Last Hurrah In Montana Part 2

In the morning we were up and packing up our camps.  My parents were preparing to head back to Idaho, and Amber and I were getting ready to explore Missouri Headwaters State Park.  We ate a quick breakfast of muffins and then my parents decided to join us on a couple stops.

Missouri Headwaters State Park is the confluence of the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin rivers, and the mighty Missouri River begins.  When the Lewis & Clark Expedition reached this area they scouted out the surrounding terrain trying to figure out which fork of the river to take, in order to get closest to their short term goal of crossing the Continental Divide.  They ultimately decided on following the Jefferson River.

Our first stop was the confluence of the Madison & Jefferson Rivers.  Nothing too impressive, unless you think about the history and the first American explorers seeing this area for the first time.

After that we made another stop at what is called Fort Rock.  It was a landmark that Lewis & Clark surveyed the Three Forks area from, and you get outstanding views from all directions.  You can see the Gallatin River on one side, before it joins up with the other two rivers downstream.  We enjoyed the view and the quick hike, and then my parents said goodbye and Amber and I were on our own.

Amber and I continued on into the park.  We stopped at a large picnic area near the Gallatin River.  We were able to access trails that ran to a pictograph, pioner grave, and another landmark known as Ling Rock.  In the early days of the Montana territory, there was a ferry that operated at Ling Rock.  But when Gallatin City 1 & 2 eventually dried up due to steamships not being able to navigate that far up the Missouri River, the ferry service ceased.

Then our final stop was hiking a short trail that leads out to the point where the Gallatin River joins the other two, and the Missouri River flows all the way to the Mississippi.

After this point, we realized we ran out of things to see.  Originally I had believed it would take us most of the day to explore what we wanted to.  But it also was getting pretty hot.  So we decided to head into the town of Three Forks and visit a free museum.  It was interesting.  They had lots of displays, artifacts, and memorabilia about the local history. 

Once we were done there, we headed into Bozeman to kill time having a picnic lunch and explore some random stores until our friends Alex & Hannah were free to meet us for dinner.  We stayed the night with them and then prepared to head out first thing in the morning.  Our plans for the next day were going to involve some more Lewis & Clark history and maybe start our exploration of Bannack Ghost Town State Park, if time allowed.