National Parks & Recreational Areas in Big Sky Country, Montana

Montana, is known as Big Sky Country, Treasure State, and Land of Shining Mountains and their slogan is "the last best place." The state of Montana is the fourth largest in the United States but 44th in population. This beautiful state is well known for its mountainous western region, part of the northern Rocky Mountains. But approximately 60 per cent of the state is actually prairie, part of the northern Great Plains.

Montana contains Glacier National Park and portions of Yellowstone National Park, which includes 3 of the Park's 5 entrances. There are other places that are federally recognized sites which include monuments, caverns, recreational areas, national battlefield, National Wildlife Refuges, and the National Bison Range.

Glacier National Park is a beautiful scenic park. You can relive some of Glacier's early history by taking a horseback ride like the early visitors. With over 700 miles of hiking trails you can follow the routes first used by trappers in the early 1800's. During the summer guests stay at the hotels and chalets that were built by the Great Northern Railway in the 1900's. Glacier Park has so many cool things to see and do. The activities available are endless. A few of the things you will want to do are: Backcountry camping, fishing, cross country skiing, boating, guided hiking trips, and bus tours. Immediately east of Glacier is the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, where you can learn more about the Blackfeet Indian by visiting the Museum of Plains Indian in nearby Browning, Montana.

Yellowstone National Park is America's First National Park. It is located in three states, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Yellowstone Park is known for its collection of the world's most extraordinary geysers, such as "Old Faithful." There are plenty of things to do at this beautiful park. There is wildlife viewing, viewing historic points of interest, day hikes, fishing, horseback riding, boating, become a junior range, camping, and backcountry hiking and camping and a whole lot more.

Bighorn Canyon National Recreational Area was established in 1966. It was named after the famous Crow chairman, Robert Yellowtail. Bighorn Lake extends approximately 71 miles through Wyoming and Montana, and 55 miles of that are held within the spectacular Bighorn Canyon.

Montana has many beautiful forests to you will want to check out while on vacation. Some of these are:

Kootenai National Forest, located in the northwest corner of Montana and the northeast corner of Idaho on the Canadian border.

Flathead National Forest is sculpted by glaciers and covered with a rich thick forest. There is approximately 2.3 million acres of natural resources and an enormous amount of recreation for all.

Lewis and Clark National Forest is one of ten national forests in the northern regions. This is a beautiful area with grassy parks and mountain meadows which are surrounded by Douglas Fir and Lodgepole Pine. This forest is home for large game animals, small animals and protected species. Visitors are allowed to hunt elk, mule and white tail deer, mountain goat, bighorn sheep, black bear, mountain lions and blue grouse. Lewis and Clark Forest has 1600 miles of perennial streams and a few small natural & manmade lakes. The forest also contains many scenic drives and twenty-nine developed recreation sites, many of which are handicap accessible. Also available are five cabins that may be rented by the public on a first come, first served basis.

Other National Forests in Montana are Custer, Bitterroot, Helena, Lolo, Gallatin and Beaverhead-Deerlodge.
There are seven Indian reservations located in Montana: Fort Peck, Fort Belknap, Northern Cheyenne, Crow, Rocky Boy's, Blackfeet and the Flathead.

This great state has some awesome scenery and sites that you won't want to miss.
Come visit the "Big Sky Country" soon!