Field trips are a great way to reboot a bad homeschooling week, get out of the house when everyone has cabin fever, and learn about your local area. Before heading out, check out Jeanne's tips for improving homeschool field trips.
Our listing of Montana field trips for homeschoolers is ordered alphabetically by city. If you would like to submit a Montana field trip destination, you may do so using the red button above.
Anaconda Smoke Stack State ParkAnaconda
The old Anaconda Copper Company smelter stack, completed in 1919, is one of the tallest free-standing brick structures in the world at 585 feet. The inside diameter is 75 feet at bottom, tapering to 60 feet at the top. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the stack may be viewed and photographed only from a distance. Interpretive signs that detail its history are located in the viewing site near Goodman Park.
Sluice Boxes State ParkBelt
The park' history includes the Barker mines and the Montana Central Railroad. Remains of mines, a railroad, and historic cabins line Belt Creek as it winds through a beautiful canyon carved in limestone.
Pictograph Cave State ParkBillings
Pictograph Cave State Park is a National Historic Landmark. The area was home to generations of prehistoric hunters. The hunters camped in Pictograph Cave and left behind artifacts and over 100 pictographs. The oldest rock art in the cave is over 2,000 years old. The park offers exhibits in archaeology, educational displays, hiking, picnicking, and wildlife viewing.
Rosebud BattlefieldBusby
This 3,000-acre Eastern Montana rolling prairie park preserves the site of the June 17, 1876, battle between the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians and General Crook's soldiers supported by the Crow and Shoshone Indians. The park includes prehistoric sites and the homestead ranch of the Kobold family.
Tower Rock State ParkCascade
Tower Rock was a landmark for native tribes, the Corps of Discovery, fur trappers, traders, and many more who followed in their footsteps. The 400-foot high igneous rock formation lies in a 140-acre site along the stretch of the Missouri River. Visitors can learn about the geology and history of the site with five interpretive panels located at the trail head.
Little Bighorn Battlefield National MonumentCrow Agency
This area memorializes one of the last armed efforts of the Northern Plains Indians to preserve their way of life. Here in 1876, 263 soldiers and attached personnel of the U.S. Army, including Lt. Col. George A. Custer, met death at the hands of several thousand Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. The website offers historical information about the park for those who cannot visit in person.
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic SiteDeer Lodge
Cowboys and Cattlemen - Wide open spaces, the hard-working cowboy, his spirited cow pony, and vast herds of cattle are among the strongest symbols of the American West. Once the headquarters of a 10 million acre cattle empire, Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site is a working cattle ranch that preserves these symbols and commemorates the role of cattlemen in American history.
Clark's Lookout State ParkDillon
In 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition passed through this area exploring the land on behalf of the United States. On August 13, 1805, Clark document the location high on the bluff above the Beaverhead River. The park offers hiking, a interpretive displays of Lewis And Clark, picnicking, sightseeing, and wildlife viewing
Beaverhead Rock State ParkDillon
Sacagawea recognized this huge landmark, resembling the head of a swimming beaver, while traveling with the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805. Site can be viewed and photographed from a distance but is not directly accessible. The site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Bannack State ParkDillon
Bannack State Park is a registered historic landmark and the site of Montana's first major gold discovery on July 28, 1862. This strike set off a massive gold rush that swelled Bannack's population to over 3,000 by 1863. As the value of gold steadily dwindled, Bannack's bustling population was slowly snuffed out. There are over 50 buildings that line Main Street with their historic log and frame structures that recall Montana's formative years.
Medicine Rocks State ParkEkalaka
Medicine Rocks was a place of "big medicine" where Indian hunting parties conjured up magical spirits. Weathering has given the soft sandstone rock formations a Swiss-cheese look. The park offers camping, picnicking, RV camping, and wildlife viewing.
Elkhorn State ParkElkhorn
In the 1880s, Elkhorn was a bustling mining town. Today, two impressive structures, Fraternity Hall and Gillian Hall, have been preserved as outstanding examples of frontier architecture. Visitors enjoy bicycling, hiking, historical displays and exhibits, and wildlife viewing.
Makoshika State ParkGlendive
To the Sioux Indians, Ma-ko-shi-ka meant bad earth or bad land. Today, as Montana's largest state park, the pine and juniper studded badland formations house the fossil remains of such dinosaurs as tyrannosaurus rex and triceratops. You'll find a visitor center at the park entrance with exhibits explaining the site's geologic, fossil, and prehistoric stories. The park offers educational displays on archaeology, back-country camping, bird watching, bow hunting, camping, deer hunting, hiking, mountain biking, a museum, paleontology exhibits, picnicking, RV Camping, and wildlife viewing.
Lewis and Clark Interpretive CenterGreat Falls
The 25,000 square-foot Interpretive Center includes a permanent exhibit hall, a 158-seat theater, an education room for hands-on curriculum-based activities, and a retail store.
Greycliff Prairie Dog Town State ParkGreycliff
Greycliff is home to the playful, curious black-tailed prairie dog. Interpretive signs provide information on the important role of these entertaining animals in the prairie ecosystem. The park offers educational displays, picnicking, and wildlife viewing.
Montana Historical SocietyHelena
Montana's memory starts here! Established in 1865, the Montana Historical Society is one of the oldest institutions of its kind west of the Mississippi River. Learn more about Montana's Museum, the Montana Historical Society Press, Montana The Magazine of Western History, the Montana State Historic Preservation Office, and the MHS Research Center.
Lone Pine State ParkKalispell
The overlooks at Lone Pine State Park offer a dramatic view of the Flathead Valley. The visitor center will provide information on living with wildlife in the wildland-urban interface, along with a look at wildlife and forest ecology within the park. The park offers an archery range, bird watching, cross-country skiing, educational displays and exhibits, hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, picnicking, running, snowshoeing, and wildlife viewing.
Nez Perce National Historical ParkLapwai
Since time immemorial, the Nimiipuu or Nez Perce have lived among the rivers, canyons and prairies of the inland northwest. Despite the cataclysmic change of the past two centuries, the Nez Perce are still here. Join us in exploring the park's thirty-eight sites and experiencing the story of a people who are still part of this landscape.
Travelers' Rest State ParkLolo
Travelers' Rest State Park (TRSP) marks the location of a centuries-old Native American gathering ground lying at a hub of ancient travel and trade routes. Lewis and Clark's 33-member party camped here in September of 1805 and again in late June 1806 while following one of these ancient routes on their 4,000 mile journey from St Louis to the mouth of the Columbia River and back. Meriweather Lewis called the nearby creek "Travellers Rest." In the summer of 2002, archeologists found evidence of the party's latrine and central fire here, positioning the Park as one of the few sites in the nation with physical confirmation of the group's visit—a truly unique designation.
Council Grove State ParkMissoula
In 1855, on this site, Issac Stevens negotiated the Hellgate Treaty between the U. S. government and the Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d'Orielle Indians to create the Flathead Reservation. The park offers bird watching, historical displays and exhibits, fishing, hiking, picnicking, and wildlife viewing.
Yellowstone National ParkMulti-state
Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is America's first national park. Located in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, it is home to a large variety of wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, bison, and elk. Preserved within Yellowstone National Park are Old Faithful and a collection of the world's most extraordinary geysers and hot springs, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The website offers historical information about the park for those who cannot visit in person.
Lewis & Clark National Historic TrailMulti-state
The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail winds nearly 4,900 miles through the homelands of more than 60 Tribal nations. It follows the historic outbound and inbound routes of the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803-1806 from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the Pacific Ocean.
Nez Perce National Historic TrailMulti-state
The Nez Perce (Nimiipuu or Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail stretches from Wallowa Lake, Oregon, to the Bear Paw Battlefield near Chinook, Montana. It was added to the National Trails System by Congress as a National Historic Trail in 1986. The 1877 flight of the Nez Perce from their homelands while pursued by U.S. Army Generals Howard, Sturgis, and Miles, is one of the most fascinating and sorrowful events in Western U.S. history. Chief Joseph, Chief Looking Glass, Chief White Bird, Chief Ollokot, Chief Lean Elk, and others led nearly 750 Nez Perce men, women, and children and twice that many horses over 1,170 miles through the mountains, on a trip that lasted from June to October of 1877.
Granite Ghost Town State ParkPhillipsburg
The remnants of this once thriving 1890's silver boomtown bear stark witness to Montana's boom-and-bust mining history. The park preserves the Granite Mine Superintendent's House and ruins of the old miners' union hall which have been included in the Historic American Buildings Survey.
Chief Plenty Coups State ParkPryor
Situated within the Crow Reservation, this park was the home of Plenty Coups, last chief of the Crow. This day-use park preserves the log home, sacred spring, and farmstead of Chief Plenty Coups. Plan at least an hour to walk the grounds and browse through the small visitor center that traces the story of Chief Plenty Coups' life, and of the chief's efforts to lead his people in adopting the lifestyle of the white man.
MonDak Heritage CenterSidney
The MonDak Heritage Center is the MonDak region's premier museum and art gallery, with the largest available exhibit space of any such combined facility in the region. Their mission is to preserve the region's cultural heritage and support its artistic development through traditional museum exhibits and art shows, as well as through special programming.
Fort Owen State ParkStevensville
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Fort Owen's adobe and log remains preserve the site of the first permanent white settlement in Montana. Major John Owen established the fort as a regional trade center in 1850 and period furnishings and artifacts are displayed in the restored rooms of the east barracks.
Missouri Headwaters State ParkThree Forks
The Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin rivers all join together at this location. The bountiful resources along the river were an important stopping point for Native Americans, trappers, traders, and settlers. Today, the park offers bicycling, bird watching, boating, camping, canoeing, educational exhibits, fishing, hiking, kayaking, RV camping, and wildlife viewing.
Madison Buffalo Jump State ParkThree Forks
Prehistoric people "called" bison to jump to their death below the cliffs on the site this park now occupies. Interpretive displays help visitors understand the dramatic events that took place here for nearly 2,000 years. The park offers bird watching, interpretive exhibits, hiking, picnicking, and wildlife viewing.
First Peoples Buffalo Jump State ParkUlm
A visitor center and interpretive trails tell the story of this prehistoric bison kill site, one of the largest in the United States. For over six hundred years, Indians stampeded buffalo over the mile-long cliff. Now, the top of the jump gives you panoramic views of the Rocky Mountain Front, the Missouri River valley, and the buttes and grasslands that characterized this High Plains setting. The park offers bird watching, bow hunting, educational exhibits, hiking, horseback riding, a Museum, picnicking, upland bird hunting, and wildlife viewing.
Glacier National ParkWest Glacier
Come and experience Glacier's pristine forests, alpine meadows, rugged mountains, and spectacular lakes. With over 700 miles of trails, Glacier is a hiker's paradise for adventurous visitors seeking wilderness and solitude. Relive the days of old through historic chalets, lodges, transportation, and stories of Native Americans. Explore Glacier National Park and discover what awaits you.
Lewis & Clark Caverns State ParkWhitehall
Montana's first and best-known state park showcases one of the most highly decorated limestone caverns in the Northwest. Naturally air conditioned, these spectacular caves, lined with stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and helicitites, date back through time. See the geologic development, the history of early exploration and gain an insight into the delicate ecology of this world without light. Plan to spend a minimum of two hours to hike two miles on a guided tour through the caverns. The park also provides hiking trails, a visitor center, an amphitheater, several picnic areas, a large campground, showers, RV dump facilities, tipi, and three rental cabins.
Big Hole National BattlefieldWisdom
On August 9, 1877 gun shots shattered a chilly dawn on a sleeping camp of Nez Perce. Colonel John Gibbon and 163 men of the 7th Infantry and 34 Bitterroot Volunteers had orders to stop the non-treaty Nez Perce and return them to Idaho. The nearly 800 Nez Perce men, women, and children had fled their native lands when being forced onto a smaller reservation.
