Filed under: Historic Places & Landmarks, Kid-Friendly Trips, Nature & Wildlife, Outdoor Recreation & Hiking, State & National Parks

Lewis and Clark Historical Trail Interpretive Center, Great Falls, MT…

July 26, 2012 by Dana Ticknor · Leave a Comment

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One of the really great things about summering in our hometown of Helena, MT, is the fabulous nearby destinations. Helena is centrally located between the cities of Great Falls, Missoula, Butte, and Bozeman, MT. We are enjoying spending our summer as camp hosts on a lake in the Helena valley (be nice to your camp hosts – you would NOT believe some of the stuff they have to deal with!), yet we quickly found out that if we don’t leave the park on our days off, we end up working those days. So, for the past couple of weeks we have been taking our Mondays and going on field trips to nearby tourist destinations that we haven’t been to in years! This past Monday, we took a little road trip to Great Falls, which is 90 miles north of Helena. Great Falls has some really great places to stop and visit, and this trip we decided to tour one of our favorite museums – the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center.

The LCIC is unique in that it is managed by the Forest Service, yet has a National Parks Jr. Ranger program!!! (you know that’s our ‘thing’! The last time we had been to the LCIC, several years ago, was before we knew about the Jr. Ranger program, so my kidlets had never completed this particular work. And spirits ran high – the center rewards with fabulous patches!!! The building overlooks the Missouri River, and from the huge overlook windows you can see the (great) falls that Lewis and Clark had to portage around (there are actually 5 sets of falls). From the lobby of the building, you can take an elevator down to the lower level that houses the museum, and you can also access an outdoor walking path that leads to the dam and water falls in one direction, and to Giant Springs and a State of Montana fish hatchery in the other direction. We spent about 4 hours at the center, including taking in 2 films and a ranger-led program about Native American games The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center has an interesting museum on it’s lower level. The museum has interests for all ages, from the film theatre to ranger led talks both indoors and outside, to a few hand’s on activities for the kids to do throughout the museum. My childrens’ favorite is always the pirogue pull…

I really appreciated the levels of work that the Jr. Ranger program here had; the kids had to only do 3 pages (I made mine do all), but the work level wasn’t so difficult that they missed seeing the museum, yet it wasn’t so easy that they didn’t learn anything! The museum focuses on many aspects of the expedition – from the Indians they met (covering housing, modes of transport, gifts…) to the foods the expedition ate, the supplies and trade goods they took on the journey, to the many new and varied animals that L&C chronicled along the way. The museum is tastefully done, and the rangers were fabulous (especially when a ranger volunteered his flashlight and found my lost keys in the theatre! oops!

Even though LCIC is not a National Park, they DO accept the National Parks Access Pass, the NP Senior Pass, and the National Access Pass. If you don’t have a NP pass, admission to the LCIC is $8 for ages 15 and up, and free for children under $15.

While you are in the area, just down the road is another fun and beautiful stop. The Giant Springs Heritage State Park and Fish Hatchery is a combination of stops – it is a gorgeous park that is perfect for a picnic lunch after taking in the LCIC, it is a cute little playground for the kids or grandkids to burn off some saved up traveling energy, it is a fish hatchery offering a self guided tour, and it is a beautiful part of creation with fresh spring water bubbling out of the ground at an amazing rate, filling a lovely pond brimming with aquatic plants. If you are traveling with kids, one thing to note is that you can feed some of the stock fish at the hatchery with pellet food that you can purchase onsite (be sure to have nickels handy

. The hatchery closes at 4:30, so be sure to arrive in plenty of time to feed the fish, and check out the indoor aspects of fish propagation via a walk thru the hatchery building. The park, playground, and springs all close at dusk, so you will have plenty of time to enjoy those…

Great Falls has many other great destinations, including the CM (Charlie) Russell Museum, a visit to Ryan Dam, or tour the Malstrom Air Force Base Heritage Center and Air Park. Montana is called both Big Sky Country and The Last Best Place for a reason. It is beautiful, friendly, clean, and full of wide open space to roam. It’s a wonderful place to come visit!