Central Montana
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CENTRAL MONTANA 46 CENTRAL MONTANA - VISITMT.COM CENTRAL MONTANA CENTRAL MONTANA www.centralmontana.com · 800.527.5348 When it comes to Central Montana, the question is, how far back in time would you like to go? To 1960s kitsch at the Sip‘n Dip in Great Falls, a tiki bar with live performing mermaids? To Rockwellian winters, schussing the time- honored slopes of Montana’s oldest ski area? Or back to painter Charlie Russell’s frontier West, viewed from the windows of a dinner train? Here, you’ll experience Fort Benton’s days as a fur-trading outpost; Lewis and Clark’s 1805–06 Montana expedition; and Bear Paw Battlefield, where Chief Joseph resigned to “fight no more forever.” This land of sunny wheat fields, snowy plains and rolling mountains can take you back to a time before human civilization, too, like Choteau’s Cretaceous days as a hip dinosaur hangout. Or go back farther still, to geologic time, when sandstone rock formations slowly emerged along the Upper Missouri National Wild and Scenic River, and the entire Rocky Mountain Front lifted into existence. While Central Montana is home to 21st-century trappings like one of Montana’s largest wind farms, even everyday interactions here are tinged with a sort of old-fashioned charm. Chatting with the guy at the next ice fishing hole, swapping field notes with fellow birders and running into skinny-skiers on the trails, you’ll find folks warmly welcoming and unpretentious, much like the hotels, cafes, saloons and museums. In such a laid-back, unbustling place, it’s easy to feel like you have all the time in the world...maybe because you do. Left: Hiking Mission Canyon, Fort Belknap Indian Reservation Above: Snow geese migration at Freezout Lake AT A GLANCE + White Sulphur Springs gets its name from the natural hot springs in the heart of town. Historically, the springs were used by multiple Indian nations who regarded the area as a “valley of peace” to be shared by all. + Cornflower-blue Yogo sapphires hail from Yogo Gulch in the Little Belt Mountains (between Great Falls and Lewistown) and are prized worldwide. + The town of Ringling is named for John T. Ringling, one of the original seven brothers of the Ringling Brothers Circus. He financed bringing the railroad to Ringling. + Trek along the Montana Dinosaur Trail to see the first baby dinosaur bones found in North America at the Two Medicine Dinosaur Center in Bynum, and unearth mysteries at the Old Trail Museum in Choteau. CENTRAL MONTANA - VISITMT.COM 47 (If you have a windbreaker, bring it.) PHOTOGRAPHING KNOW BEFORE Comfortable, understated, well-worn practical fashion is the norm, and the TRIBAL CEREMONIES YOU GO layered look is always in. Powwows and dances have deep religious significance and typically do not BEST TIME TO VISIT HOW TO GET HERE allow flash photography. Be sure to have permission before snapping photos at With Central Montana’s uncrowded nature, Driving, you’ll arrive on I-15 or one of tribal ceremonies. For more information any time is the best time to visit. That the smaller highways. Take time to enjoy on proper etiquette while visiting the said, many claim that early fall and late spectacular scenery, rolling hills and reservations and how to best enjoy spring are the best times to experience abundant wildlife. You can also fly into your experience, contact tribal offices at outdoor treats like hearing the elk bugle Great Falls International Airport or ride visitmt.com/indiannations. CENTRAL MONTANA or watching the migration of tens of Amtrak’s Empire Builder passenger train thousands of snow geese. across Montana’s Hi-Line with stops in Havre and Shelby. Public transportation FOOD Winter brings a wealth of activities, in the region is limited; renting a car is Central Montana is cattle ranching from skiing on downhill slopes and strongly advised. country, and juicy burgers or steaks are well-maintained cross-country ski trails menu favorites. Small-town cafes to to cruising on an extensive network of gourmet restaurants offer the gamut from backcountry snowmobile trails, and let’s PASSPORT/ elegant to rustic. Save room for dessert not forget the popular sport of ice fishing. PORT OF ENTRY via the new “pie trail.” If you’re entering the U.S. from Canada, centralmontana.com/pietrail WHAT TO PACK you must report to the Customs and Immigration Services and present a While there are plenty of beautiful 90 passport. Sweetgrass has a 24-hour port degree summer days in this area of of entry, and there are several smaller Montana, the dry air makes for cool ports with limited hours. 406.335.9559. evenings, nights and early mornings. 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 NORTH DAKOTA 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 Sand Springs Wibaux Missoula Lincoln Hobson Winnett Cohagen Wolf Creek 253 Greenough Neihart Grass Mosby Bonner Range Helmville Utica Lolo Terry ND to Dickinson, Clinton Canyon Creek Fallon Marysville BITTERROOT East Florence Drummond Helena Judith Gap to Kooskia, ID VALLEY Helena Melstone Ingomar PINTLER White Sulphur Ismay Victor Stevensville SCENIC Elliston Plevna ROUTE Garrison Montana Springs Two Clancy Winston City Dot Harlowton Miles City Deer Baker Corvallis Philipsburg Jefferson Martinsdale Roundup Lodge Basin City Hysham Forsyth Hamilton This map is for reference only; see the Townsend Ringling ND to Bowman, Georgetown Lake Boulder Official Montana Highway Map for moreBighorn detail. Rosebud Darby Anaconda 569 Custer Conner Butte Worden Ekalaka Wise Wilsall 48 CENTRAL MONTANA - VISITMT.COM Logan Big Colstrip Sula River Manhattan Pompeys Pillar Dewey Three Clyde Park Timber Whitehall Belgrade Greycliff Silver Forks Divide Livingston Reed Point Laurel Lame SOUTH DAKOTA 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 ALLAMERICAN 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 CENTRAL MONTANA Square Butte near Great Falls GREAT FALLS is Montana’s third-largest streams. There are excellent year-round PLACES TO GO city, known as the “Electric City” due to its fishing opportunities here and also west numerous hydroelectric dams built on the of Havre off US 2 at Fresno Reservoir. COMMUNITIES Missouri River. The city sits among four Beaver Creek Park’s scenic beauty large falls that were both a magnificent attracts snowmobilers and cross-country CHOTEAU, located on Montana’s spectacle and a formidable barrier to early skiers as well. If you’re looking for some Rocky Mountain Front, offers camping, river travel. Grand vistas can be found in “steep-n-deep” fun, try nearby Bear Paw swimming, shopping and golf right in every direction; Great Falls is surrounded Ski Bowl, just 29 miles south of town. town. Nearby activities include hiking, by mountains and buttes on three sides, The Rocky Boy’s and Fort Belknap Indian skiing, wildlife viewing, fishing, hunting and as well as vast plains to the north. Nearby, Reservations are nearby. dinosaur digging. Choteau is surrounded Showdown Montana ski area, Silver Crest 406.265.4383 by outstanding outdoor recreational Winter Recreation Area, and Kings Hill www.havremt.com opportunities in the Lewis and Clark Recreation Area provide exciting terrain for National Forest and the Bob Marshall winter activities. LEWISTOWN is an agricultural Wilderness Complex. The community 800.735.8535 community located at the geographic has several taverns and restaurants, gift www.genuinemontana.com center of Montana.