ABOUT MVP

  • We serve all veterans. If you wore the uniform, you belong here. We also welcome veteran spouses on select trips marked Spouse, more on that in Eligibility & Cost below. Our trips aren't about labels, they're about getting outdoors, pushing limits, and building camaraderie again.

  • VLTAT stands for Veteran Led Therapeutic Adventure Trip. It's a multi-day wilderness trip led by veteran team leaders, built around outdoor immersion, physical challenge, and peer camaraderie. We provide the gear and food. You show up and do the work.

  • Our trips are led by veterans, for veterans. We're not clinicians running a program from behind a desk, we're veterans who've walked the same ground you have, out on the trail or the river with you. Every VLTAT also carries the Pig Egg, a traveling memorial holding 7,054 dog tags for those we lost in Iraq and Afghanistan, so the weight of what we've lost travels with us every trip, not just in ceremony.

  • We're headquartered in Great Falls, Montana, and we serve veterans nationally, not just Montana residents. Our Smith River float is an annual conservation partnership with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Beyond that, we keep specific trip locations general so every trip stays about the experience, not a destination.

  • No. Most of our team serves as volunteers, but MVP has paid staff as of January 2026.

  • No. Montana is our therapist. Our team leaders are PsychArmor certified and trained to work with veterans, but we're not offering counseling or clinical treatment. We're offering what nature provides naturally: physical challenge, peer camaraderie, and time outdoors away from everything pulling at you back home.

  • No. Despite the name, Montana Vet Program has nothing to do with veterinary medicine. Every "vet" here is a veteran.

  • MVP started with three Marine mountain survival trainers who served together. After they got out, all three ended up in Montana, and they wanted other veterans to experience what nature had given them.

  • Yes. Montana Vet Program is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. EIN 86-2296172.

Eligibility & Cost

  • Any veteran, any branch, any era. There's no combat requirement and no minimum length of service to apply.

  • No. We serve veterans nationally. You don't need to be a Montana resident to apply or attend. Get to Great Falls, MT and we take care of the rest.

  • No. VLTATs are free for the veterans who attend. A single trip costs roughly $1,000 per veteran to run, guides, gear, food, and lodging before and after, but that cost is covered by MVP's donors and sponsors, not by you. You just cover cost of travel to and from Great Falls.

  • Fill out our interest form. Once you submit it, we automatically send a longer follow up form asking for your military and medical history, so we can care for you correctly and assign you to the right trip. check your spam folder for the follow on email.

  • We approve on a first come, first served basis. Every veteran qualifies for a float trip. Hikes require a fitness assessment, since pack weight and mileage demand more from your body. No one gets turned away outright, if you don't make the specific trip you applied for, you're invited to apply again the following year.

  • You can apply once per year.

  • A trip marked Spouse on our schedule means one thing: the veteran's legal spouse is welcome to join. It is not an open plus one. We are not able to accommodate a parent, sibling, other family member, or a partner who is not your spouse on these trips. Your spouse does not need to be a veteran themselves to come.

    If you are applying for a Spouse trip, your spouse needs to fill out the same interest form you do. Once that form is submitted, we automatically email a longer follow up form to whoever submitted it. That form asks for military and medical history, so make sure your spouse fills out their own rather than relying on yours. We ask for that history so we can care for each person correctly and put them on the right trip for them.

    We also welcome a spouse to join us without their veteran in three circumstances: if the veteran has passed away, if the veteran is physically unable to make the trip, or if the two are divorced. In any of these cases, we will ask for proof of marriage to the veteran. We built this policy because we believe a spouse who stood with a veteran deserves the same respect we give the veteran who served.

  • Yes, through our Donate page. Every $1,000 covers one veteran on one full trip, start to finish, gear, food, guides, and lodging.Yes, through our Donate page. Every $1,000 covers one veteran on one full trip, start to finish, gear, food, guides, and lodging.

gear & packing

  • No. MVP supplies the core trip gear: tents, cookware, and rain gear across every trip, plus PFDs and waders for floats, and backpacking packs and trekking poles for hikes. You're not expected to show up with a gear closet of your own.

  • Yes, with approval first. We encourage using our gear since we equip every trip with the best gear available, but we understand you might be attached to something of your own. Get it approved by your team leader ahead of time.

  • On hikes, yes. Pack weight runs a minimum of 40 pounds, and hiking teams also carry a share of the Pig Egg, adding another 7 to 9 pounds. On floats, your gear travels in the raft, not on your back.

  • Food is covered. On hikes, that's freeze-dried trail meals plus a snack bag to get you through each day. On floats, meals are fresh and cooked nightly at camp, nothing freeze-dried. Water on the trail is filtered from natural sources as you go, we stop for that along the way.

  • We run what we call the Montana layering system, be ready for up to 90 degrees during the day and near freezing overnight, sometimes in the same 24 hours. MVP provides puffy jackets and rain gear. You'll need to bring:

    • Underwear

    • Socks

    • An insulation layer

    • Pants

    • Shorts

    • T shirt

    • Long sleeve shirt

    • Hoodie

    • Head cover

    • Sunglasses

    • Personal hygiene items

    • Any medication you take, which you'll also go over directly with our trip medic

    We provide everything else

  • For hikes, bring a good pair of broken in boots, not something new out of the box. We also recommend a pair of camp shoes, Crocs or sandals, for walking around camp once the day's hiking is done. Once you're assigned to a trip, our team can answer any specific footwear questions you have. For floats, we want you in chest waders, if you don't have a pair, we'll provide them.

  • No, firearms are not allowed for participants on any trip. Our team leaders do carry, and every veteran is issued bear spray.

Health & Safety

  • No, firearms are not allowed for participants on any trip. Our team leaders do carry, and every veteran is issued bear spray.

  • Not for floats, any veteran qualifies regardless of fitness level. Hikes are more demanding, minimum pack weight of 40 pounds and real trail mileage, so those spots go through a fitness assessment first. If you're not sure which fits you, apply and we'll help you figure out the right trip for where you're at.

  • Tell us. The follow up form after your interest form asks for your full military and medical history for exactly this reason, so we can care for you correctly and put you on the trip that's right for your body. You'll also go over any medication directly with our trip medic.

  • We're in Montana backcountry, encounters happen. Every veteran is issued bear spray, and our team leaders are trained to handle wildlife situations safely.

  • Prescription drugs are allowed and communicated directly to our team ahead of time. Cannabis is legal in Montana, and our policy is don't ask, don't tell, if it's part of how you manage your medication, we're fine with it, just not on the raft, on the trail, or around the fire. Alcohol is different: zero alcohol on our trips. We don't consider it healthy, and it has no place out here. On floats we bring athletic beer, and on hikes the same is waiting for you at the trailhead once the trip wraps up.

  • Many of our team leaders are Wilderness First Aid certified, and every route carries its own evacuation procedure built for that specific terrain. Regional authorities are aware of our movements on every trip, and our team carries radios and satellite communicators throughout.

  • That evacuation procedure is what kicks in. It's specific to the route you're on, not a generic plan, and our team leaders coordinate it in real time using radios and satellite communicators, with local authorities already aware of where we are. You're not on your own out here if something goes wrong.

  • Every veteran who joins a trip gets a free MTNTOUGH Fitness subscription. You'll also be in touch with our wellness coordinator, who can help you prepare with diet and exercise guidance if you need it before your trip.

Trip Experience & Travel

  • There's no fixed wake time. On floats, it's coffee, then breaking camp and loading boats, floating until there's work to do, with stops along the way for sightseeing or fishing. The goal every day is reaching camp before sundown so there's time to cook a real meal. On hikes, it's coffee and breakfast before hitting the trail, hiking in a rhythm of roughly 25 minutes on, 5 minutes off, with stops for photos, water filtering, and a longer lunch. Once you're in camp, tents go up, water filters get refilled, and there's time to fish or nap before the day's classes. Every trip works in 2 to 3 classes a day, on shore, around the fire, or along the trail.

  • Floats cover 12 to 16 miles a day on the water. Our team leaders are strong enough to row the entire 59 mile Smith River themselves and will teach you to row if you want, which is what makes floats the accessible option if you can't handle hike mileage or pack weight. The real float challenge isn't the miles, it's the weather, it can snow in July and hail without warning. Hikes cover 2 to 8 miles a day carrying a minimum 40 pound pack, plus another 7 to 9 pounds on days your team carries the Pig Egg. Our wellness coordinator screens every hiker before assignment and may require a weighted walk test first to make sure you're ready.

  • Yes. Early risers can fish before the day gets going, on floats and hikes both. Once you're at camp there's time built in to fish or nap before classes, and floats stop along the way for sightseeing. It's not go-go-go the whole time, but it's a real wilderness trip, not a resort.

  • The Pig Egg is a 75 lb traveling memorial carrying 7,054 dog tags honoring service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. It travels on every VLTAT, and we all carry a share of its weight along with their own pack. Read its full story on our Pig Egg page.

  • The day before your trip, you'll start at the MVP facility for a full brief and gear issue, followed by a group dinner. From there, you head to your hotel for the night. The trip itself can look a little different depending on where you're headed, but every trip ends back at the MVP facility, where you're fed and given a ride to your hotel.

  • Fly into Great Falls International Airport. We send an Uber to pick you up and bring you to your hotel, and a team leader brings you from the hotel to gear issue.

  • Check in at your hotel first. From there, everything runs the same as it does for everyone flying in. More specific details get sent as your trip gets closer.

  • No. MVP provides your hotel before and after the trip. We currently put veterans up at the O'Haire Motor Inn in Great Falls.

  • We have secure storage for your belongings, and for your vehicle too if you drove in.

  • That's handled as part of the trip. Gear issue happens at the MVP facility the day before, and the trip ends back there too, so getting you to and from the trailhead or boat launch is on us.

  • Only after you're confirmed for a trip. Once you're confirmed, book as soon as you can.

Family & After The Trip

  • Only a legal spouse, and only on a trip marked Spouse on our schedule. We're not able to accommodate a parent, sibling, other family member, or a partner who is not your spouse. See the Spouse trip question in Eligibility & Cost for the full policy.

  • Our team has satellite communication for emergencies, but your family should be prepared to not hear from you for about 4 days. You are also welcome to purchase your own communication device through: T-mobile, Garmin, or Zoleo. All of those will need power solutions as well.

  • There's nothing specific they need to do. Being there for you before you leave and when you get back matters more than anything else.

  • On your last day, we build in time for closure as you prepare to head home. Afterward, we ask for your feedback through a survey.

  • Yes. You'll leave with contact information for everyone who was on your trip with you. We also send periodic check in emails afterward, and we're continuing to build out our follow up process. On top of that, we're partnered with America's Warrior Partnership, which has resources available across the country.

Support MVP

  • The Smith River is where a lot of our trips happen, and we're not willing to just take from it without giving something back. Since 2019, we've partnered with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks to keep that river healthy for every veteran who floats it after us.

  • Bank stabilization and bioengineering to stop erosion at priority sites, campsite restoration, clearing downed timber to keep float access open, and general support work for FWP and the U.S. Forest Service, moving material, staging wood, whatever keeps the corridor in shape.

  • Since 2019, 148 individual volunteers have worked the Smith River, delivering $138,242.36 in volunteer value to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and the U.S. Forest Service.

  • Every Smith River trip includes conservation work. It's built into the trip, not a separate add on.

  • Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks identifies and coordinates our conservation projects along the river corridor. The U.S. Forest Service handles logistics and technical work alongside us. GEUM Consulting is our technical partner on bioengineering. STIHL donates safety gear, chainsaws, and fuel for our crews, and NRS gives us a discount on river gear. Visit our Partners page for our full partner list.

  • Through individual donors, corporate sponsors, and grant funding, not fees charged to the veterans we serve.

  • Through our Donate page. Every $1,000 covers one veteran on one full trip, start to finish, gear, food, guides, and lodging. Becoming a monthly donor is one of the most direct ways to help

  • Yes. The first step is the contact form on our Partners page, that starts the conversation.

  • Yes. We have volunteer opportunities at our fundraisers, and we need volunteers to help shuttle vehicles for some of our trips.

  • Become a monthly donor, volunteer at one of our fundraisers, share our mission with your own network, and interact with us on social media.

still have questions?