Best Montana Attraction (2017)

Makoshika is the Lakota word for "bad land" or "bad spirits," but visitors will find immense beauty in these pine and juniper studded badlands of Montana's largest state park. A triceratops skull sits on display within the visitors center, and the 11,538 outdoor acres afford opportunity for hiking, biking, camping and even disc golf.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons / Tbennert

The town of Butte was a hotbed of copper mining activity for a century, and today, that history comes to life inside the World Museum of Mining. Founded in 1963, the museum sits within the Orphan Girl mine yard where visitors can experience life in a mining camp or take an underground mine tour.
Photo courtesy of James St. John / Flickr

Starting in the town of Red Lodge, Montana, hair-curling Beartooth Highway – one of the most popular stretches of pavement in the Rocky Mountains –  takes drivers on a hair-curling 68-mile journey down into Wyoming and right to the northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park.
Photo courtesy of Donnie Sexton

One of the nation's largest collections of work by Charles M. Russell – spanning the years from his boyhood to his death – are on display within the five permanent galleries at the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls. The collection showcases daily life in the American West and the vast landscapes of the Montana wilderness.
Photo courtesy of Roger W / Flickr

Covering more than 1 million acres, Glacier National Park in Montana has something for everyone. Hikers come to explore the 700-mile network of trails. Road trippers and motorcyclists come to ride the curves of Going-to-the-Sun Road, and engineers come to marvel at it. The massive, snowy peaks of the Continental Divide hide azure alpine lakes, colorful patches of wildflowers and the occasional cascading waterfall.
Photo courtesy of NPS / Jacob W. Frank

Situated amid high mountain meadows beneath the shadow of 11,166-foot Lone Mountain, scenic Big Sky is an outdoor playground year round, with largely lift line-free skiing in the winter and all forms of mountain adventure in the summer.
Photo courtesy of Eric Moreno / Flickr

Born from a mid-1800s gold strike, Helena shows pride in its Western history. Visitors can explore the town on the Last Chance Tour Train and then stop at the Montana Historical Society’s Mackay Gallery for a memorable stroll through its large collection of Charles Russell art. The surrounding area is perfect for leisurely road trips and outdoor adventure in the Rocky Mountain foothills..
Photo courtesy of Tracy / Flickr

Montana's only self-guided and walkable brewery tour is found in the town of Billings, where the Walkable Brewery District features six breweries and two distilleries, all within a compact downtown area. A 1.5-mile route past each business also includes historic points of interest along the way.
Photo courtesy of Taubin / Flickr

Flathead Lake is a lake for adventure. Two rivers, the Flathead and Swan, spill into this body of water, which means whitewater rafting is a popular activity here. In fact, Flathead Lake is home to the Bigfork Whitewater Festival every Memorial Day. The 30-by-15-mile lake itself, created by Ice Age glaciers, is the biggest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River. With 160 miles of shoreline, there’s plenty of fishing, although the fishing charter companies are another way to go.
Photo courtesy of iStock / MABroussard

America's first national park is also one of its most iconic. Home to the world's largest collection of geysers, including the famous Old Faithful, Yellowstone attracts some 3 million visitors a year to its bizarre geological formations and teeming wildlife, including bison, bear, bighorn sheep, trumpeter swans, moose, elk and river otter.
Photo courtesy of NPS/Neal Herbert