Exploring Parks of Billings, MT: Joel’s Park

Joel’s Park is a beautiful 17 acre park hidden behind Scheels in the Shiloh Crossing area of Billings, MT. I was fortunate enough to catch it in the early morning. While the park is probably best known for its bass fishing and its bird watching (as its a known habitat for osprey nests), it is hard to deny the location has a certain call to it. Bonus, it is near several other parks in the area, such as the Shiloh Conservation Area walking path.

The park is named after Joel Long, a prominent Billings businessman perhaps best known for the creation of JTL Group (which is now known as Knife Group); his family gifted the park to the city in 2015. Mr. Long has spent decades in the service of The Star of the Big Sky Country, yet was humble in doing so, so I wasn’t too surprised when the namesake of the park wasn’t immediately identifiable.