Travel Guides: Montana
General Information
The wide open US state of Montana, bordering three Canadian provinces, boasts no major big cities, but is the fourth largest state in the Union, stretching across the prairie of the Great Plains, known as 'Big Sky Country'.
Plains? 'Montana' is Spanish for mountains, and indeed the State is usually regarded as mountainous because the Rocky Mountain chain traverses its western zone. Sixty percent of the state, though, is prairie. Agricultural lands provide Montana's bread and butter, and some of the USA's most attractive and renowned national parks, wildlife refuges and forests provide a tasty topping.
In Montana are the renowned Yellowstone National Park, the Glacier National Park and the Bighorn Canyon, to name just a few natural attractions under the big sky. Yellowstone, with more than two million acres of geysers, is the largest and most famous national park in the world, spilling over into Idaho and Wyoming, while the magnificent Glacier park covers one million acres of rugged mountain terrain, forests, waterfalls and glaciers.
Montana is thus an outdoor enthusiast's paradise, with a multitude of opportunities for hiking, riding, hunting, and fishing in summer, and skiing in winter. Native American culture also features high on its list of attractions, the prairies having been home to legendary tribes like the Cheyenne, Crow and Blackfeet. The various reservations are strongholds of their heritage where traditional dress is worn, rituals are performed and arts and crafts produced. Also fascinating for visitors is to explore the 'ghost towns' that were left behind after the 1862 gold rush, the many museums and art galleries, and the historic buildings and battlefields of this multi-faceted state.
Activities
Zoo Montana, Billings
Montana's zoological park and botanical garden plays host to around 70,000 visitors a year and is one of the State's most popular tourist attractions, the only zoo within 600 miles (965km) of Billings. The complex covers 70 acres to the west of the city, exhibiting animals and plants native to the northern Rockies and high plains, and similar latitudes in Europe and Asia, in state-of-the-art natural habitats.
Opening Times:
Daily from 10am to 5pm (1 May to 24 September); 10am
to 4pm (24 September to 30 April). Admissions close one hour before
grounds close
Admission:
$6.25 (adults), $4.25 (seniors), $3.25 (children
3-15)
Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings
The popular Yellowstone Art Museum exhibits contemporary and historic art of the Rocky Mountain West region. Established in 1984, the museum now contains more than 3,000 works, including the Virginia Snook Collection, the largest public display of the drawings, paintings, books and memorabilia of cowboy illustrator Will James.
Opening Times:
Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday from 10am to 5pm;
Thursday and Friday from 10am to 8pm; Sunday from 11am to 4pm;
closed on Mondays and major holidays
Admission:
$5 (adults); $3 (students with ID and children 6-18);
under 6's are free
Western Heritage Center, Billings
The Western Heritage Center in downtown Billings, affiliated to the Smithsonian Institution, has a collection of more than 16,000 artefacts documenting the life, culture and history of the Yellowstone River Valley. The centre's constantly changing gallery exhibitions draw around 22,000 visitors a year.
Opening Times:
Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm; closed on
Sundays, Mondays and major holidays
Admission:
$5 (adults), $3 (seniors and students); $1 (children
under 12)
Moss Mansion Historic House, Billings
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Moss Mansion was the 1903-built home of the Preston Boyd Moss family, and has been preserved to capture the family life of the well-to-do of the era. The house was designed by New York architect, Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, whose best-known work was New York's Waldorf Astoria.
Opening Times:
Guided tours take place every hour: (in Summer) from
Monday to Saturday, 9am to 4pm, and Sunday 1pm to 3pm; (in Winter)
Daily from 1pm to 3pm
Admission:
$7 (adults), $3 (children 6-12). Group rates and other
concessions are also available
Pictograph Cave State Park, Billings
Listed as a National Historic Landmark, Pictograph Cave State Park - located just six miles (about 10km) south of Billings - provides an ideal setting for a wonderfully scenic, historically fascinating day-trip. Covering an area of 93 acres, the Park is home to a complex of three caves (Ghost, Middle and Pictograph), linked by a paved walking trail. Two of these three caves contain evidence of habitation dating back over 4,500 years ago - and to date, over 30,000 historical artefacts, such as bone tools, arrow heads, and beaded jewellery, have been discovered within the park. The pictographs that give the park its name date from over 2,200 years ago, and their meaning is still being debated by archaeologists. Visitors to the park can anticipate pristine picnic areas, and interpretive signage, which provides good information about the prehistoric paintings, as well as the area's geology and vegetation.
Opening Times:
Open between May 1st and September
30th
Admission:
$5, payable at the Visitor's Centre
Missoula, Billings
The 'Garden City' doesn't have much in the way of gardens but it is an outdoor sportsman's Eden. Situatyed right in the middle of cowboy-land, this is a liberal hub of hippies, students and outdoor nuts. Downtown is a collection of unique shops and lively bars where it is easier to walk or bike than drive. The University of Montana starts right where the hill ends and is a beautiful campus to wander, or catch a football game to see the definition of school spirit. Tourists often visit for outdoor activities of all kinds from skiing, kayaking, hiking and rock climbing to hang-gliding and mountain biking. Festivals from Ale Fest (beer) to Testy Fest (cow balls) make their home here, so come ready to celebrate and play.
Yellowstone National Park, Billings
The world's first national park, Yellowstone was established in 1872 and despite its popularity today, most of the park still remains an undeveloped wilderness of magnificent mountain scenery, waterfalls, alpine lakes and rivers. It is renowned for its geothermal wonders and abundance of wildlife. Spilling over into Wyoming and Idaho, the enormous park is situated on top of the Yellowstone Caldera, a collapsed volcanic crater that was formed 600,000 years ago and holds within it the greatest geothermic area in the world. This unique environment includes features such as exploding geysers, thousands of steaming fumaroles, hot springs and bubbling mud pools, and is where the park's most famous attraction, the Old Faithful Geyser is to be found, drawing thousands of tourists to witness its regular eruption of steaming water. Yellowstone is also home to the largest concentration of wildlife in lower USA, including grizzly and black bears, wolves, moose, and large herds of bison and elk. The two narrow waterfalls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River cut a striking picture in the yellow-coloured rock that gives the park its name, with superb views and hiking trails for all abilities. The large alpine Yellowstone Lake fills the eastern part of the caldera and offers opportunities for boating and fishing expeditions in summer. All places of interest are accessible along the loop roads, but the intensity of visitors in summer, especially between July and August, means that one needs to hike away from the main paths to experience the true wilderness of Yellowstone National Park.
Getting There:
A bus service from Bozeman to West Yellowstone is
available all year. Commercial transportation from Bozeman to
Gardiner is available during the winter and summer
seasons
Opening Times:
The five major visitor centres are open in summer
only, generally from 8am to 7pm daily, except the Albright Visitor
Center, which is the largest and is open year-round with reduced
hours in winter. Of the park's five entrances, the North Entrance
near Gardiner is the only one that remains open year-round to
traffic. Some areas and roads are not accessible during
winter
Admission:
$25 (vehicle), $20 (snowmobile or motorcycle), $12
(individual hiker or cyclist). This fee provides visitors with a
seven-day entrance permit to both Yellowstone and Grand Teton
National Parks
Custer National Forest, Billings
The Custer National Forest is scattered across Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota, but the forest headquarters are in Billings, Montana, and most hiking and camping is undertaken in the part of the forest located about an hour's drive to the south of the city. The Custer is the most ecologically diverse forest in the north of the USA, renowned for its lake and stream fishing and home to mountain goats, big horn sheep, elk, muley and white-tailed deer, black bear, cougar and moose. A popular outing from Billings is to follow the spectacular Beartooth Scenic Byway. The Beartooth area is also one of the gateways to the Yellowstone National Park.
