AUTHENTICITY STARTS HERE
We’ve got over 140,000 square miles of real character. From rugged, snow-capped mountains to dramatic, winding highways, let Montana give your story the authentic feel you’ve been looking for.

CITIES & TOWNS
Where Montana Lives: In addition to Montana’s mountain ranges, ranch lands, rivers, and forests, Montana is dotted with cities and towns. Ghost, old and modern; tiny, medium and large; rural, quaint or connected urban. Click on the map to learn more about the city or town you’re interested in.

DAMS
Water is Power: The thunder and roar that amazed the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805 upon discovering the original five great falls of the Missouri can still be experienced throughout the state. While magnificent structures have been built to harness energy and reserve water, many falls still rush freely.

All dams listed are gravity type unless otherwise noted.

LAKES & RESERVOIRS
All That Glitters: Like uncut gems, Montana’s lakes and reservoirs sparkle in brilliant sapphire, blue topaz, soft turquoise, and deep jade. From grassy hills to pine-covered mountains, Montana’s lake settings are as varied as the land.

MONTANA MANSIONS
Grandiose, Historic, Rustic: Montana living offers as much in variety as in scenery.

MOUNTAINS
Montana Means Mountain: Virtually every type of mountain can be found under the Big Sky. Grassy mounds ease up from the prairie, while flat-topped buttes command attention on the plains. Massive pine-covered ranges provide passage to boundless woods, and jagged peaks serve as the rugged sentinels of time.

PERFORMANCE ROADS
We Have Roads: Montana’s magnificent scenery plays the backdrop to our highways and roads. Find meandering lake side highways, or roads cut through rolling hills easing up from the plains and dramatic two lane switchbacks twisting through towering snow-covered mountains. Whatever you’re looking for, our highways and roads will lead you there. But since Montana is such an enormous state, we couldn’t possibly list all our highways. And of course, we also have plenty of gravel, or just plain dirt, roads that can take you to remote areas.

PRISONS
Go to Jail: Montana has had its share of colorful characters throughout the years. Some of these historic hoosegows still operate today.

RAILROADS
Trains, Tracks & Engines: Rails carve through-out the dramatic landscape of Montana. Private railroads chug over trestles, through tunnels, across badlands, and along mountain ranges. When these trains roll down the track, they take you not just through pristine valleys and tidy little towns, but into the rail yards and back doors of gritty urban centers.

Montana Short Line

Photos of the Virginia City / Nevada City Short Line Steam Engine, an original steam locomotive. With a 17,000-horsepower engine, the Short Line barrels down a mile-and-a-half track connecting two authentic Western towns.

RIVERS
A River Runs Through It: For every Blackfoot River of literary fame, there are dozens of less famous, but equally breathtaking, waterways in Montana. You can always count on the state for crystal clear streams and whitewater stretches, but we can also lead you to winding rivers that flow through scenic mountains, prairies, and canyons.

SKI AREAS
Let it Snow: The charm of a local ski area is as accessible as the sophistication of a major resort. Each area boasts a unique type of mountain and its own style of snow. Lodge merchants range from hot dog vendors to furriers. Sleigh rides, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling are often just around the bend.

UNUSUAL LOCATIONS
If you’re looking for the odd, strange, and perplexing, Montana has it as well. While famous for its mountainous grandeur, Montana is also the home of some seriously different locations —  you just won’t find “that spot” anywhere else.

WATERFALLS
While magnificent structures have been built to harness energy and reserve water, many falls still rush freely.

OLD WEST TOWNS & SETS
The Wild West is Still Alive in Montana: You’ll see it in homesteads on the plains and cabins in the hills. Standing sets, western towns, and ghost towns remain in tribute to a way of life gone by. The personality of the wild frontier still can be found in functioning communities, turn-of-the-century structures, withering town-sites, and our old Territorial Prison.