Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for montana
Free Flowing Yellowstone
By Linda Tancs
Yellowstone National Park contains most of the world’s geysers, Old Faithful a great favorite among them. Its regular, billowing eruptions are not the only thing that’s free flowing in America’s first national park, though. The park is also home to the longest free flowing river in the United States, Yellowstone River. From there it glides 676 miles to its confluence with the Missouri River without a single dam to break its stride. Along its many points of access you’ll find plenty of recreational opportunities, including some of the best trout fishing ever and some cool Montana agate to add to your collection.
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Bannack’s Glory Days
By Linda Tancs
Did you know that the U.S. Geological Survey ranks Montana as the seventh largest producer of gold in the United States? The first hint of gold in The Treasure State came in 1852, but the major strike in Grasshopper Creek a decade later spawned the state’s Gold Rush era. That discovery led to the creation of the mining town, Bannack, where thousands of prospectors with gold dust in their eyes settled for a time. After the furor died down, this area just 24 miles southwest of Dillon became a ghost town and ultimately a state park. Named after the Bannock Indians, most of the sixty structures in the area can still be explored. During the third week of October, the Bannack Ghost Walks feature live re-enactments of significant events throughout the town’s history.
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Crown of the Continent
By Linda Tancs
Its crowning achievement is the preservation of more than a million acres of forests, alpine meadows, lakes, peaks and glacial-carved valleys, 70 species of mammals and over 270 species of birds. That’s reason enough why Montana’s Glacier National Park is aptly dubbed the Crown of the Continent. Named for its prominent glacier-carved terrain and remnant glaciers descended from the ice ages, it’s nearly four times the size of rival Rocky Mountain National Park. Take a ride on Going-to-the-Sun Road, a 50-mile drive through the park’s interior offering some of the best sights in northwest Montana. Glacier is also a hiker’s paradise, offering 700 miles of trails, like the shutterbug-friendly Logan Pass. Better act soon; some scientists predict that by the year 2030, Glacier National Park will not contain any glaciers. In fact, the park has only 25 glaciers now, down from 150 in the 1800s.
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Celebrate the Huckleberry in Montana
By Linda Tancs
In Trout Creek, Montana, the huckleberry–that purple berry resembling a blueberry–reigns supreme. So much so, in fact, that the legislature proclaimed Trout Creek the huckleberry capital of the State. This small northwestern town is proud to celebrate their prized bounty each year with a Huckleberry Festival. That means, of course, you can sample the huckleberry in every food imaginable, like ice cream cones, pizza, cheesecake, hot dogs and pancakes. Far from just another food fest, the annual event includes such activities as a 5K run, dancing under the stars, karaoke, dog agility demonstration, a pageant, an auction, children’s activities, a horseshoe contest, and an interfaith worship service. Don’t miss the fun between 12 and 14 August.
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Libby’s Swinging Bridge
By Linda Tancs
Downstream from Libby, Montana, the Kootenai River enters a canyon and flows over Kootenai Falls, one of the largest free-flowing waterfalls in the northwest. The falls can be viewed from a “swinging bridge” that crosses the river. The falls area is a sacred site to the Kootenai Indians who inhabited the area. Located at milepost 21 on US Highway 2 between Libby and Troy, the site is a hiker’s dream and worth a visit.
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Lewis and Clark Celebrated in Great Falls
By Linda Tancs
In 1804 President Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on an expedition across the Louisiana Territory to find the River of the West. Along the way, in modern-day Montana, the pair managed to enter negotiations with native tribes, search out sites for trading posts and forts, and maintain data on the plants, animals, and scenic resources along their journey. No wonder, then, that Montana takes great pride in celebrating the captains’ legendary accomplishments with a festival each year on the banks of the Missouri River in Great Falls. This year’s event, from 25 to 27 June, includes a kick-off with Mission Mountain Wood Band, followed by such events as a Native American art show, Lewis & Clark-era encampment, and Missouri River float trips. Your adventure awaits.
DISCLOSURE OF NO MATERIAL CONNECTION
The author has not received any compensation for writing this content and has no material connection to the brands, topics, products and/or services that are mentioned herein.
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Refuge in the Valley
By Linda Tancs
Tucked away just outside Darby, Montana lies the peaceful seclusion of Alpine Meadows Ranch in the Bitterroot Valley. Designed by the world renowned U.S. architect Frank Lloyd Wright, this 200+ acre estate offers rustic respite from city life–or suburbia, for that matter–with stunning vistas of both the Sapphire and Bitterroot mountain ranges. The prospect of communing with wildlife (viewed with safety from The Cider House) is guaranteed, considering that the property borders the largest wilderness area in the country, Selway Wilderness Area. Is there a best time of year to visit? Probably not; it is, after all, known as the Banana Belt due to the mildness of the weather year round. The Wright-designed House sleeps up to six, or cozy up in the Cabin for two. Wright’s concept of design was “of the land, not on the land.” See for yourself whether you’d agree. As another famous naturalist said, “Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher.”
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