year-old bridge, with construction tentatively considered for 2028. According to the agency’s release, the new bridge “will be wider and address current deficiencies.” David Gates, a preconstruction engineer with MDT, said the purpose was “to replace the existing truss bridge with a new structure achieving current safety design standards and enhancing roadway safety features.” By then the Gallatin had already claimed a neighbor. Upriver, the bridge on Williams Road had closed after debris from June flooding damaged it, and the county had approved funding to remove it with no plan to replace it.

Five tons, one car at a time

In 2026, state inspections found structural issues in one of the Axtell Bridge’s trusses. To keep it open, officials lowered the weight limit to 5 tons and allowed only one vehicle on the bridge at a time. The barricades went up after reports of overweight vehicles crossing. A public safety announcement said the bridge is built for Class 1 and Class 2 vehicles only and warned that continued violations could force MDT to close it entirely.

“The five-ton limit is very real,” Boyer said. “Because of its age and its use, it’s impaired. But it’s still safe to cross.” Commissioner Ryan Finn called the restrictions “a mitigation and a lot of precaution so that we can keep access through there.” He said that if the bridge closed, some nearby residents and emergency responders would have to drive several miles to the next crossing, which could add around 10 minutes.

The two estimates for replacement have drifted apart. MDT’s 2023 release gave 2028 as a tentative construction year. Boyer said in 2026 that replacement would not come until 2030 at the earliest, and Finn said on September 1, 2026, that officials hoped the process would begin around 2030. Finn pointed to recent bridge replacements in Three Forks, which took roughly four years from readiness to opening. MDT is weighing a two-lane bridge, either in the same location or nearby, and its engineers are studying river hydraulics, land use, easements, and permitting. The county has asked that the new design keep pedestrian access to the swimming and recreation area, and officials planned to meet again in January.

“We want to make sure that people can still use the site the way they’ve been using it while having a safe bridge for people to cross,” Finn said.