Variety is the watchword in southwest Montana when it comes to Montana State Parks-"lookouts and buffalo jumps, limestone caverns and ghost towns. We’ll visit them all on a weekend motor tour of FWP Region Three parks soaked in Montana history. Our first stop on a state parks tour of southwestern Montana is Missouri Headwaters State Park near Three Forks where the Gallatin, Madison and Jefferson rivers converge to form the upper Missouri. Watch for the sign along the old highway, take highway 286 for two miles and you’ll arrive at the Park. Don’t miss the fine interpretative display. You’ll learn that Lewis & Clark camped here July 25-27, 1805 and that Lewis climbed the high bluff to the east of the river to get his bearings. You’ll read about John Potts, John Coulter and George Drouillard, early trappers who helped build a fort here during the first decade of the 1800s, and Potts and Drouillard meeting their ends at the hands of the Blackfeet at this location in 1810. Next we’ll travel south, under I-90 and onto the graveled road that takes us to Madison Buffalo Jump State Park. For thousands of years, Native Americans chased American bison off the cliffs of the bluffs, also called "pishkuns" and to their deaths in procuring meat and buffalo hides for clothing and tipis. Retrace your route to the Interstate, then take Montana Route 2 westerly out of Three Forks. Watch the signs, for within a few miles you will see Parker Homestead on the right side of the road. This site was homesteaded in about 1910 by the Ambrose Parker family and is representative of the many homesteads in western Montana. Continue on for 15 miles, and above the Jefferson River we will arrive at Lewis & Clark Caverns, first discovered in 1892 by a pair of local ranchers while on a hunting trip. The Caverns showcase one of the most highly decorated limestone formations in the Northwest. Theodore Roosevelt named it a national monument in 1903, and in 1937 an Act of Congress transferred Lewis and Clark Caverns to the people of the State of Montana, when it became Montana’s first state park. Plan to spend a minimum of two hours to hike two miles on a guided tour through the Caverns, viewing stalagmites, stalactites, columns and flowstone. The park also provides hiking trials, a visitor center, an amphitheater with regular summer programs, several picnic areas, a large campground, showers, RV dump facilities, and three rental cabins. Lewis and Clark Caverns could be regarded as the "flagship" of southwestern Montana state parks. With its location, you can use this park as "base camp" while you enjoy the other state parks and the Jefferson River. Continuing on to Cardwell, we will get back onto I-90, take it a short distance to Whitehall, then travel on Montana highways 55 and 41 toward Dillon. The Jefferson River flows on our left, and at Twin Bridges we cross the Beaverhead River. A dozen miles down the road, notice the prominent outcrop called Beaverhead Rock. It was mentioned in the Lewis and Clark journals when the expedition passed this way in 1805. The Highway Department maintains an interpretive sign along Highway 41 south of the Rock. After spending the night in Dillon, we will take I-15 a few miles south before turning west on 278. Watch for the Bannack State Park sign near the base of the big hill about 22 miles off the interstate. Once at Bannack, you will want to visit the old pioneer graveyards. The larger of the two is located on your left before you even enter the park; the older and smaller of the two is on top of the hill above Bannack’s main street. See the Hotel Meade, drop in to the visitor center, wander Bannack’s streets and examine the old buildings that have been preserved by Parks employees from FWP. Bannack, now a ghost town, once was a thriving mining community and Montana’s first territorial capital. Most activities are included in the $4 per vehicle admission fee for the day at all state parks we have toured on our whirlwind weekend.
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