Montana’s State Parks are among the Treasure State’s best-kept secrets, and now Montanans have free, unlimited access to these 43 picturesque and diverse spots across the state.
Visitors will find exceptional wildlife viewing, angling; cool hikes; spectacular scenery to photograph; and lakes for quiet, reflective times or angling and water sports. There are lots of opportunities to learn about western history, Montana’s Indian tribes and to appreciate the geological wonders of the state.
To discover your favorite Montana State Park, begin by checking out some of these sites.
WESTERN MONTANA
Lone Pine State Park
With a view of the magnificent Flathead Valley near Kalispell, visitors here learn about the Flathead Valley’s cultural and natural history. A visitor center offers nature and interpretive programs and there are opportunities for picnics, hiking along a self-guided nature trail and horse trails.
Wayfarers State Park
With an enviable location on the northeast shore of Flathead Lake near Big Fork, this park is set in a mature forest with camping sites, a boat launch, boat and trailer dump stations. Wayfarers is a popular stop for visitors to the area and local residents who enjoy nature walks over the rocky shoreline to the cliffs, with excellent lake views and abundant wildflowers.
Placid Lake State Park
Located in the Clearwater/Swan River Valley, this popular forested campground has a reputation for smooth water for early morning angling and afternoon water sports. It is also an ideal base for a range of recreational opportunities in the scenic Swan River Valley including canoeing, bird watching, wildlife viewing, and hiking. Interpretive panels explain early-day logging practices explaining the massive western larch stumps that remain in the area.
Salmon Lake State Park
One of the lakes in the Clearwater River chain of lakes, the park on Salmon Lake has opportunities for angling, picnicking, launching a boat, water skiing and learning about the area. This woodland setting of western larch, ponderosa pine and Douglas fir is a perfect place to stretch and refresh after a long drive.
Council Grove State Park
In 1855, on this site, the Salish, Kootenai and Pend d’Orielle Indians met in council with Issac Stevens, the Governor of Washington, to negotiate the Hellgate Treaty that created the Flathead Reservation. A newly dedicated memorial to the ancestors of these tribes helps visitors appreciate the significance of this site along the Clark Fork River.
NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA
Ulm Pishkun State Park
The story of this prehistoric bison kill site near Great Falls, one of the largest in the U.S., is told eloquently by a new visitor center and interpretive trails. For hundreds of years, Indians stampeded buffalo over the mile-long cliff. From the top of the “jump” a visitor has a panoramic view of the Rocky Mountain Front, the Missouri River, and the buttes and grasslands that characterize this High Plains setting.
Sluice Boxes State Park
Remains of mines, a railroad, and historic cabins line Belt Creek as it winds through a beautiful canyon carved in limestone, eight miles south of Belt. This rugged area has seen its share of prospectors searching for precious metals, miners, muleskinners, smelter men and railroad workers building bridges. A primitive trail provides access to fishing, challenging floats, and wildlife viewing.
Giant Springs State Park
One of the largest freshwater springs in the world, Giant Springs in Great Falls flows at 338 million gallons of water a day. The site was “discovered” by the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805. The park offers opportunities to picnic by the Missouri River, visit the adjacent fish hatchery and visitor center, walk along the Rivers’ Edge Trail, or visit the neighboring Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.
SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA
Spring Meadow State Park
Spring Meadow is an urban park minutes from Helena fed by natural springs. It is a popular spot for family afternoons of swimming, sunbathing, scuba diving, fishing, and bird watching. The park’s nature trail circles the lake and is home to a variety of birds and other wildlife.
Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park
The caverns near Three Forks are one of the most highly decorated limestone features in the northwest. A two-hour guided tour takes visitors through an underground world of stalagmites, stalactites, columns, and flowstone. Opportunities for hiking, a visitor center, amphitheater, picnic areas, and a large campground with three log rental cabins, showers, and RV dump facilities combine to make Lewis and Clark Caverns a summer destination for the whole family.
Parker Homestead State Park
This small, one-acre park near Three Forks preserves a simple sod-roofed log cabin built in the early 1900’s. Parker Homestead allows visitors to step into one family’s past and imagine the hardships and beauties of life on the frontier.
Bannack State Park
Montana’s first territorial capital, Bannack near Dillon, is a well-preserved ghost town where the lives of early residents are easily conjured by the faded wall papers, peeling paint, worn door jams and colorful stories of the characters who helped establish Montana Territory. A visitor center provides the introduction to this well-preserved ghost town before visitors set out on the boardwalks of the abandoned streets of Bannack.
Missouri Headwaters State Park
This park near Three Forks encompasses the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin rivers. Lewis and Clark anxiously anticipated locating the headwaters of the Missouri River from the time they set out on their expedition. Interpretive signs, picnic spots, short hiking trails, and a small campground all make this a convenient and fun stop on Interstate 90 at Three Forks.
EASTERN MONTANA
Plenty Coups State Park
This long-time home of Plenty Coups, last traditional chief of the Crow, is on the Crow Reservation, 40 minutes south of Billings. The log home, sacred spring, and farmstead of Chief Plenty Coups take at least an hour to tour. A small visitor center tells the story of the Crow people, and “talking sticks” with digitally recorded stories recounted by elders of the tribe help make the visit unforgettable.
Pictograph Cave State Park
The Pictograph, Middle and Ghost cave complex, six miles south of Billings, was home to centuries of prehistoric hunters. Over 30,000 artifacts have been identified in excavations here. Taking a short paved trail, visitors can view rock paintings or pictographs still visible in Pictograph Cave, the largest of the three caves. Interpretive signs tell the story of the archaeological studies and excavations at this site, which is listed as a National Historic Landmark.
Makoshika State Park
To the Sioux Indians, Ma-ko-shi-ka meant bad earth or bad land. Today, the pine and juniper studded badland formations in Montana’s largest state park near Glendive are home to the fossil remains of such dinosaurs as tyrannosaurus and triceratops. You’ll find a visitor center at the park entrance with exhibits explaining the site’s geologic, fossil, and prehistoric stories. Visitors explore the park’s whimsical badlands landscape on roads and trails.
Tongue River Reservoir State Park
The 12-mile long reservoir, six miles north of Decker, is situated among the scenic red shale, juniper canyons, and the open prairies of southeastern Montana. The park attracts anglers, campers, and boaters from Montana and Wyoming. Water sports are popular here and four state record fish have been pulled from these waters.
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