Official websites use .gov
A .gov
website belongs to an official government organization in the
United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock
(
) or https:// means you've safely
connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only
on official, secure websites.
Ninemile Wildlands Training Center (NWTC)
Training Center Courses and Registration
Courses at Ninemile is the best of traditional skills training, covering pack and saddle stock, traditional tools, dutch oven cooking, and many more subjects! This is great training for everyone and you will take your new skills straight to the field!
Course Descriptions and Schedule (updated January 23, 2024)
About the Training Center
The Ninemile Wildlands Training Center (NWTC) is located at the historic Ninemile Ranger Station on the Lolo National Forest in west central Montana. Our facility, the Ninemile Remount Depot, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Remount Depot was built in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps as a pack stock breeding/training facility and is still a working ranch. Because of our unique facility and history of training at the Remount, the NWTC was started in 1988 to again provide traditional skills training to Forest Service employees. These classes cover all different types of traditional skills: care and handling of traditional tools, horsemanship and packing, historic building preservation and maintenance, and low impact backcountry stock use.
About the Northern Region Pack Train (NRPT)
The Northern Region Pack Train is hosted at the Ninemile Ranger District and serves Montana, Northern Idaho, North Dakota and Northwestern South Dakota, supporting Forest Service projects and representing the Forest Service to the public with education and community service. Pack strings are valuable tools in managing the 191 million acres of national forest. These lands were set aside over 100 years ago to provide for the needs of the American people in ways that also protect the environment. Today, while there are numerous smaller mule teams serving the wilderness needs of individual forests, there are only two full regional specialty pack strings serving U.S. Forest Service needs throughout multiple States: the Rocky Mountain Region Specialty Pack String, supporting forests in Colorado, Eastern Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas and South Dakota and the Northern Region Pack Train.
What is a Heritage Expedition?
Heritage Expeditions is part of a National program that allows us (the Forest Service) to open the classes offered by the Ninemile Wildlands Training Center to the public. In 1998, we offered our first Heritage Expeditions here at Ninemile and received a tremendous response. In this year's program we continue to offer many heritage expedition courses.
In these learn-by-doing sessions, we spend very little time in a classroom, most of the learning is hands-on with instructors available to help every step of the way. There is also fun time, such as evening programs and music around the campfire!
Why is the Forest Service offering Heritage Expeditions?
When we started the Heritage Expeditions program, we looked at the program as a way to bring in revenue to restore and improve some of our facilities at the Ninemile Remount Depot. We've found out that the financial benefit pales compared to the personal relationships we've all developed with folks who've attended the classes. Everyone that spends a week at Ninemile has an opportunity to learn the history of the place, understand the special niche it holds, and fall in love with a truly unique corner of the world. Students also learn that the Forest Service does more than just cut timber. We spend time talking about many of the issues that are important to the local area, like managing fish, wildlife, water and recreation, and protecting cultural resources.
Contact Us
For more information, call us at 406-626-5201.
Or write to us:
Ninemile Wildlands Training Center
Ninemile Ranger Station
20325 Remount Road
Huson MT 59846