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

Hand-carved grizzly bears, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, and river otters gallop through the center of town on this carousel, which usually operates most afternoons (except on major holidays). You can also buy locally made premium ice cream and fudge here.

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.

In 1902 Frank Crail picked this spot for the headquarters of his 960-acre homestead and cattle ranch. Now the Historic Crail Ranch makes a pleasant picnic spot in the midst of Big Sky's Meadow Village area. Guided tours take place on weekends June through September. To get here, drive west on Big Sky Spur Road, make a right on Little Coyote, go past the chapel, and make a left onto Spotted Elk Road in Meadow Village.

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.

Out in front of the Historical Society Museum, catch the Last Chance Train Tour for an hour-long tour through historic neighborhoods of miners' mansions on the west side to the site where four miners made their first gold discovery on the gulch. Train tours cost $8 and take place Monday–Saturday at 11, 1, 3, and 5:30 in July and August; at 11, 1, and 3 Memorial Day weekend–June 30; and at 11 and 3 September 1–15. New one- or two-hour Segway tours are also available.

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.

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 Ni-Fe 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.

Highlights here include the MacKay Gallery, which displays one of the most important collections of Western artist Charlie Russell's work, and a Native American collection of 6,000 artifacts from Montana tribes. The expansive Montana Homeland exhibit, which contains nearly 2,000 historical artifacts, documents, and photographs, takes a thorough look at Montana from the time of the first settlers to the present. The venue also hosts special events and family days in summer, including programs on folk music, Native American culture, and cowboys. Call ahead for information on upcoming events.

Highlights here include the MacKay Gallery, which displays one of the most important collections of Western artist Charlie Russell's work, and a Native American collection of 6,000 artifacts from Montana tribes. The expansive Montana Homeland exhibit, which contains nearly 2,000 historical artifacts, documents, and photographs, takes a thorough look at Montana from the time of the first settlers to the present. The venue also hosts special events and family days in summer, including programs on folk music, Native American culture, and cowboys. Call ahead for information on upcoming events.

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. Self-guided-tour booklets are 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.

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.

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.

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 burgs, 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) 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 the 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.