Three Forks, Montana

Heidi flew into Bozeman airport on June 30^th. We are headed to Glacier National Park to celebrate our anniversary. Our first stop was Three Forks, Montana about thirty miles west of Bozeman where we spent two nights at the Sacajawea Hotel.

The Sacajawea's Lobby

The Sacajawea is a century-old hotel built in the era when railroads built grand hotels along their routes to promote tourism. It was beautifully restored in 2011. Yellowstone friends, Denny & Jan Kane, recommended it, and it lived up to everything they said about it.

The town of Three Forks is a wide spot on Montana Highway 2. It is set amidst a broad expanse of alfalfa fields, rolling sagebrush hills and endless rock outcroppings, all framed by distant mountain ranges in every direction: the Gallatin, Madison, Tobacco Root and Bridger Ranges. All so pleasing to the eye. And to the nose. The air is fragrant with the smell of alfalfa, sagebrush and wildflowers. Montanans say they’ve never seen things so green as this year.

Three Forks gets its name from the confluence of three big Montana rivers (the Gallatin, Madison, and Jefferson) to form the Missouri River. Used for centuries by Native American tribes that came from afar to hunt the area’s plentiful game, it became part of modern American history as a key waypoint for the Lewis & Clark expedition in 1805.

Borrowing the Hotel's Bikes

We borrowed bikes from the hotel and followed a paved trail out to Missouri Headwaters State Park a few miles outside town. We learned more great history and marveled again at Montana’s beautiful landscape. Far from the throngs descending now upon Yellowstone, we shared the picnic area with just one other party: a foursome of middle aged Germans touring the American West on rented Harleys.

It is astonishing to witness these big rivers come together. Although irrigation withdrawals have already begun to claim some of their flows, they still surge with this season’s snowmelt, draining thousands of square miles of watershed. Here the storied Missouri River begins its wide arc east and south across the Great Plains before joining the Mississippi River at St. Louis.

Overlook of the Jefferson River Valley

As with all water management in the West, the Missouri’s story is a complex one of flood control, agricultural irrigation, hydroelectric power, fishing and other recreation uses. As a river lover, it is exciting to see these big rivers flowing unimpeded. Not too far downstream, the first of many dams will halt the Missouri’s natural flow, burying so many beautiful river bends, rapids and pools beneath the still water of reservoirs.

Willow Creek Cafe

Our time in Three Forks included one culinary highlight. With the hotel’s own dining room closed for the chef’s weekend, the front desk recommended the Willow Creek Café, six miles down the road. Sitting in an old Western storefront, surrounded by all kinds of country kitsch, we enjoyed the best damn pork BBQ ribs we’ve ever had.