The Frustration is Real: Missoula’s 5 Most Challenging Parking Lots

Driving in Missoula can be like a movie. Depending on the day, there can be laughter, joy, tears and even fear. Some days you may experience all of those emotion in one car trip across town. Eventually every trip has a destination. That is where parking lots come into the equation.

Read More: Missoula's Most Infuriating Intersections

First off, I am going to state that I have nothing against any of the businesses with problematic parking lots in Missoula. There are just some parking lots in Missoula that are tougher to navigate around and through than others. Here are five of the most challenging parking in Missoula.

North Reserve and England Boulevard

North Reserve will show up a couple times when it comes to difficult parking lots in Missoula. This parking lot, is a busy lot and is hard to get in and out of. There aren't a lot entrances and exits to this lot, and trying to get back onto North Reserve after being there takes both time and patience.

North Reserve Parking Lots Between Palmer Street and England Boulevard

The parking lots on both sides or North Reserve Street are difficult to navigate. But the East side of Reserve Street seems to be much more difficult than across the street. When drivers get off of Reserve Street and use these parking lots, they have a tendency to not get back on Reserve street. They will use the parking lots to drive parallel to Reserve Street. This makes these lots difficult to navigate because people use them like a road.

Caras Park Parking Lot

During the week parking down by the river is not easy. A lot of the parking lots are "lease only" parking for downtown employees, so that leaves this smaller pay lot. It is a crowded and tightly packed lot, especially in the summer months or when an event is taking place in Caras Park.

Russell Street and Third Street

This parking lot is another tightly packed parking lot that is difficult to get in and out of. With the addition of decorative vegetation it makes it a tough parking lot to navigate. The one positive for this parking lot is that the drivers are pretty polite and patient when driving through it, since they seem to be just as scared as everyone else that they may hit another car.

Brooks Street Holiday Village

This is a parking lot isn't easy to navigate due to the way it is laid out. There are drivers who use this parking lot as a street running parallel to Brooks Street and drive fast through the lot. There are multiple restaurants, one in particular, has separate parking in the middle of a parking lot, for some people this is confusing.

Brooks Street, Reserve Street and Dore Lane

This is a busy parking lot with multiple drive-thru restaurants, and businesses. There are multiple ways in and out of this lot. An issue with this lot is that there are stop signs that drivers don't seem to pay much attention too. For the drivers that use the Reserve Street exit from this parking lot expecting to then use the turn lane on Reserve Street to turn south on Brooks, you have to cross three lanes of traffic to do so. I would recommend using Dore lane and going around the back of the block to Reserve Street. If you exit on Dore Lane and use the Brooks Street light, you will be there for a long time, since that is one of the longest traffic lights in Missoula.

Even though these parking lots may be difficult to navigate they don't seem to deter people from using them. Keep your eyes open, be a defensive driver and be safe out there.