Day 8 June 23rd - Giant Springs - Three Forks -- Bannack SP (Ghost Town)

Sunday June 23^rd

Started the day off with an early morning walk along the Missouri River in downtown Great Falls.

A quick stop at the Lewis and Clark Interpretative Center to get some postcards and a book at the gift shop. This town has decorated bison. This one is painted up.

Next we stopped at the Giant Springs State Park. This is a truly unique feature and I am not sure that there is another quite like it. The spring brings forth 150 million gallons of water per day! Geologists have determined that water seeps into the ground in the Little Belt Mountains southeast of Great Falls. The water flows through the Madison Limestone Formation that is about 400 feet underground and then escapes through cracks. It takes about 50 years for the water to flow from the Little Belt Mountains to the Giant Springs along the Missouri River. The water stays a consistent 54*. A lady at the gift shop told me that in years past when they had some issues with the water in Great Falls that everybody would go to Giant Springs to get their water.

Missouri River with small falls, much smaller than before the river was dammed.

We hope on I-15 heading southwest towards Helena passing through the Big Belt Mountains. Lots of activity in this area with people camping and fishing along the river.

If you are ever in this part of Montana you have to stop at Montana Wheat. The best bakery and sandwich shop in the area. You can also buy bags of Montana Flour. The rolls are as big as dinner plates and just as filling.

We traveled into Three Forks and noticed all the float activity on the river. Vehicles were parked everywhere. There were tubes, kayaks and different means of floaties propelling folks down the river. It was a hot 92* so I am sure it felt really good.

This confluence is where the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin rivers come together to form the Missouri River. The Jefferson and Madison come together first and then about a mile downstream the Gallatin River comes together and this is the actually formation. Lewis and Clark chose to follow the Jefferson from this point since it was the largest of the three.

I have seen lots of quirky things in Montana. This state seems to bring together electic individuals. This person has chosen to make unique birdhouses and then display them on the top of the fence posts that line his property. I marvel at the imagination this person has to make each one so detailed.

We continued southwest thru the town of Dillion. I stopped here to fill up on gas and discovered a convenience store on steroids! This place had everything, sporting goods, clothes, hardware items along with the normal convenience store fare.

This part of Montana is full of working ranches. Lots of irrigation to grown grass for the cattle. Long stretches in the valley between the mountains. We intended to venture farther but Bannack State Park seemed like a good place to camp for the night. Boy am I glad we did. This is a ghost town. Gold discovered in the region brought miners to the area. The town of Bannack soon formed around 1862. At one time there were 5000 people living here. The town was inhabited as recently as 1974 when the state took over the property. You can walk the boardwalks and discover the past. There is a church with a saloon right next door. Lots of houses, a general store and of course a jail. The Masonic Lodge occupies a space right above the school. We were one of the last persons to walk the town and it was nice and quiet. Thankfully we didn’t see any ghosts.