3 Best Sights in Helena, Bozeman, and Southwest Montana, Montana

The Beaverhead County Museum exhibits Native American artifacts, ranching and mining memorabilia, a homesteader's cabin, agricultural artifacts, a one-room schoolhouse, a Lewis and Clark diorama, a model train, a research center, and a boardwalk imprinted with the area's ranch brands.

William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition climbed to the top of this limestone bluff in 1805 and took three compass readings. The maps he made from these readings became an important resource for future travelers. A ¼-mile gravel loop trail takes visitors to the top of the bluff, where interpretive signs include a replica of Clark's sketched map of the area.

In the undeveloped and remote Centennial Valley, this almost-50,000-acre refuge shelters moose, deer, and antelope, but is primarily a sanctuary for 230 species of birds, including trumpeter swans. Once threatened with extinction, these elegant birds have survived thanks to refuge protection; today they build their nests and winter here among the 16,500 acres of lakes and marshes.