Welcome from everyone in Montana!

No matter when you visit; winter or summer, you’re sure to find an adventure waiting for you in Montana. Cool is just what you will find in Montana in the winter. But we don’t let a little bit of snow bother us, oh no, we love to go outdoors and have fun. You’ll find a mound of things to do here in the wintertime.

Montana has 16 downhill ski areas you can visit. Whether you choose to cruise down the mountain on skis or snowboards, Montana has a ski slope for every level of skier. Maybe you would rather explore our mountains and woods at a slower pace, we have hundreds of trails to cover on your cross-country skis or snowshoes. In fact, you’ll find that we have a lot of different ways to travel around the state in the winter. Interested in snowmobiling,we have 2,000 miles of groomed trails to wander, what about trying to mush a team of dogs, we’ve got dog sledding,or how about just sitting back and enjoying a horse driven sleigh ride.

Winter is also the time of year when you see a lot of folks walking on water, frozen water that is. Ice fishing on our state’s lakes is a popular activity with grown ups and kids too.  Another exciting sport on our frozen lakes is ice sailing or boating. The mighty winds of Montana make it easy for these boats to sail across the ice.

Speed skating is an exciting sport in the state. The city of Butte is home to the U.S. High Altitude Sports Center. This speed skating rink is one of the highest in the world. Nestled in the mountains it stands 5,500 feet above sea level. That is over one mile high. Olympic speed skating champions Bonnie Blair and Dan Jansen trained at this rink. But you don’t have to be a top skater to take a turn around this track;the public is welcome to skate at the sports center and at the many other skating rinks found throughout the state.

Out of breath from all of the fun? Why not take a break and check out some of our winter carnivals or local events like ski joring. How about cheering on your favorite team of dogs at the Seeley Monture 100 Dog Sled Race or the Race to the Sky Sled Dog Race, the longest sled dog race in the lower 48 states.

As you have discovered, a visit to Montana during the winter months is a real cool thing to do, but this is also a great place to visit in any season.

WILDLIFE
Wildlife has a special home in Montana. In fact, Montana is the home of the most diverse - which means there are many varieties - wildlife population in the lower 48 states. Here, you can see great herds of antelope, elk, and deer. There are bears, wolves, coyotes, birds of all kinds, squirrels and fish - plenty of fish living in Montana's many lakes, rivers and streams.

COWBOYS
If you like horses and the cowboy way of life you have come to the right state. Ranches, ranch land and farms are found in every corner of Montana. Many of those ranch families invite people to stay with them and join in their chores, ride the range and have lots of fun in the country.

WATER
If you like water, Montana is a place where water is made. It is a "headwaters" state, which means that the winter snows and rains that fall in Montana's many high mountain ranges flow down into streams that lead to rivers that flow across the United States and Canada and finally reach the oceans. Water from Montana flows west into the Pacific Ocean, south into the Gulf of Mexico and north into Canada's Hudson Bay - and this is the only state where that happens!

NATIONAL PARKS
Montana has two: Yellowstone Park, which we share with Wyoming and Idaho; and GlacierNational Park which we share with Alberta, Canada. These are great places that people from all around the world visit and enjoy. If you haven't seen them yet, let your mom and dad know and plan to be there soon.

HISTORY
The historyof Montana is unique as well. A lot of the dinosaur fossils you seein museums around the world have come from Montana and its neighbor states. Some of Montana's "dinosaur hunters" let visitors join their search for the buried bones of these ancient creatures. Members of Indian tribes like the Blackfeet, Crow, Kootenai, Salish, and others lived here (and still do) for hundreds of years before non-Indian settlers moved into the state. The famous Lewis and Clark Expedition was one of the first non-Indian groups to see Montana. Some of the West's first cattle drives came here as did early day miners searching and finding gold, silver and copper. Some of the towns these miners built and abandoned are kept as "ghost towns" and can still be visited. Cowboys still ride the range in Montana, but there are also plenty of cities and towns here that offer all the modern conveniences found in other parts of the country.

WHAT’S NEW IN 2000
Since you came to our web site seeking an adventure,we want you to be the first to know that we have a bunch of new features planned for you in 2000. If you like discovery, you’ll enjoy exploring our new Lewis and Clark pages. If you like rocks and fossils, you’ll dig our piece on archeology. And if you like animals, you’ll go wild over our wildlife recovery presentation.

We hope you enjoyed your journey through Montana on our web site so much that you and your family will want to come and see the real thing. We would love to have you as our guests. Is there something else you would like to see on our site? Drop us a line and let us know what you think about MONTANAKIDS.

Thanks for visiting the Montana Kids Site! We hope you've found the information both educational and entertaining. If you have comments or suggestions on ways we can improve the site please send us email at kids@visitmt.com.

You can also help your family plan a trip to Montana. Have your folks request a statewide travel packet by sending their mailing address to travelinfo@visitmt.com.

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