Best Montana

Established by the United States Congress in 1908, the National Bison Range is a wildlife refuge located in northwestern Montana within the Flathead Indian Reservation. It protects a herd of American bison across roughly 18,000 acres of native Palouse prairie, grasslands, and forests. In 2020, the f...

Wankel Rex, catalogued as MOR 555, is a partial Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton discovered by rancher Kathy Wankel near Fort Peck Lake in Montana in 1988 and excavated by the Museum of the Rockies. The specimen preserves a large portion of the skeleton and was the first T. rex found with a complete forel...

The Missoula Marathon is an annual road race held in Missoula, Montana, typically taking place in July. The event features a scenic, point-to-point course that begins in Hellgate Canyon and follows the Clark Fork River before finishing in downtown Missoula. In addition to the full marathon, the even...

The Garmin Montana 700i is a robust handheld GPS device designed for outdoor adventurers. It incorporates preloaded topographic maps and satellite communication via its InReach feature allowing users to send and receive messages from remote locations. This durable device is suitable for hikers, expl...

Leonardo, a juvenile Brachylophosaurus from the Late Cretaceous of Montana discovered in 2000, preserves desiccated skin and soft tissue across roughly 90% of its body and held a Guinness record as the best-preserved dinosaur mummy.

The Garmin Montana 750i is a durable handheld GPS device designed for outdoor adventurers. It incorporates preloaded topographic maps, satellite communication options, and a robust touchscreen interface. This device provides reliable navigation and emergency connectivity for hikers, hunters, and any...

Known as the 'Crown of the Continent,' Glacier boasts rugged mountains, pristine forests, and stunning glacial-carved valleys. The engineering marvel Going-to-the-Sun Road provides breathtaking access across the Continental Divide. The park is a hiker's paradise with over 700 miles of trails leading...

John Horner is an American paleontologist who served as the curator of paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana. He gained international recognition for his groundbreaking discoveries of dinosaur nesting sites, notably the "Egg Mountain" locality. Horner's work with the duck-bil...

Maiasaura peeblesorum was a large, plant-eating hadrosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now Montana. Fossil nesting grounds contain numerous nests, eggs, embryos, hatchlings, juveniles, and adults, providing evidence that these dinosaurs reproduced in colonies and that...

Located in north-central Montana, the Matador Ranch is a conservation initiative operated by The Nature Conservancy. It functions as a grassbank, a collaborative model where local ranchers are permitted to graze their cattle on the ranch's land at a reduced cost. In exchange, these ranchers agree to...

Flathead Lake is a large natural freshwater lake located in northwest Montana, United States, covering approximately 510 square kilometers. It is the largest natural freshwater lake in the western contiguous United States by surface area. The lake is known for its clear water and is situated near th...

Yogo sapphires are blue corundum gemstones mined from deposits at Yogo Gulch in central Montana, United States. They are characteristically found as small, well-formed crystals with relatively uniform blue color and high clarity, and they generally do not require the heat treatment commonly applied...

Montana 1948 is a 1993 novella by American author Larry Watson, set in the fictional town of Bentrock, Montana. The story is narrated by David Hayden, who recounts events from the summer of 1948 when his father, the local sheriff, investigated allegations of sexual assault against his uncle Frank, a...

Chico Hot Springs Resort offers a historic experience within Montana’s Paradise Valley. The resort features naturally heated mineral pools dating back to a 1900 inn. It's located approximately thirty miles north of Yellowstone National Park and provides accommodations and dining for visitors seeking...

Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument is a 377,000-acre federal monument in north-central Montana established by President Clinton in 2001, protecting badlands, wildlife, and one of the last free-flowing stretches of the Missouri River.

Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge is a protected area in northeastern Montana established in 1935. It encompasses Medicine Lake and surrounding wetlands, native mixed-grass prairie, and other habitats used by migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, grassland birds, and mammals. Managed within the Unit...

Ivan Doig’s *Dancing at the Rascal Fair* portrays life among Scottish homesteaders establishing a new existence in Montana during the late nineteenth century. The novel offers a detailed and poignant look at their struggles and triumphs as they adapt to the harsh environment and build communities. I...

Quinn’s Hot Springs Resort offers natural hot springs experiences in Montana. Situated along the Clark Fork River near Paradise, it features a series of outdoor pools utilizing mineral-rich waters. The resort is popular with visitors seeking relaxation and therapeutic benefits from the warm water, p...

The Hell Creek badlands expose sedimentary rocks of the Hell Creek Formation across parts of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. These rocks were deposited near the end of the Cretaceous Period and preserve abundant fossils, including Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, plants, turtles, and ot...

Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge is a remote high-altitude wetland complex located in southwestern Montana's Centennial Valley. Established in 1935, the refuge is historically significant for its role in saving the trumpeter swan from near extinction by protecting one of its last remaining br...

The KettleHouse Amphitheater is a modern outdoor concert venue situated along the Clark Fork River in Missoula, Montana. Opened in 2017, it provides a unique setting for live music performances. The venue’s riverside location and proximity to a brewery make it suitable for audiences seeking a divers...

The Brawl of the Wild is the annual college football rivalry game between the University of Montana Grizzlies and the Montana State University Bobcats. First played in 1897, it is one of the oldest college football rivalries in the western United States. The two universities are the largest public i...

English Creek is a 1984 novel by Ivan Doig and the first published volume of his Montana trilogy, followed by Dancing at the Rascal Fair and Ride with Me, Mariah Montana. Set in 1939, it is narrated by Jick McCaskill, a fourteen-year-old growing up in a ranching community along the Rocky Mountain Fr...

Custer National Forest encompasses lands in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, managed by the United States Forest Service (USFS). Established to protect diverse prairie ecosystems, it includes several national grasslands that preserve mixed-grass prairie habitats. The forest's grasslands supp...

The Flathead Tunnel is a significant railroad tunnel located in northwestern Montana, constructed for the Burlington Northern Railroad. Opened in 1970, the tunnel stretches approximately 12.6 kilometers through the mountainous terrain of the state. It was built to provide a lower-gradient route for...

"These Thousand Hills" is a 1956 novel by A.B. Guthrie Jr., the third installment in his sequence of Western novels following "The Big Sky" (1947) and "The Way West" (1952), the latter of which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The novel follows Lat Evans, a young man from Missouri who travels wes...

Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge is a 1.1-million-acre refuge in Montana established in 1936, encompassing badlands, prairies, and the Fort Peck Reservoir and supporting elk, pronghorn, and sage grouse.

Basaltic column rising above the Missouri River in Montana, documented by the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805 as a notable landmark during their westward journey.

Dancing Prairie Preserve is a protected area managed by the Nature Conservancy, located in northwestern Montana near Eureka. The preserve safeguards one of the largest remaining tracts of native rough fescue grassland in the state. This ecosystem supports diverse wildlife, including elk, grizzly bea...