MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY COUNTRY

68 MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY - VISITMT.COM MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY www.missouririver.visitmt.com · 800.653.1319 Missouri River Country might be the last chance in the Lower 48 to explore vast stretches of pristine landscape. Here, elk, deer and pronghorn antelope still graze the prairie, even outside the region’s many wildlife preserves. Rarely glimpsed birds flock here, sending birding geeks scrambling for their binoculars. Refugees from the modern world come here to escape blaring sirens and traffic jams, losing themselves to the seemingly endless great wide open.

Which isn’t to say there’s no one here. Tiny, outlying towns offer oases of homegrown hospitality as they work hard to preserve their history. From the biggest city, Sidney (population almost 6,000), to tiny Hinsdale (population 217), most towns maintain their own historical museums and host annual historical jubilees, ranging from fully costumed trapper rendezvous to frontier-themed celebrations. Thanks to the strong preservation mindset, you can still stay at the 1930s Fort Peck Hotel and take in live summer shows at the Fort Peck Summer Theatre.

Embrace all the elbow room, which affords unparalleled hunting and fishing year-round (especially at Fort Peck, a mecca for both ice fishing and warm-weather angling). Powwows and rodeos unfold under the Big Sky, while cattle drives, wagon trains and ranch stays captivate anyone who didn’t grow up in 4-H. From its abundance of dinosaur fossils to its real-deal Western bars, northeast remains wild, peaceful and unchanging.

Left: Wildflowers and the Milk River Above: Pioneer Town

AT A GLANCE + Fort Union, near Bainville, was a center of peaceful economic and social exchange between Euro-Americans MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY and the Plains Indians from 1828 to 1867. + Rolling Hills Winery, in Culbertson, is eastern Montana’s first winery, crafting wines from locally grown fruits like chokecherries, raspberries and rhubarb instead of grapes. + Just north of Malta, one of the best-preserved (and also one of the only mummified) dinosaurs was discovered, a 77 million-year-old Brachylophosaurus nicknamed Leonardo. + Fort Peck is the world’s largest hydraulic earth-filled dam. + Just a few miles from the Canadian border, Scobey is home to Pioneer Town with 35 historical buildings.

MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY - VISITMT.COM 69 enormous blue sky that covers vast reaches PHOTOGRAPHING KNOW BEFORE of plains, badlands and prairie wilderness. Gas stations may be hours apart, so watch TRIBAL CEREMONIES YOU GO your gauge and enjoy the view. Powwows and dances have deep religious significance and typically do not BEST TIME TO VISIT Also, it’s time to perfect the common road allow flash photography. Be sure to have courtesy known as the two-fingered wave. permission before snapping photos at The allure of summertime frontier festivals When you see approaching traffic, lift two tribal ceremonies. For more information and hot dry weather is hard to beat, fingers of your left hand off the steering on proper etiquette while visiting the but some enthusiasts time their visit to wheel until the other vehicle has passed. reservations and how to best enjoy northeast Montana based on the wildlife. The other driver will probably deliver the your experience, contact tribal offices at In this part of the state, hunting counts same low-key salute. visitmt.com/indiannations. as a season, bird watchers migrate here when the birds do, and anglers follow the hatches (and ice-ups). That said, some WHAT TO PACK FOOD of the area’s best draws (like antique-ing, Bring your play clothes (including cold- In most of the little towns in northeast museum hopping and scenic drives) are weather garb) and nothing flashy. Consider Montana, the local cafe or bar serves as enticing any time of year. rancher dress: tough comfy jeans, flannel restaurant and community meeting place. shirts, ball caps and cowboy hats and In many of these places you will not only Winters here aren’t that snowy, but they work boots. Bring your own fishing get an amazing meal of steak, walleye or can have cold temperatures. Fortunately, and hunting gear if you like, but there another local favorite, you will get a little northeast Montana’s museums and are outfitters scattered here in this land bit of the local insight on where to go friendly communities offer a welcome famous for prime fishing and hunting. and what to do. Oh, and probably some diversion from the cold. Then again, most amazing homemade pie to top it all off. locals embrace a little frostiness—ice fishing is a major draw here. ROADS NEAR FORT PECK & HOW TO GET HERE SURROUNDING AREAS PLACES TO GO Hop a plane to Sidney, Wolf Point or If you see a single raindrop on the back COMMUNITIES Glasgow or ride the Amtrak Empire roads near Fort Peck, head back CIRCLE is located along the Big Sky Builder to Malta, Glasgow or Wolf Point or immediately. These roads tend to wash Back Country Byway, which links the two cruise in on US 2 or MT 200. Take in the out easily and getting stuck is a real possibility. major rivers in the state, the Yellowstone

to Cranbrook, BC to Regina, SK to Cardston, AB to Assiniboia, SK to Lethbridge, AB to Kildeer, SK CANADA to Swift Current, SK Rexford CANADA Yaak Eureka Westby GLACIER Whitetail Babb Sweetgrass Port of Four Flaxville NATIONAL Sweetgrass Opheim Buttes Fortine Polebridge BLACKFEET Sunburst Turner Trego St. Mary INDIAN Peerless Scobey Plentywood Loring Whitewater ND to Fortuna, PARK RESERVATION Lake Cut Bank Troy Apgar McDonald Browning Chinook Medicine Lake Libby West Glacier FORT PECK Columbia K INDIAN RESERVATION Shelby AMTRA Falls Coram Rudyard A Martin City Chester Froid MT Havre Fort AMTRAK Hinsdale RAK Whitefish Hungry Horse East Glacier Galata Saco Saint Park Valier Box Belknap Marie Lustre Elder Dodson Vandalia Kalispell Essex Agency Malta Culbertson Heart Butte FORT BELKNAP Kila Dupuyer ROCKY BOY’S INDIAN Glasgow Nashua Wolf Poplar Marion Bigfork Flathead River AMTRAK Heron Big Sandy INDIAN RESERVATION Point Bainville Somers to Williston, ND to Sandpoint, ID Noxon Conrad RESERVATION Lakeside FLATHEAD Rollins Bynum Brady Proctor VALLEY Swan Lake UPPER MISSOURI Fort Fairview Dayton Virgelle Trout RIVER BREAKS C. M. RUSSELL Peck Creek Elmo Loma NATIONAL MONUMENT Choteau Fort Benton Zortman NATIONAL WILDLIFE Thompson Big Arm Landusky REFUGE Sidney Falls Hot Springs Polson Lambert DAKOTA NORTH Crane Condon Fairfield Great Haugan Ronan Vaughn Falls Plains Savage De Borgia Charlo Augusta Winifred Bloomfield St. Regis Paradise FLATHEAD INDIAN Moiese RESERVATION Fort Shaw Brusett Circle to Coeur d’Alene, ID to Coeur d’Alene, IDAHO Belt Dixon St. Ignatius Ulm Roy Stockett Raynesford Denton Jordan Brockway Superior Cascade Geyser Arlee Seeley 253 Lake Stanford Glendive Ovando Craig Monarch Lewistown Alberton Springs Wibaux Missoula Lincoln Hobson Winnett Cohagen Wolf Creek 253 Greenough Neihart Grass Mosby Bonner Range Helmville Utica This map is for reference only; see the Lolo Canyon Creek Terry ND to Dickinson, Clinton Official MontanaFallon Highway Map for more detail. MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY Marysville BITTERROOT East Florence Drummond Helena Judith Gap to Kooskia, ID VALLEY Helena Melstone Ingomar PINTLER White Sulphur Ismay Victor Stevensville SCENIC Elliston 70 MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY - VISITMT.COM Plevna ROUTE Garrison Montana Springs Two Clancy Winston City Dot Harlowton Miles City Deer Baker Corvallis Philipsburg Jefferson Martinsdale Roundup Lodge Basin Hysham Forsyth Hamilton City Townsend Ringling ND to Bowman, Georgetown Lake Boulder Bighorn Rosebud Darby Anaconda 569 Custer Conner Butte Worden Ekalaka Wise Wilsall Logan Big Colstrip Sula River Manhattan Pompeys Pillar Dewey Three Clyde Park Timber Whitehall Belgrade Greycliff Silver Forks Divide Livingston Reed Point Laurel Lame DAKOTA SOUTH Star Harrison Billings Wisdom Columbus Hardin Crow Deer to Melrose Pony A Ashland Olive Twin Gallatin McLeod W RRIOR Salmon, ID Agency PIONEER Bridges Gateway CROW INDIAN TRAIL MTNS Bozeman Park H 278 Sheridan Norris Absarokee City RESERVATION Garryowen Busby IGH SCENIC PARADISE Rockvale NORTHERN CHEYENNE WAY Broadus BYWAY Fishtail Saint Xavier Jackson Nevada VALLEY Joliet Pryor INDIAN RESERVATION Polaris City Ennis Pray Nye Roberts Lodge Fort Smith Birney Alder Emigrant Roscoe Grass 278 Bridger Virginia Big Sky Bannack Dillon City Red Lodge Otter Biddle Alzada Cameron BIGHORN CANYON Wyola Cooke Belfry Grant Gardiner Silver NATIONAL REC. AREA Decker 324 Gate City WYOMING to Belle Fourche, SD 324 Quake Tower Junction WYOMING to Gillette, WY Mammoth to Sheridan, WY Lake BEARTOOTH to Cody, WY to Lovell, WY Hot Springs ALL AMERICAN ROAD YELLOWSTONE Dell Canyon Norris Lima NATIONAL Madison Monida Lakeview West Junction PARK Yellowstone Lake West IDAHO to Idaho Falls, ID Thumb to Rexburg, ID Old Faithful Grant Village

to Grand Teton Natl Park and Jackson, WY Spring storm over

and the Missouri. The town is very farm FORT PECK was planned and surrounds Fort Peck Lake in a 200-mile- and ranch oriented. While in Circle visit developed by government engineers long strip. Wildlife abounds out here. the McCone County Museum, with as the headquarters for construction The terrain between Jordan and Fort thousands of interesting, historical items and operation of the huge Fort Peck Peck is famous among paleontologists from the area. Its wildlife collection Dam. The dam, built in the 1930s, is the for its fantastic fossil beds. In 1904, a consists of over 200 birds and animals largest hydraulic earth-filled dam in the Tyrannosaurus rex was discovered near mounted and displayed in their natural world. The town offers big recreation and Jordan in the . A settings. There are also eight concrete entertainment opportunities. Excellent member of the Montana Dinosaur Trail, the dinosaurs. An old schoolhouse, a fishing brings visitors to the lake year- Garfield County Museum has a full-size church and a homestead house have round. A state-record walleye and world- Triceratops cast from the original fossils been moved to the museum area. The record saugeye were caught here during excavated just north of Jordan. old Northern Pacific Depot and an the winter season. A scenic overlook just 406.557.6158 old caboose are also on the grounds. east of the dam on MT 24 offers views www.garfieldcounty.com The museum is open May through of Fort Peck Lake and interpretation September. of Lewis and Clark’s journey through MALTA is home to ranchers, abundant 406.485.2741 northeast Montana. wildlife and unlimited outdoor recreation. www.circle-montana.com www.visitmt.com/fortpeck This town is one of the notable stops on the Montana Dinosaur Trail, with two CULBERTSON is one of the oldest towns GLASGOW was established in the late excellent facilities—the Phillips County in eastern Montana. It was founded in 1800s as a railroad town. It is now a Museum, featuring a 33-foot-long skeleton 1887 when Montana was still a territory. regional shopping and trading hub and of “Elvis” the Brachylophosaurus, and Visit the Culbertson Museum and Visitor has the largest full-service motel in the the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum Center for information on the area. It region. The surrounding area is full of and Field Station, displaying rare fossil offers a great collection of artifacts and scenic rolling plains and open farmland. fish, invertebrates, plants and a variety historical photographs. Roads from Glasgow lead to Fort Peck of dinosaur species. Nearby Nelson 406.787.5271 Lake through the Charles M. Russell Reservoir is stocked with walleye, yellow MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY www.culbertsonmt.com National Wildlife Refuge, home to bugling perch and northern pike for excellent year- elk, herds of mule deer, red foxes, coyotes round fishing. FAIRVIEW is divided by the Montana/ and songbirds. 406.654.1776 North Dakota border. Visit the nearby 406.228.2222 www.maltachamber.com Fairview Bridge, a rare, vertical-lift bridge www.glasgowchamber.net listed on the National Register of Historic PLENTYWOOD is the trading center Places for its past significance and unique JORDAN is your entry to the most remote for the people living in the extreme engineering, and the Cartwright Train and beautiful mix of deep river canyons, northeastern corner of the state. Visit the Tunnel. A developed walking trail goes badlands and prairie wilderness in the Sheridan County Museum, completed in over the bridge and the Yellowstone River. West. The most rugged of the terrain 1968, where you’ll find the historical flavor 406.742.5259 is part of the 1,100,000-acre Charles of Plentywood’s and Sheridan County’s M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge that early days. Thirty-one miles south of

MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY - VISITMT.COM 71 Plentywood lies picturesque Brush Lake WOLF POINT is part of the Fort Peck State Park, which has a deep, clear lake Indian Reservation. The same blend of with white, sandy beaches surrounded tribal and non-tribal residents (about by grass fields and linear stands of spring 50/50) exists today as did in the early wheat. A little farther south is the Medicine 1900s. The Fort Peck Reservation is home Lake National Wildlife Refuge, where to the Dakota-Lokota-Nakota (Sioux) thousands of migrating waterfowl make and Dakota (Assiniboine) nations. Today their summer home. Wolf Point is a trade hub for local farmers 406.765.8500 and ranchers and a center for the Sioux FORT PECK RESERVOIR www.sheridancountychamber.org and Assiniboine. Montana’s oldest pro Only the most senior anglers remember a time rodeo, the Wild Horse Stampede, is held without man-made Fort Peck Lake (meaning SCOBEY, located 15 miles from the every July. Even before the term “rodeo” before 1933), but most can’t imagine Canadian border, is a clean, peaceful was coined, this was an event staged by Montana without the massive fishing mecca. and family-oriented place. This area has American Indians for wild riding skills and The lake is Montana’s largest body of water, some of the best hunting in the U.S. Big celebration. swirling with over 50 different kinds of fish, game and bird hunters from all over the 406.653.2012 including walleye, northern pike, paddlefish, world flock to northeast Montana seeking www.wolfpointchamber.com sauger, lake trout, smallmouth bass white-tailed and mule deer, antelope, and chinook salmon. pheasants, grouse, ducks and geese. NOTABLE SITES 406.487.2061 www.scobeymt.com CHARLES M. RUSSELL NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE You’ll find bugling SIDNEY, nicknamed the “Sunrise City,” elk, herds of mule deer, bighorn sheep, is the largest town in northeast Montana. red foxes and coyotes in this scenic refuge This agricultural community is situated that stretches along the Missouri River. on the banks of the Yellowstone River, Songbirds, like the mountain bluebird a short distance from the North Dakota and black-capped chickadee, are here in line, and is your base for roaming the abundance as well. And bring your fishing southeastern sector of Missouri River pole. You’ll find walleye, trout, salmon, pike Country. Sidney’s MonDak Heritage and the flat-billed paddlefish, native to the Center (named for its location on the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers. Easiest Montana/North Dakota border) features access to the area is through the Pines area history and includes an extensive Recreation Area, 30 miles southwest of street scene of the early 1900s. Fort Peck. Accessibility is dependent upon 406.433.1916 weather and road conditions. www.sidneymt.com 406.538.8706 www.fws.gov/refuge/charles_m_russell

Boating on Fort Peck Lake

The lake’s ragged shoreline gives anglers plenty of places to look—at 1,520 miles, Fort Peck Lake’s shores are longer than the California coast. Beyond those shores, the Charles M. Russell (CMR) National Wildlife Refuge provides over one million acres of public land for fishing, hiking, hunting, camping, bird watching and other outdoor recreation. Before you head out on the reservoir’s dirt roads, check the weather—a simple dirt road can become an impassable bog when muddy. 406.526.3411 www.visitmt.com/fortpeckres MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY

Elk bugling at Slippery Ann Elk Viewing Area, Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge 72 MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY - VISITMT.COM Fort Union Rendezvous at Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site Fort Peck Interpretive Center, Fort Peck

DANIELS COUNTY MUSEUM AND Dam and overlooking the Missouri River. PIONEER TOWN sits on 20 acres just The center features exhibits on wildlife THINGS TO DO west of Scobey and includes 35 buildings of the C.M. Russell National Wildlife that have been developed or restored to Refuge, paleontology (including a cast EVENTS depict turn-of-the-20th-century businesses of the Tyrannosaurus rex known as and homes. The museum’s purpose is Peck’s Rex), Fort Peck Dam construction For exact dates and a complete listing of to collect, preserve and display Daniels and homesteading. Open April through all events go to visitmt.com/events. County history in all its forms. November. 406.487.5965 406.526.3493 MONDAK AG DAYS AND TRADE www.scobeymt.com/museum.html www.visitmt.com/ftpeckinterp SHOW – SIDNEY, JANUARY This two-day trade show has livestock FORT PECK FISH HATCHERY With FORT PECK SUMMER THEATRE Built judging, seminars, farm video tours and hundreds of valves, miles of water pipes in 1934 as a temporary structure by the Ag in the Classroom displays, topped off and panels of computer circuitry, this U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, this building by a banquet on Saturday night featuring 22,000-square-foot facility will amaze is home to the Fort Peck Summer Theatre. popular entertainment. your whole family. As the largest and In 1983 it was placed on the National 406.433.1206 most technically sophisticated hatchery in Register of Historic Places. Take note Montana, it features 64 rearing tanks and of the handcrafted light fixtures and the ICE FISHING TOURNAMENT – incubation capacity for up to 125 million massive, hand-hewn beams along with FORT PECK, FEBRUARY Competition walleye eggs and 500,000 chinook salmon the Arc movie projector originally used in ice fishing in the Dredge Cuts Trout Pond eggs. Open all year. the 1930s. at Fort Peck Lake! Top prize is $2,000, 406.526.3689 406.228.9216 with other cash and merchandise prizes. www.visitmt.com/fishhatchery www.fortpecktheatre.org Any fish caught could be the winner, from northern pike to walleyes. Bring the whole FORT PECK INDIAN RESERVATION GREAT PLAINS DINOSAUR MUSEUM family, dress warmly and expect to have Learn about the Assiniboine and Sioux AND FIELD STATION No trip through a lot of fun. The holes are pre-drilled, so tribes at the Fort Peck Culture Center Montana is complete without a tour of just bring a scoop, a bucket, your fishing MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY and Museum in Poplar. It features cultural the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum and equipment and whatever you need to exhibits and arts and crafts. Field Station in Malta, one of the stops on spend three hours on the ice. 406.768.2300 the Montana Dinosaur Trail. On display 406.228.2222 www.fortpecktribes.org are spectacular dinosaur specimens, stunning invertebrates, fossil fish and rare SCHMECKFEST – LUSTRE, MARCH FORT PECK INTERPRETIVE CENTER fossil plants. The museum also offers The Lustre Christian High School hosts AND MUSEUM Bring the whole family lectures, educational programs and a a German festival of tasting where cooks and enjoy interpretive programs, theater unique gift store with a variety of special use authentic German recipes, making presentations and nature hikes, all gifts and souvenirs for all ages. Open May sure the food is the real deal. See table covering a wide variety of topics, at this through October. displays of model airplanes, quilts, fascinating museum located immediately 406.654.5300 leather crafts, dolls, pottery and more. downstream of the immense Fort Peck www.greatplainsdinosaurs.org

MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY - VISITMT.COM 73 Don’t miss the evening’s silent auction and SUNRISE FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS – live auction. SIDNEY, JULY Enjoy artists’ and crafters’ 406.392.5735 booths under colorful canopies, pottery demonstrations, a food fair, children’s DINOSAUR FORT PECK SUMMER THEATRE – activities in the Kids Korner and live Can you dig it? FORT PECK, MAY-SEPTEMBER entertainment on the pavilion stage all day. Yes, you can. But make that a qualified The Fort Peck Summer Theatre provides 406.433.1916 yes, because you shouldn’t head out on your live theater with a company of professional own with a shovel and pick. For starters, performers and technicians, along with a WOLF POINT WILD HORSE it’s unlikely you’ll find anything. But more host of regional performers of all ages. STAMPEDE – WOLF POINT, JULY importantly, it’s illegal to dig for fossils on 406.228.9216 A three-day event including a PRCA- public lands without a permit. sanctioned rodeo that brings the best FORT UNION RENDEZVOUS – cowboys to town. There is a parade each Fortunately, there are dig opportunities where SIDNEY, JUNE Fort Union Trading Post day, along with a carnival, the Human you can actually become a part of unearthing comes alive with an encampment of Stampede Run/Walk, the world-famous important fossil finds, in the proper manner. traders, craftsmen and Native Americans wild horse race and more. So if you want to dig for dinosaurs, ask at that allows visitors a glimpse of history. 406.650.7142 any of the Montana Dinosaur Trail facilities. New experiences each year with They’ll provide information about dig demonstrations, speakers and storytellers. NORTHEAST MONTANA THRESHING opportunities in their area…but please note, 701.572.9083 BEE AND ANTIQUE SHOW – there may be participation fees. CULBERTSON, SEPTEMBER All Montana Dinosaur Trail members MONTANA DINOSAUR FESTIVAL – The Northeast Montana Threshing Bee adhere to and support the current code of MALTA, JUNE A wild weekend of fun that and Antique Show is a two-day show ethics established by the Society of Vertebrate includes displays, dino presentations, kids’ held each year the fourth full weekend Paleontology, which prohibits the illegal crafts, activities, games, food, a car show in September that features threshing collection and sale of paleontological resources. and the Phillips County Motor Sports Drag bundles, sawing logs, a parade of old Races. tractors and machinery, a small engine 406.654.5300 display, a shingle saw, a lumber planer, a flea market space, a car show and a free PIONEER DAYS, DIRTY SHAME SHOW barbecue Saturday evening. AND ANTIQUE SHOW – SCOBEY, 406.787.5265 JUNE Take in a Thresherman’s Breakfast then stroll down the boardwalks of Pioneer CULTURE/HISTORY Town to explore more than 35 preserved buildings. Antique cars and equipment DINOSAUR TRAIL Montana’s Dinosaur are on display all weekend. Enjoy Trail in Missouri River Country is a entertainment at the Dirty Shame Saloon, mecca for dinosaur hunters—thanks to featuring the Dirty Shame Belles, comedy its fossil-rich formations and its unique skits and the Dixieland Band. Don’t miss dinosaur attractions. Explore museums the antique car and tractor parade. with Montana dinosaur discoveries and 406.487.5965 visit field stations (fossil preparation labs). Highlights of the Montana Dinosaur RED BOTTOM CELEBRATION – Trail in this region include the Fort Peck FRAZER, JUNE Red Bottom Celebration Interpretive Center and Museum, Garfield has been an annual powwow for over County Museum, Phillips County Museum Educational program at the Great Plains 100 years, celebrating native culture and the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum Dinosaur Museum and Field Station and traditions through dancing, food, and Field Station. crafts and fellowship with one another. Great Plains Dinosaur www.mtdinotrail.org All members of the general public are Museum & Field Station, Malta welcome to participate or watch. www.greatplainsdinosaurs.org FORT UNION TRADING POST 406.768.2300 NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE The Missouri Phillips County Museum, Malta River’s preeminent fur-trading post from www.phillipscountymuseum.org MONTANA GOVERNOR’S CUP the 1820s to the Civil War, Fort Union was Garfield County Museum, Jordan WALLEYE TOURNAMENT – FORT a colorful mix of river boaters, fur traders, www.garfieldcounty.com/our-museum.html PECK, JULY Anglers from all over Plains Indian tribes and frontier capitalists. Montana, 18 states and Canada gather Bourgeois House, once the setting of Fort Peck Interpretive Center at Fort Peck Lake to try for the $15,000 elegant dinners for distinguished guests, is and Museum, Fort Peck first-place prize. Events include a fish fry, now a visitor center. Fort Union straddles www.visitmt.com/ftpeckinterp barbecue, Gals and Guys Tournament and the Montana-North Dakota border, east of www.mtdinotrail.org youth fishing festival. Bainville. Open daily all year. 406.228.2222 701.572.9083 www.nps.gov/fous MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY

74 MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY - VISITMT.COM Fort Peck Summer Theatre Red Bottom Celebration in Frazer

GARFIELD COUNTY MUSEUM VALLEY COUNTY PIONEER MUSEUM boasts over 1,500 miles of shoreline, and This museum in Jordan is a stop along the in Glasgow is home to a chronological you’ll find peace and quiet, accompanied Montana Dinosaur Trail and features area history of the region from the age of by a few friends and plenty of walleye, history rich in fossils and homesteading. dinosaurs to the present day, and includes northern pike, smallmouth bass, ling Open Memorial Day through Labor Day. one of the largest Assiniboine Indian and chinook salmon. Nelson Reservoir, 406.557.2517 material culture collections in the world. covering 4,500 acres about 17 miles from www.visitmt.com/garfield Open daily Memorial Day to Labor Day. Malta, is also home to record-size walleye, Spring, fall and winter hours are limited. yellow perch and northern pike. Visit both MONDAK HERITAGE CENTER 406.228.8692 reservoirs in winter for premier ice fishing. MUSEUM View all types of professionally www.valleycountymuseum.com The Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers produced art, ranging from contemporary offer excellent opportunities for catching paddlefish and shovelnose sturgeon— to Western. A re-created 1890s ZORTMAN HISTORIC MINING TOWN homestead-era museum occupies the Gold established the community of prehistoric monsters that still live here lower floor. This is one of the region’s Zortman. Many mines were sunk into today. For fishing regulation’s information, premier museums and art galleries, with the mountainsides, the most prosperous contact Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks at or the Glasgow office at the largest available exhibit space of any being the Ruby Gulch Mine in 1904. 406.444.2535 such combined facility in the area. The Today, Zortman has switched its role from 406.228.3700. center hosts about 18 different shows a bustling and prosperous mining town to www.fwp.mt.gov/fishing every year, meaning you’ll always find a quaint and nostalgic village. Visitors to Antelope, white-tailed and something new and interesting at the this eastern Montana town can enjoy the HUNTING mule deer, elk, turkeys and other game MonDak, located in Sidney. Open all year. nearby Little Rocky Mountains and the UL birds are all quarry for hunters in Missouri 406.433.3500 Bend National Wildlife Refuge within the River Country. Pheasants and grouse www.mondakheritagecenter.org C.M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, 40 are abundant. Sage hens and ducks are

miles southeast of Zortman. also hunted here, in addition to sharp- MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY PHILLIPS COUNTY MUSEUM is located 406.654.1776 tailed and sage grouse and Hungarian in Malta. The museum was established www.visitmt.com/zortman partridge. Wild geese land by the to preserve the natural, historical and thousands along the Missouri River in the cultural heritage of the Phillips County OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES fall, making this area a goose hunter’s region. Historical exhibits include mining, paradise. Medicine Lake is famous for Native Americans, dinosaurs, outlaws and FISHING In Missouri River Country, you’ll the flocks of geese that land there. The farm/ranch/homestead items. The Phillips spend your time wetting your line, not wide-open spaces provide ideal hunting County Museum is one of the Montana spinning fish tales. Trolling for walleye country, and the communities of Missouri Dinosaur Trail stops. Open all year. at the celebrated Fort Peck Reservoir River Country enthusiastically welcome 406.654.1037 or trying your luck from the shores of hunters from near and far. Guest ranches www.phillipscountymuseum.org the Missouri River will give you ample and guided hunting trips are available. opportunity for great fish stories. Fort Peck Remember, you must have permission to

MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY - VISITMT.COM 75 hunt on private land. Maps of public land NORTHEASTERN PLAINS BIRDING and access can be obtained from Bureau TRAIL has some of Montana’s best bird of Land Management area offices. A BLM watching locations. The trail provides map of the area you are in is essential in an up-close-and-personal look at the northeast Montana. Contact BLM, Malta, grasslands, badlands and wetlands of at 406.654.5100 or BLM, Glasgow, at northeast Montana. The grasslands have DRIVING TOURS IN 406.228.3750. Montana Fish, Wildlife remained relatively intact compared to MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY & Parks offers a cooperative program much of the Great Plains, while the wind- Fort Peck Lake Drive between private landowners and FWP and water-sculpted hills of the badlands Follow a portion of giant Fort Peck Lake, which called Block Management, which helps provide a unique landscape for rock wrens, has more shoreline itself than the California landowners manage hunting activities Say’s Phoebes and ferruginous hawks. coastline. Start at Fort Peck Dam, one of the and provides the public with free hunting The wetland trail wanders through prairie world’s largest , and head south on access to private land, and sometimes to potholes, home to Nelson’s sharp-tailed MT 24 to its junction with MT 200. adjacent or isolated public lands. Block sparrows and yellow rails. All of these areas Management addresses fall hunting only— provide important breeding and nesting Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge spring bear and turkey hunting access are habitats for a full range of species. A 15-mile self-guided Auto Tour Route winds typically not included in the program. For www.nemontanabirdingtrail.org through a variety of wildlife habitats. Keep more information about hunting in Missouri your binoculars and camera ready for views of River Country, contact Montana Fish, SLEIGH RIDES All those Christmas pronghorns and Baird’s sparrows, American Wildlife & Parks at 406.444.2535 or the carols were right. You may not exactly avocets and black-necked stilts, yellow-headed Glasgow office at406.228.3700. remember the lyrics, but you always blackbirds and muskrats. Stop by the Bowdoin www.fwp.mt.gov/hunting remember riding a sleigh through the National Wildlife Refuge headquarters for a woods, watching the winter dusk unfold brochure on the self-guided tour. Open all year. MILK RIVER OBSERVATION POINT to the tune of jingling sleigh bells. Catch a 406.654.2863 www.fws.gov/refuge/bowdoin East of Fort Peck on MT 24, just east of sleigh ride at the Sand Creek Clydesdales Medicine Lake National the spillway, a gravel road leads you to the Ranch in Jordan. Wildlife Refuge A 14-mile Wildlife Drive bottom of a hill. Hike to the top and see 406.557.2865 winds through prairie and wetland habitats, for miles and miles. This is where Lewis www.sandcreekclydesdales.net providing opportunities to view a wide array of and Clark sat and gazed down at the river wildlife typical of the northern Great Plains. A below that looked “milky,” and therefore SNOWSHOEING If you can walk, you foot trail leads to a viewing platform equipped was named the Milk River. can snowshoe. Montana’s easiest-to-learn with all-season binoculars overlooking the 406.526.3411 winter sport can take you up spectacular white pelican nesting colony. Entrance to trails just about any place there’s snow, the Wildlife Drive is adjacent to the refuge headquarters and is open daily from dawn to dusk, all year. 406.789.2305 www.fws.gov/medicinelake Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge This is one of America’s greatest wilderness regions. Some of the canyons are 1,000 feet deep and harbor elk, bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, deer and prairie dog towns. More than 200 species of birds and 40 species of mammals have been identified on the refuge. The self-guided tour takes you out near Lewis and Clark’s 1805 campsite and in the vicinity of the site of two historic frontier towns—Rocky Point and Carroll. Accessibility is dependent on weather and road conditions. For maps and information call the CMR at 406.538.8706, ext. 221. www.fws.gov/refuge/charles_m_russell Leo B. Coleman Wildlife Exhibit Off MT 117 is a loop drive around 230 acres that are home to bison, pronghorn antelope and mule deer. MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY

Lazy day in Zortman 76 MISSOURI RIVER COUNTRY - VISITMT.COM with minimum equipment and a negligible BIG SKY BACK COUNTRY BYWAY learning curve. Missouri River Country’s Traveling through the Great Plains section many wildlife refuges are a great place to of Montana, the Big Sky Back Country PISCINE PURSUITS, start shoeing this winter. Byway traverses the vast expanses of ON ICE land and sky that has earned Montana What’s more fun than luring reluctant fish TRAILS OF OUTLAWS The likes of Kid its nickname. With the Missouri River and Curry, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Wolf Point at the byway’s northern end, up from under the ice? Having oodles of other Kid, members of the Hole-in-the-Wall and the Yellowstone River and the town similarly minded folks out there with you to Gang (aka the Wild Bunch), Dutch Henry of Terry at the southern end, this 105-mile clink cocoa cups with. Ice fishing tournaments and others stormed a trail of devastation byway is a great place to fish, hunt, hike attract winter anglers to swap tales, raise through eastern Montana. The Outlaw and sightsee. funds for worthy causes and win bragging rights (and major cash) with a grand prize. At Trail, an intricate, loosely defined route 406.233.2800 of escape for turn-of-the-20th-century tournaments with pre-drilling, you don’t even have to cut your own hole. But you do have to outlaws, wound through eastern Montana WILDLIFE VIEWING The driving on its way from Canada to Mexico. tours listed on page 76 offer excellent bring your own fur (or faux fur) hat. 406.653.1319 wildlife viewing. In addition, hundreds of elk congregate in the Slippery Ann SCENIC & WILDLIFE Wildlife Viewing Area on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge each AMERICAN PRAIRIE RESERVE is a fall (September and October). This area growing wildlife reserve that provides is along an excellent 20-mile-long self- abundant wildlife watching, outstanding guided tour, which can be accessed from scenery and a true sense of the wide two points along US 191. The tour takes open. Stunning vistas make a great about two hours to complete. backdrop for camping, hiking, hunting, 800.653.1319 biking, bird watching or a driving tour. www.visitmt.com/watchablewildlife South of Malta. Open all year. 877.273.1123 Ice fishing on Fort Peck Lake www.americanprairie.org For more information visit fwp.mt.gov, search “fishing contest” or call 800.653.1319.

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