Interesting Places to Visit in Montana

Few states equal Montana in attractions for outdoor recreation. Two great national parks, dud ranches, and more than 100 hot-springs resorts attract visitors. Highways and horseback-riding trails in western Montana lead through thousands of square miles of forested wilderness. They climb through towering mountains, some glacier-covered. Game fish thrive in the swift streams. Sportsmen hunt deer, bear, moose, elk and other big game animals in the mountains, and pronghorn antelope and a number of small game can be found on the plains. Waterfowl like wild duck and goose are found in the lakes and rivers. While upland birds can be found in most places throughout Montana.

The following are brief descriptions of some of Montana’s most interesting places to visit.

Anaconda Reduction Works: At Anaconda, it is one of the world’s larges copper smelters. Its smokestack, rising 585 feet, is one of the biggest in the world.

Frontier Town: A restoration of an old mining camp lies on top of MacDonald Pass, west of Helena.

Giant Springs: Near Great Falls, it is Montana’s largest fresh-water spring. The springs were discovered by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in 1805. They discharge more than 388,000,000 gallons of water every day at a year-round temperature of 52°.

Going-to-the-Sun Highway: It extends for about 50 miles across Glacier National Park. It crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass, and winds past waterfalls, lakes, forest, and glacier-covered mountains.

Great Falls of the Missouri: It is near Great Falls, and is the largest waterfall on the Missouri River. Its waters drop more than 400 feet in 8 miles.

Medicine Rocks: Lies near Ekalaka, in the badlands of eastern Montana. For hundreds of years, erosion has carved these grotesque rocks from sandstone buttes.

Pompey’s Pillar: An isolated rock 200 feet high stands on the south side of the Yellowstone River. William Clark climbed the rock on July 25, 1806, and carved his name on it.

Red Lodge-Cooke Highway: This road leads across the Beartooth Plateau and into the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park. The road winds though mountains that tower more than 11,000 feet.

Virginia City: It is in southwestern Montana, and has been restored to its appearance in 1865, with a stagecoach station, stores, and saloons.

Montana does offer much for the family, but the hunters will also find many unique places that hunting guides and outfitters will take you for guided hunts.