Montana (MT)

Montana State Flag

 

"Big Sky Country" and "The Treasure State"

Why visit Montana?

Outdoorsy travelers interested in annual events, camping, cycling, dude ranches, fishing, gambling, ghost towns, hiking, horseback riding, hunting,  lakes, mountains, natural landscape, rivers, rodeos,  skiing, snowmobiling, white-water rafting and wildlife.

Rosia, MT. Photo Credit: Yellow Daisy/Unsplash 

At a Glance

• Capital: Helena
• State Bird: Western Meadowlark
• State Dessert: None
• State Flower: Bitterroot
• State Gemstone: Montana Agate & Sapphire
• State Mammal: Grizzly Bear
• State Rock: None

Fun Facts

• Rivers feed the Gulf of Mexico, Hudson Bay and Pacific Ocean.
  
• Town of Ismay was renamed Joe in honor of former NFL Quarterback, Joe Montana (1993).
  
• The Maiasaura Dinosaur was discovered in Choteau by Jack Horner, Paleontologist (1978).
  
• Has our nation's largest grizzly bear population. Home to federally endangered species: black-footed ferret, least tern, least tern, pallid sturgeon, white sturgeon and whooping crane.
  
• Attracts nearly thirteen million travelers annually between Beartooth Highway, Big Sky Resort, Flathead Lake, Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park.
• A hub of beer microbrewing, ranked third in our nation for craft breweries. 
• Headquarters (Livingston) to nonprofit organization, Federation of Fly Fishers. Also, to conservation and pro-hunting organization, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (Troy).
  
• Features 7 State Forests and 42 State Parks.

Lake McDonald (Glacier National Park), Flathead County, MT. Photo Credit: skeeze/Pixabay

Thank You!

• Spotlight Celebrities: Dwayne Edwards (Athlete), Jesse Tyler Furgeson (Actor), Kroy Biermann (Athlete), Patrick Duffy (Actor) and Robert Craig Knievel "Evel Knievel" (Stunt Performer), just to name a few.
• Movies to Inspire You: Always (1989), A River Runs Through It (1992), Beethoven 2 (1993), Certain Women (2016),  Dark Money (2018) and The Horse Whisperer (1998), just to name a few.
• Reads Set in Montana: Blind Your Ponies (written by 
  Stanley Gordon West), 
  The Story of Mary MacLane (written by Mary MacLane), This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind (written by 
  Ivan Doig) and 
  Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs (written by 
  Wallace Stegner), just to name a few.

Bison Road Crossing, MT. Photo Credit: David Hodges/Pixabay 

Good to Know

• Grown in the wilds of forest and mountains, Huckleberries.
  
• Instead of salt, roads are covered with fine gravel and sand during the winter.
  
• A "Blue Ribbon" state for trout fishing.
  
• There are no major league sports franchises in the state, only minor league teams.
  
• Bow/General Hunting Season is for: elk, mule deer, pronghorn antelope and whitetail deer. Random limited draw permits for: bighorn sheep, moose and mountain goats. Spring Hunting Season is for black bears and limitations on bison. There are also limitations on hunting  of mountain lions and wolves.
  
• Does not have a Trauma I Hospital, only Trauma II Hospitals in Billings, Great Falls and Missoula.
  
• Expect long distances between destinations.

Subject to occasional floods, snowstorms and wildfires (mid July- mid September).

• Best Time to Visit: June - August and December - March
• Coldest Month: January
• Hottest Month: July
• Peak Season: July - August

Garnet Ghost Town, Drummond, MT. Photo Credit:  Mike Goad/Pixabay 

Your Must-See & Do

• Historical Sites: Anaconda Smelter Stack, Bannack Historic District, Burton K Wheeler House, Butte–Anaconda Historic District, Camp Disappointment, Charles M Russell House and Studio, Chief Joseph Battleground of Bear's Paw, Chief Plenty Coups Home, Clark Pocket Compass Monument Marker, Connor Battlefield Historic Site, Deer Medicine Rocks, First Peoples Buffalo Jump, Fort Benton Historic District, Fort Connah Site, Fort Union Trading Post, Going-to-the-Sun Road, Goathaunt Bunkhouse, Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, Great Falls Portage, Great Northern Railway Buildings, Hagen Site, Historic St Mary's Mission, Lake McDonald Lodge, Last Chance Gulch, Lemhi Pass, Lolo Trail, Montana Heritage Commission, Moon-Randolph Homestead, MSU Duck Pond Spring, Nez Perce National Historical Park, Northeast Entrance Station, Original Governor's Mansion, Pass Creek Snowshoe Cabin, Pictograph Cave, Pompey's Pillar, Rankin Ranch, Reeder's Alley, Ringing Rocks, Substation #9, Rosebud Battlefield, Three Forks of the Missouri, Travelers Rest, United States Historic Post Office & Courthouse, Vinegar Jones Cabin, Virginia City Historic District, Wahkpa Chu'gn Archaeological Site, Wolf Mountains Battlefield and Yellow Cliffs of Dover.
• Museums: American Computer & Robotics Museum, Beaverhead County Museum, Big Horn County Museum, Broadwater County Museum, Carbon County Historical Society & Museum, Carter County Museum, Charles M Bair Family Museum, Children's Museum of Montana, C. M. Russell Museum, Conrad Mansion Museum, Custer Battlefield Museum, Fort Peck Interpretive Center, Frontier Montana Museum, Gallatin History Museum, Garden of the Rockies Museum, Glendive Dinosaur & Fossil Museum, Granite County Museum, Heritage Museum, Hockaday Museum of Art, Holter Museum of Art, Holt Heritage Museum, Jefferson County Museum, Livingston Depot Center, Mineral Museum, Miracle of America Museum, Missoula Art Museum, MonDak Heritage Center, Montana Museum of Art & Culture, Montana Historical Society, Montana Natural History Center, Moss Mansion Museum, Museum of Mountain Flying, Museum of the Plains Indian, Museum of the Rockies, Museum of the Yellowstone, Musselshell Valley Historical, National Museum of Forest Service History, Ninepipes Museum of Early Montana, Northwest Montana History Museum, Old Fort Benton, Old Montana Prison Museum, Old Trail Museum, Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, Piccadilly Museum of Transportation, Range Rider's Museum, Ravalli County Museum, Rocky Mountain Museum, The Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, The History Museum, Two Medicine Dinosaur Center, WaterWorks Art Museum, Western Heritage Center, World Museum of Mining, Yellowstone Art Museum, Yellowstone County Museum and Yellowstone Gateway Museum.
• Popular Attractions: Anaconda Pintler Wilderness, Avalanche Lake, Bannack State Park, Bears Paw Battlefield-Nez Perce National Historical Park, Berkeley Pit Viewing Stand, Big Hole Battlefield, Big Hole National Battlefield, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Big Sky Waterpark, Boiling River, Bridger Range, Cabinet Mountains, Caras Park, Cathedral of Saint Helena, Chief Plenty Coups State Park, Chinook, Cracker Lake, Daly Mansion, Dumas Brothel, Earthquake Lake, First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park, Garnet Ghost Town, Giant Springs State Park, Glacier National Park, Great Northern Carousel, Grinnell Glacier, Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, Hell Creek Formation, Iceberg Lake, Jackson Glacier Overlook, Kintla Lake, Kootenai Falls Suspension Bridge, Lewis & Clark Caverns, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Logan Pass, Makoshika State Park, Marias Pass, Medicine Rocks State Park, Mission Mountains, Missouri Headwaters State Park, Montana State Capitol, Mount Oberlin, Mount Sentinel, National Bison Range, Our Lady of the Rockies, Pictograph Cave State Park, Pompeys Pillar, Pryor Mountains, Ptarmigan Tunnel, Red Lodge Mountain, Roosevelt Arch, Sperry Glacier, Swords Park, Saint Mary Lake, Soda Butte Creek, The Granite Mountain Speculator Mine Memorial, The Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, The Montana Blue Jewel Mine, The Orchard, Travelers' Rest State Park, Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, West Shore State Park and ZooMontana.
• Popular Cities/Towns to Visit: Anaconda, Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Chico, Elkhorn, Flathead Lake, Fairmont, Great Falls, Helena, Jackson, Joe, Kalispell, Lewistown, Lolo, Missoula, Stevensville, Whitefish and White Sulphur Springs.
• Special Events: (February) Whitefish Winter Carnival, Wild West Winterfest, (March) Flathead Lake Bigfork Brewfest, Frostbite Frenzy, West Yellowstone's World Snowmobile EXPO, Winter Carnival, (April) International Wildlife Film Festival (IWFF), (May) Caddis Festival, Whitewater Festival, (June) American Legion PCRA Rodeo, Bob Marshall Music Festival, Custer’s Last Stand Re-enactment, Dinosaur Festival, Gardiner Annual Rodeo, Govenor's Cup Road Race, Irish Festival, Lewis & Clark Festival, Music in the Mountains, Music on Main, (July) Annual Beartooth Rally, Annual Dino Shindig, Brewfest, Brewgrass Festival, Evel Knievel Days, International Choral Festival, Lame Deer, Montana Folk Festival, North American Indian Days, Polson Main Street Flathead Cherry Festival, Ponyfest Music Festival, Summerfest Along the Yellowstone, (August) Bear Paw Roundup PRCA Rodeo, Brash Rodeo, Cowboy Poetry Gathering & Western Music Rendezvous, Crow Fair & Rodeo, Huckleberry Festival, Julia Louis-Dreyfest, Magic City Blues, McCone County Fair, Montana Beer Festival, Montana's Urban Music Festival, Moonlight MusicFest, River City Roots Festival, Rockin' the Rivers, Sweet Pea Festival, Testy Festy, Travelers’ Rest, Wildlands Music Festival, (September) Great Sheep Drive, Havre Festival Days, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, Montana State Hemp & Cannabis Festival, North American Indian Alliance Pow Wow, Saco Fun Day, (October) Bridger Raptor Festival and (November) Yellowstone Ski Festival.
• UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park

Cowboy, MT. Photo Credit: Clovis/Pixabay

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All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.