15 Best Places In Montana You Must Visit in 2025

Montana offers some of the most striking and powerful landscapes in North America. With its wide-open skies, rugged mountains, deep forests, and quiet towns, it creates a sense of space and freedom that’s hard to match. Every region holds something unique—geological wonders, rich history, untouched wilderness, and vibrant local culture.

This list focuses on places that capture the essence of Montana.

1. Many Glacier

Located on the east side of Glacier National Park, Many Glacier is one of the most dramatic alpine landscapes in Montana. It’s an area defined by glacial lakes, vertical cliffs, and trails that immediately launch into high-elevation terrain.

Unlike other entrances to the park, this one places you directly inside the grandeur, with no long drive required to reach stunning views.

Hiking access and terrain

The Grinnell Glacier Trail and Iceberg Lake Trail both begin from the valley and climb steadily into terrain shaped by ancient ice. These are not simple strolls — elevation gain is steady, and snow lingers well into early summer.

Hikers pass through alpine meadows, waterfalls, and talus slopes with regular chances to spot moose, bighorn sheep, and grizzly bears.

Logistics and seasonal planning

The road into Many Glacier is paved but frequently under construction and subject to closures or delays. Summer crowds fill the parking lot by sunrise.

Lodging at Many Glacier Hotel and Swiftcurrent Motor Inn sells out nearly a year in advance, while campgrounds run on a reservation lottery. Bear safety isn’t optional — this region has one of the densest grizzly populations in the lower 48.

2. Makoshika State Park

In the far eastern edge of the state, Makoshika stands apart from Montana’s mountain image. This is badlands country — wind-sculpted rock, fossil beds, and sharp, dry ridgelines stretching under an endless sky.

The name comes from a Lakota phrase meaning “bad land,” and that ancient presence is still felt in its silence and space.

Fossils, formations, and dryland ecology

Makoshika contains active dinosaur fossil sites, including partial triceratops skeletons. Trails like the Diane Gabriel Trail pass by exposed fossil beds and eroded hoodoos.

This is high desert, home to golden eagles, prairie lizards, and sharp-tailed grouse. The land holds heat, bakes in summer, and reveals a raw version of Montana not found anywhere else in the state.

Trail conditions and visitor strategy

Trails are narrow, exposed, and mostly unshaded. Bring more water than you think you’ll need, wear sun protection, and hike early.

Most visitors don’t stray far from the scenic drive — those who hike in deeper find complete solitude. Glendive is the nearest town, with basic lodging and supplies, but little else. This is a park for those who are prepared and self-reliant.

3. Polebridge and the North Fork

North of Glacier’s west entrance, the road turns to gravel, cell service disappears, and the last traces of infrastructure vanish into forest.

Polebridge isn’t a town in the normal sense — it’s a collection of cabins, one famous bakery, and access to one of the most remote corners of the national park.

Living off-grid

The Polebridge Mercantile, powered by solar and generator, serves fresh-baked pastries, bread, and local goods daily — with a reputation that’s spread far beyond the valley.

Residents here live without grid electricity or modern amenities, especially in winter. Summer brings a rotating mix of travelers, locals, and park workers looking for coffee and conversation in the middle of nowhere.

Accessing the wilderness

Beyond Polebridge, dirt roads lead to Bowman and Kintla Lakes — deep, glacier-fed waters with few facilities and fewer people. These lakes offer some of the quietest overnight camping in Glacier.

There are no rangers nearby, and rescue isn’t fast. Vehicles need clearance and full tanks. Trails begin at lake edge and climb into wild, unregulated terrain.

4. Beartooth Highway

The Beartooth Highway runs from Red Lodge to the northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park, crossing one of the highest-elevation paved roads in the continental United States.

It climbs above the tree line into a world of alpine plateaus, frozen lakes, and bare granite ridges. The views shift every mile — forests give way to snowfields, and valleys fall away beneath you with little warning.

Driving conditions and timing

The highway is only open seasonally, typically from late May through mid-October, depending on snowfall. Sudden storms are common even in summer, and nighttime temperatures can drop below freezing.

RVs and trailers are discouraged on the switchbacks between Red Lodge and the plateau due to steep drop-offs and narrow lanes.

5. The Yaak Valley

Most Montanans have never been to the Yaak — and many couldn’t point to it on a map. Tucked in the state’s far northwestern corner, near the Idaho border, the Yaak is a forested maze of rivers, creeks, ridges, and old logging roads.

It’s one of the most biologically diverse areas in the northern Rockies, home to rare species like the fisher, the wolverine, and the threatened grizzly.

The people who live here don’t do it casually. The community is small, seasonal, and fiercely independent. There are no chain stores, few marked trailheads, and most roads are gravel. But for those who seek silence and density — of forest, of wildlife, of time — the Yaak delivers something close to spiritual.+

6. Kootenai Falls and Swinging Bridge

The Kootenai River cuts a fast, cold line through northwest Montana, creating one of the most scenic and accessible waterfalls in the state.

Just off U.S. Highway 2 between Libby and Troy, Kootenai Falls drops in a wide, thunderous sheet. A short walk leads from the parking lot to a wooden footbridge that swings gently over the canyon — a view that’s hard to forget.

What makes this a standout stop

The walk to the falls is easy, about 10 minutes from the roadside trailhead, but the payoff is enormous. During peak runoff (usually May to early June), the river is loud enough to drown out conversation. The Swinging Bridge, rebuilt after a wildfire in 2017, gives you an elevated view right over the gorge — not for anyone with a fear of heights.

Film fans may recognize the area from The River Wild — several scenes were shot right at the bridge and riverbend. But it’s not just a backdrop. Locals use the area year-round to fish, swim, or just sit in the spray on hot summer days.

7. The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex

The Bob, as locals call it, is one of the largest roadless areas in the lower 48. Stretching over 1.5 million acres, it borders Glacier National Park to the south but offers a very different kind of experience — no car access, no visitors’ center, and no shortcuts.

This is the kind of place you enter for a week, not an hour. If Glacier is where you go to witness wilderness, The Bob is where you go to become part of it.

You reach the interior by trail only, and the deeper you go, the more you feel time loosen its grip. There are places in The Bob where it’s not uncommon to walk 20 miles without seeing another person. The wilderness is raw — grizzly tracks, wolf prints, river crossings that shift every spring. But it’s also calm in a way that cities can’t simulate.

8. Paradise Valley

Paradise Valley is a perfect name — not poetic, just accurate.

This stretch of land between Livingston and the northern entrance to Yellowstone is bordered by the Absaroka Range to the east and the Gallatin Range to the west, with the Yellowstone River meandering through the middle. The land feels open, quiet, and cinematic.

Let’s frame it as a long-weekend base camp. Here’s how you could spend three grounded, unforgettable days:

9. Garnet Ghost Town

Garnet is not a ghost town in the tourist trap sense. There are no reenactments or animatronics. What’s preserved here are the original log and board structures of saloons, general stores, and family homes — many still intact, silently aging among lodgepole pines.

The town was abandoned around 1905 after the gold dried up. Cold winters and isolation did the rest. Today, the Bureau of Land Management maintains the site with a light touch. Floors creak under your step. Rusted cans line open shelves. Old newspapers sit folded on tables.

10. Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area

Straddling the Montana–Wyoming border, Bighorn Canyon offers a scale that surprises even well-traveled Montanans.

Towering sandstone cliffs plunge into a deep turquoise reservoir carved by the Bighorn River, and the entire canyon remains largely under the radar. While Lake Powell or the Grand Canyon draw crowds, Bighorn stays open, spacious, and quiet.+

11. Red Lodge

Red Lodge isn’t just a launchpad for the Beartooth Highway. It’s a town with roots, resilience, and the right mix of grit and charm.

Old brick buildings line Broadway Avenue, housing bakeries, bars, outdoor outfitters, and a few spots that haven’t changed in decades. The mountains rise just beyond, close enough to make every street feel like a trailhead.

12. Medicine Rocks State Park

This landscape doesn’t scream for attention. It whispers. Soft sandstone pillars rise from prairie grass like weatherworn sculptures.

Each one is carved with natural curves, ancient wind lines, and thousands of inscriptions — initials, symbols, and etchings from centuries of passersby. Some are 100 years old. Some are from last week. Some are sacred.

Format: Scene + Reflection

You arrive late. Sunset slants across the rocks. The formations are taller than expected, maybe 60 feet in places. A golden eagle crosses silently above the grasslands, no wind, just shape and distance. There are no trail signs. You walk between pillars, reading the layers.

Some names are carved deep, methodical — 1910, 1912, 1923. Others are scratched hastily. Mixed in are Native pictographs, now half-eroded. The rocks hold a weight that’s hard to explain. They’re personal and ancient at once.

13. First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park

Before fences, before highways, this cliff was part of one of the largest buffalo jump sites in North America.

Tribes would use strategic positioning and coordinated effort to funnel herds toward the edge, where the animals would fall — providing food, tools, and materials to last entire seasons.

Why this place matters now

There’s a paved path up to the cliff’s edge. Interpretive signs walk you through the process — how hunters masked themselves as wolves, how the herd was driven in stages, how the jump was only the beginning of the work.

At the top, the view opens wide. The plains stretch forever. It’s a moment of scale — geographic, cultural, human. You don’t have to hike far or climb high to feel the weight of what happened here.

14. Missoula

Missoula is the contradiction Montana wears well — a university town wrapped in rivers and ridgelines, where artists share sidewalks with elk hunters, and breweries sit around the corner from hiking trailheads.

You can fish downtown, attend a poetry reading that night, and hike to a summit the next morning.

15. Big Sky

Big Sky has changed. What used to be a quiet ski town is now a growing resort destination with luxury homes, private clubs, and world-class facilities. But peel back the new money and marketing, and the land is still wild.

The mountains are steep, the rivers cold, the wilderness immediate.

Final Thoughts

Montana offers depth, scale, and variety across every region. From alpine wilderness and open prairies to fossil beds, historic towns, and remote forests, each destination carries its own identity and rhythm. These places are built on strong landscapes and lasting stories.

Travelers who move with purpose, plan with intention, and stay aware of their surroundings find the most value here. Weather shifts quickly. Roads vary in condition. Communities operate at their own pace. With preparation and respect for the land, each place on this list becomes more than a stop — it becomes part of a larger experience.