Scenic

Waterfalls, Hot Springs and a Mountain Stream – Your Perfect Central Montana Weekend

by

Choose your weekend and begin exploring the diverse landscapes of Central Montana. This weekend suggestion will have you visiting a state park, doing your choice of activities – from hiking, fishing, floating, seeking out a waterfall, adding to your bird life-list and soaking in hot springs. Let’s start! We’ll begin by leaving Great Falls and driving east on a highway of many numbers – US Hwys 87 and 89 and MT Hwys 3 & 200 … Read more

Four Urban Trails in Central Montana

by

Easily accessible, scenic and historic trails weave through several of Central Montana’s communities and offer a variety of recreation and scenery. Lewistown Trail System The Lewistown Trail System has 24 miles of trail for walking and running. Find the trailhead on Main Street (211 E Main) in the business district. The trail system connects all of Lewistown’s public schools, a nice perk for kids and teachers who want to bike or walk to school. Big … Read more

Quirky Exhibits at Three Central Montana Museums

by

Many museums have unique and historic items on exhibit but let’s take a look at some rather quirky things at three of Central Montana’s small town museums. In Stanford, Montana you’ll find the Judith Basin County Museum next to the local courthouse. A well-manicured lawn and beautiful flowers surround the entrance during the summer. As you enter the main floor level of the museum you can’t help but see their massive collection of salt & … Read more

Beaver Creek Park Offers Something for Everyone

by

It’s typically not top of mind on a crisp and breezy January day when you decide to visit a park. This isn’t just any park though – it’s the nation’s largest county park with some incredibly varied terrain. I only saw patches of snow, somewhat rare for January, but those beautiful endless blue skies had me captivated. The statistics. Beaver Creek Park begins 10 miles south of Havre. The park is a mile wide, 17 … Read more

National Wildlife Refuge 15 Minutes From Downtown Great Falls

by

It’s hard to believe, but driving just fifteen minutes north of Great Falls, Montana, a town of 60,000 people, you can be at Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Covering 12,383 acres (19 square miles), this wetland refuge is sprawling. Birders have documented 240 species of birds there. Twenty-eight different species of mammals, including mule deer, white-tailed deer, pronghorn, muskrats, badgers, yellow-bellied marmots, coyotes and more enjoy the terrain at Benton Lake. A crisp and wintry … Read more

Waterfalls, Freshwater Springs and a Smokestack

by

The five waterfalls of the Mighty Missouri River are the liquids that gave the town known as Great Falls its name. The Missouri River drops a total of 612 feet in ten miles as it tumbles over five waterfalls. About 187 feet of that drop is the plunge from the series of waterfalls, and the remaining 425 feet comes from the descent of the riverbed. Black Eagle Falls are the uppermost falls and they are … Read more

Ghost Towns & Gold Mines in Central Montana

by

The area near Lewistown, literally the center of Montana, has a history of gold mining, and with the boom and bust associated with that, there are now ghost towns. I took a driving tour following along portions of the Ghost Towns/Gold Mines history detailed in a brochure available at the Lewistown Chamber of Commerce. It’s a self-guided driving tour but I was lucky to connect with a historian who lives in one of the areas … Read more

Joplin’s Secret Scenic Drive

by

Joplin hosts an annual Art In The Park and Car Show each June and it was on my list of events to attend this year. And what an event it was! There were vendors of all kinds, live music and over 60 vintage vehicles in the car show. And, of course, I couldn’t pass up a yummy slice of pie at one of the food booths. What kind? Raspberry rhubarb with pecan topping. Homemade, unique … Read more

My Little Crush on Ruby the Mule

by

Last fall I was in Choteau and had a chance to visit with Maggie, one of the owners of Dropstone Outfitting, a stock-assisted hiking company. We met in a pasture and that ultimately led to my little crush on Ruby the mule. While Maggie and I were visiting, a mule wandered over and snuggled right up to her. I soon found out this was Ruby, a now-retired employee of Dropstone Outfitting. Ruby wasn’t overly persistent … Read more

Tiber Reservoir/Lake Elwell – Recreation Around the Lake in Central Montana

by

Most people think of Tiber Reservoir/Lake Elwell as a place for boating, camping and fishing and those are probably the activities that most people do. However, there are a lot more activities you can do at Tiber. First, some history – the reservoir or lake, whichever you choose to call it, has 181 miles of shoreline (in two different counties) and was created when an earth-filled dam was built on the Marias River in 1956. … Read more