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

The comical critters at Greycliff Prairie Dog Town State Park pop out of their underground homes, stand upright, sound their chirping alarms, and dash to another hole. Explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark referred to these "barking squirrels" in their journals. At this 98-acre protected habitat you can catch the action from your car.

Thousands of local historical artifacts are on display in the Headwaters Heritage Museum, including a small anvil and all that is left of a trading post, Fort Three Forks, established in 1810. The museum is free, but contributions are more than welcome.

Displays at this 17,000-square-foot museum include folk art, crafts, photography, painting, and sculpture, with an emphasis on homegrown Montana artists.

Four down-and-out prospectors designated this spot their "last chance" after they'd followed played-out gold strikes across the West. Their perseverance paid off when they discovered the first of several gold deposits here, which propelled Helena to the ranks of Montana's leading gold producers. Many of the mansions and businesses that resulted from the discovery of gold still stand on this historic route, also known as Main Street.

The Lewis and Clark Caverns, Montana's oldest state park, hold some of the most beautiful underground landscapes in the nation. Two-hour tours lead through narrow passages and vaulted chambers past colorful, intriguingly varied limestone formations. The temperature stays in the 50s year-round; jackets and rubber-sole shoes are recommended. Note that the hike to the cavern entrance is mild. A campground sits at the lower end of the park. Around the holidays they run a special candlelit cave tour.

The 1902 Livingston Depot Center is situated in the former Northern Pacific depot, which served as the gateway to Yellowstone for the park's first 25 years. In the summer months it's now a museum with displays centered on Western and railroad history.

Within the Madison Buffalo Jump historic site is a cliff where Plains Indians stampeded bison to their deaths for more than 2,000 years, until European guns and horses arrived in the West. An interpretive center explains how the technique enabled Native Americans to gather food and hides. Picnic areas provide a restful break from touring. Be on the lookout for rattlesnakes here, and avoid wandering off the paths.

The Mai Wah Museum contains exhibits on the history of the Chinese and other Asian settlers of Butte. The two historic buildings it occupies were constructed to house Chinese-owned businesses: the Wah Chong Tai Company and the Mai Wah Noodle Parlor.

More than 1,300 mineral specimens are displayed at Montana Tech University's Mineral Museum, including a 27½-troy-ounce gold nugget and a massive iron-nickel meteorite, which was discovered in Beaverhead County.

The Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin rivers come together to form the mighty Missouri River within Missouri Headwaters State Park, a National Historic Landmark. At 2,340 miles, the Missouri is the country's longest river. Lewis and Clark named the three forks after Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, Secretary of State James Madison, and President Thomas Jefferson. The park has historical exhibits, interpretive signs, picnic sites, hiking trails, and camping.

The Montana Auto Museum is a car buff's delight. Displays include more than 160 vintage Mopars, Chevys, Fords, and Studebakers dating from 1903 to the 1970s, including such rarities as a 1886 Benz replica.

Governors lived in this Victorian mansion between 1913 and 1959. You can take a scheduled guided tour, but call ahead, because some tours are unexpectedly canceled.

The Greek Renaissance Capitol is topped by a dome of Montana copper and holds Charlie Russell's largest painting, a 12-by-25-foot depiction of Lewis and Clark. Free guided tours are offered twice-daily on weekdays from June to August. Self-guided-tour booklets are also available. This building was thought to be so beautiful that South Dakota modeled its capitol in Pierre on the same design.

West Yellowstone's 1909 Union Pacific Depot has been transformed into a museum dedicated to the modes of travel—from stagecoaches to planes—people employed to get to Yellowstone before World War II. Films provide insight on topics such as the fire that devastated Yellowstone in 1988 and the way earthquakes affect the area's hydrothermal features.

At Natural Bridge State Monument the Boulder River disappears underground, creating a natural bridge, then reappears as roaring falls in the Boulder River canyon. Hiking trails and interpretive signs explain how this geologic wonder occurred. The Main Boulder Ranger Station, a few miles past the bridge, is one of the oldest in the United States and is now an interpretive center.

The living-history Nevada City Old Town down the road from Virginia City, preserves the town as it was at the turn of the 20th century, with restored buildings, thousands of artifacts from the gold rush era, and weekend demonstrations. Included in the collection is the Depuis House, from the PBS television series Frontier House. Saturdays and Sundays during the summer, the ghost town comes to life as actors dress up in period wear to engage with guests and give them a taste of life during the gold rush era.

For a bit of relaxation, nothing beats soaking in the natural hot water of the Norris Hot Springs pool. Live musical acts perform on the poolside stage Friday through Sunday nights. There's a $2 cover charge for music. The hot spring is also home to delicious organic food (at the year-round cafe and the seasonal grill), most of which is sourced from the owner's own gardens (and everything else sourced as locally as possible). Camping is also available.

Built in 1871, the old Montana Territorial Prison did not shut down until 1979. It's now where you can enter cells and learn about early Montana law. Also on display is the gallows tree taken from town to town in territorial days to hang convicted prisoners.

Keeping watch over Butte is Our Lady of the Rockies, on the Continental Divide. The 90-foot-tall, 80-ton statue of the Virgin Mary is lighted at night. For a 2½-hour bus tour, stop by the visitor center, run by a nonprofit, nondenominational organization. Reservations are required, so call ahead. The gift shop is open year-round, while tours run during the non-snowy months.

A drive on this loop takes you along the spectacular Yellowstone River for a short way and then past historic churches, schoolhouses, hot springs, and expansive ranches, all below the peaks of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness.

The 64 miles of mountain road on this highway pass a ghost town, historic towns, and Georgetown Lake. The road begins in Anaconda and ends on I–90 at Drummond, backdropped by the 159,000-acre Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness.

Mountains, meadows, lodgepole-pine forests, and willow-edged streams line this road, which runs north–south between U.S. 278 (west of Bannack, which is 24 miles west of Dillon) and Highway 43. Headed north, the byway skirts the Maverick Mountain Ski Area and Elkhorn Hot Springs and ends at the town of Wise River on the Big Hole River. In winter it's closed to car traffic but popular with snowmobilers.

The Powell County Museum focuses on local history; it includes a hand-carved wood folk-art collection, photographs, mining memorabilia, and vintage furniture and household items.

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.

Miners' houses and distinctive shops built in the 1870s line this carefully restored area of Old Helena along with restaurants and a visitor's center. Note the stone pillars and wooden stringers of the Morelli Bridge, spanning a walking trail that leads to the Mount Helena Trail System. You can visit an 1864 hand-hewn log pioneer cabin that now houses a museum of the gold rush days of the 1860s; this is Helena's oldest surviving home.

At this designated Wildlife Viewing Area you might glimpse elk, deer, moose, waterfowl, and birds of prey. The area is wheelchair-accessible, and offers paved walking trails, a fishing dock, picnic tables, a rentable pavilion, horseshoe pits, and drinking water.

An eclectic assortment of items dating from 1860 to 1900 includes a petrified wedding cake, the eponymous limb of "Club Foot" George Lane, rifles, and numerous photographs. The collection is made up of the heirlooms of three local families. The local library is upstairs.

The Yellowstone Gateway Museum, on the north side of town in a turn-of-the-20th-century schoolhouse, holds an eclectic collection, including finds from a 10,000-year-old Native American dig site, a flag fragment associated with the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and a Native cultures interpretive exhibit. Outdoor displays include an old caboose, a sheep wagon, a stagecoach, and other pioneer memorabilia.

Just south of Livingston and north of Yellowstone National Park, the Yellowstone River comes roaring down the Yellowstone Plateau and flows through Paradise Valley. A dozen fishing access sites are found in this area, some with primitive public campsites (available on a first-come, first-served basis). In addition to trout fishing, rafting and canoeing are popular here. With snowcapped peaks, soaring eagles, and an abundance of wildlife, a float on this section of the Yellowstone is a lifetime experience. U.S. 89 follows the west bank of the river, and East River Road runs along the east side.

Drop by the Yellowstone River Trout Hatchery, a five-minute drive from the town center, to view and learn about cutthroat trout. The best time to visit the hatchery is in spring, when you can see the fingerlings.