Follow This Trail to the Best Stargazing in Montana

There are a couple of activities that stereotypically, people enjoy more as they age. Birdwatching and gardening are classic examples, but I think another example might be stargazing.

Montana has had a banner year for looking at the night sky. For the rest of my life, I'll remember what it was like standing in the middle of my backyard last May, surrounded by the light pollution of living in Missoula, and still being able to see a brilliant aurora borealis straight overhead.

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I'm probably not alone in taking more interest in the night sky after that event, and maybe stargazing should be lumped in with birdwatching and gardening.

With meteor showers and other unusual displays happening occasionally, you might be interested to know that Montana has a "Trail to the Stars" that shows locations in eastern Montana where you can do some of the best star gazing.

Montana's Trail to the Stars

It's not so much that this resource will give you a route. Still, this collaboration between Central Montana Tourism, Missouri River Country, Visit Southeast Montana, and the Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development offers 45 locations where stargazing is ideal in the eastern half of Montana.

Locations vary based on amenities. The JJJ Wilderness Ranch in the Bob Marshall has cabins and power, for example, but the Acton Recreation area offers camping and RV access. Medicine Rocks State Park has been designated at Dark Sky Sanctuary, and state parks like Makoshika and Tongue River are on the list too. You can download a map of all the locations on the Trails to the Stars website.

I'd love to see this initiative expanded to western Montana. The Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge and Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park are also Dark Sky locations as identified by DarkSky International. Just imagine how many locations there would be on the trail if they included the whole state.