Basin wildrye is a native, cool-season, perennial bunchgrass adapted to deep, well-drained soils of the prairies and foothills of the western USA and Canada. In zones of lesser precipitation, basin wildrye is found in run-in areas or along gullies and intermittent water courses. This grass is broadly adapted to elevations from 600 to 2750 m, and where average annual precipitation ranges from 200 to 500 mm. It is very winterhardy and drought tolerant, and has good tolerance to acidity, alkalinity, and salinity (6). Stems are typically erect, stiff, and stout and 100 to 200 tall, but can reach heights of 300 croon good sites. Leaves of this species are firm and fiat, up to 2 cm wide and 50 to 76 cm in length. The seed heads (spikes) are 10 to 25 cm long and erect, with three to six spikelets per node and persistent awnlike glumes. Trailhead originated from line M-27, which was mass-selected from vigorous, indigenous basin wildrye plants near Roundup, MT, in 1959. This silty range site is at 1100 m elevation, and receives 250 to 355 mm of precipitation annually. Seed from more than 200 plants was bulked to form line M-27. From 1960 through 1990, USDA-NRCS established 172 basin wildrye field accessions in unreplicated observation trials (field plantings) under dryland conditions at the Bridger Plant Materials Center. These accessions were collected in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. These lines were evaluated visually for establishment, vigor, and production potential. Based on superior performance, a seed-increase field of line M-27 was established at Bridger, MT, in 1961. Line M-27 was planted on 0.4 ha under isolation, and breeder seed (Syn 1) was produced from 1962 through 1969. The name Trailhead was derived from the proximity of the collection site to the origin of the 1989 Montana Centennial Cattle Drive. Trailhead has been evaluated in 105 NRCS field plantings throughout Montana and Wyoming. It has been evaluated for use as wildlife habitat, mineland reclamation, winter livestock grazing, stabilization, field barriers, and reclamation of saline or acidic soils. Trailhead consistently had superior establishment, vigor, and persistence at arid sites compared with other basin wildrye lines, including 'Magnar', the only other known cuitivar of basin wildrye (1). Replicated forage yield trials of Trailhead have been conducted at Bridger, Bozeman, Cardwell, and Moccasin, MT. In five trials at sites receiving >350 mm of precipitation annually, mean forage yields of Trailhead (100%) and Magnar (107%) were not significantly different (P = 0.05). However, at one site receiving less than 250 mm of annual precipitation, forage yields over a 6-yr period for Trailhead were significantly (P = 0.10) higher than those Magnar. Trailhead basin wildrye was released based on its superior performance under dry conditions. Trailhead is recommended for range and disturbed-site reclamation in the western USA and Canada. The major use of Trailhead is for late summer or winter grazing by livestock and wildlife (2).