Montana Travel Guide
State in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States is the fourth-largest state by area, the eighth-least populous state, and the third-least densely populated state where western half of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges, while the eastern half is characterized by western prairie terrain and badlands, with more mountain ranges found throughout the state
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Montana Map
Places to See in Montana
Sunrise at Cannery District in Bozeman, Montana
Kody McCormick Kyler McCormick, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted
Cities
Big Sky · Billings · Bozeman · Butte · Great Falls · Helena · Missoula · Virginia City · Whitefish
Glacier National Park
National park encompassing over 1 million acres and includes parts of two sub-ranges of the Rocky Mountains, over 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of plants, and hundreds of species of animals
Rock Creek Valley from the Beartooth Highway. Hellroaring Plateau is beyond
Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted
Landmarks and Landscapes
Beartooth Highway · CSKT Bison Range · Flathead Lake · Garden of One Thousand Buddhas · Garnet Ghost Town · Gates of the Mountains Wilderness · Granite Peak · Paradise Valleyk
Along the Nez Perce National Historic Trail, Big Hole Valley
Forest Service Northern Region from Missoula, MT, USA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted
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Rock Creek Valley from the Beartooth Highway. Hellroaring Plateau is beyond
Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted
State Parks
Chief Plenty Coups · Makoshita · Missouri Headwaters State Park · Pictograph Cave
Montana is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is the fourth-largest state by area, the eighth-least populous state, and the third-least densely populated state. The western half of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges, while the eastern half is characterized by western prairie terrain and badlands. In all, 77 named ranges are part of the Rocky Mountains.
Montana's fastest-growing sector is tourism; nearly 13 million annual tourists visit Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Beartooth Highway, Flathead Lake, Big Sky Resort, and other attractions.
The name Montana comes from the Spanish word montaña, which in turn comes from the Latin word montanea, meaning "mountain" or more broadly "mountainous country". Montaña del Norte was the name given by early Spanish explorers to the entire mountainous region of the west.
The Beartooth Plateau is the largest continuous land mass over 10,000 feet (3,000 m) high in the continental United States. It contains the state's highest point, Granite Peak, 12,799 feet (3,901 m) high.
Montana contains Glacier National Park, "The Crown of the Continent"; and parts of Yellowstone National Park, including three of the park's five entrances. Other federally recognized sites include the Little Bighorn National Monument, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Big Hole National Battlefield, and the Bison Range.
Areas managed by the National Park Service include:
- Big Hole National Battlefield near Wisdom
- Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area near Fort Smith
- Glacier National Park
- Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site at Deer Lodge
- Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
- Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument near Crow Agency
- Nez Perce National Historical Park
- Yellowstone National Park
Montana provides year-round outdoor recreation opportunities for residents and visitors. Hiking, fishing, hunting, watercraft recreation, camping, golf, cycling, horseback riding, and skiing are popular activities.
Snowmobiling is popular in Montana, which boasts over 4,000 miles of trails and frozen lakes available in winter. There are 24 areas where snowmobile trails are maintained, most also offering ungroomed trails. West Yellowstone offers a large selection of trails and is the primary starting point for snowmobile trips into Yellowstone National Park.
Montana has one city, Billings, with a population over 100,000; and two cities with populations over 50,000: Missoula and Great Falls. These three communities are the centers of Montana's three Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The state also has five Micropolitan Statistical Areas, centered on Bozeman, Butte, Helena, Kalispell and Havre.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Montana", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0