12 Best Sights in Kalispell, Missoula, and Northwest Montana, Montana

In 1995, after four years and more than 100,000 hours of volunteer work, this restored 1918 carousel took its first spin in downtown Caras Park. Kids hop in the saddles of hand-carved steeds and try to grab their very own brass ring. The carousel's horses and chariots are accompanied by tunes from the largest band organ in continuous use in the United States. The Dragon Hollow play area next to the carousel features a dragon, a castle, and many play structures.

Downtown's favorite green space, the park has a walking path along the Clark Fork River and a summer pavilion that hosts live musical performances and other events. The annual calendar includes several brewfests, the River City Roots Festival (last weekend in August), and GermanFest (early September). In the summer, Downtown ToNight is a Thursday evening event that also features food, music, and what the Chamber of Commerce likes to call a "beverage garden." On Wednesday, Out to Lunch brings a band, food trucks, and vendors, and activities for the kids to help get everyone over Hump Day.

History buffs appreciate this park's significance as the place where Isaac Stevens and the Pend d'Oreille and Flathead Kootenai Indians signed the Hell Gate Treaty in 1855 to relinquish their ancestral lands in exchange for the Flathead Reservation in the Mission Valley. The park occupies 187 primitive acres; it has interpretive signs, a picnic area, fishing access, and a hiking trail.

This Queen Anne–style commercial structure, a granite, copper-domed corner building with red polychromed brick, occupies a block in the heart of downtown. On the National Register of Historic Places, it's now home to a bank and several shops.

Fort Missoula, at the western edge of town, was established in 1877 at the height of the U.S. Army's conflict with the Nez Perce, led by Chief Joseph. The museum's indoor and outdoor exhibits, including 13 historic structures relocated from nearby sites, depict and explain the early development of Missoula County. The black 25th Infantry of bicycle soldiers arrived in 1888 to test bicycles for military use; near-life-size photos depict the soldiers during an expedition to Yellowstone National Park's Mammoth Terraces. Uniforms and artifacts are also on display. They ultimately rode one-speed bicycles from Missoula to St. Louis. Guided tours are available by appointment. Sadly, there is very little material about the Native Americans who lived here before the fort was established.

Each year two-dozen changing contemporary art exhibits join a permanent collection featuring works by E.S. Paxson, Walter Hook, Rudy and Lela Autio, and modern-day Native American artists. The 1903 Carnegie Library building, reopened in summer 2006 after extensive remodeling that added handicapped accessibility, has much more gallery space and classrooms.

The university's art museum, divided into the Meloy and Paxson galleries, hosts traveling exhibitions and has a permanent collection of more than 10,000 works, with an emphasis on historic and contemporary art from the West.

The construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad was instrumental in opening up the West to settlers, and the arrival of the line in Missoula is a key point in the city's history. The depot, opened in 1901, is an example of the Renaissance Revival architecture that dominates the north end of downtown. Today, the depot houses private offices, but you can still look around inside, enjoy a picnic outside, and examine the Crossings, a sculpture of giant red enamel Xs representing railroad trestles over mountain ravines.

A Missoula landmark along the river's south shore, this 1910 passenger depot, with Romanesque windows, a Spanish-style roof, two towers, and Mission-style parapet walls, is on the National Register of Historic Places. It's now the national headquarters of the Boone and Crockett Club, an organization founded in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt to establish conservation of wild habitats. Open to the public is a display of a world-record taxidermied elk, bighorn sheep, and other wildlife.

The heart of Missoula is defined by the Clark Fork River, which cuts through Hellgate Canyon between Mount Sentinel and Mount Jumbo, passes by the university, and slices through downtown. A 6-mile-long riverside trail (as well as the connecting 2½-mile Kim Williams Trail) makes for easy, pleasant walks, with picnic spots and benches along the way where you can watch the river. Look down from Higgin's Bridge and watch the surfers, kayakers and paddleboarders lay on Brennan's Wave. Take note: the powerful currents of the Clark Fork are dangerous—they've taken many lives over the years.

The visitor center features natural-history displays (including hands-on displays for kids), films, art, taxidermied animals, a world-record pair of elk antlers, and an outdoor nature trail. The foundation works to preserve wild lands for elk and other wildlife; since 1984 the nonprofit organization has saved almost 8 million acres from development.

A replica 1930s lookout tower, fire photos, videos, and murals explain wildland fire ecology and behavior, fire-fighting technique, and the nation's history of smoke jumping, which began here in 1942. Today it's the largest smoke-jumper base in the nation. From Memorial Day through Labor Day the center offers five tours daily, given by guides who provide firsthand accounts of jumping into blazing forests.