Great Falls, Montana to Missoula, Montana
(170 miles)

Follow Lewis’s 1806 return route along Highway 200 through rugged mountain passes and quiet prairie landscapes.
 

This scenic section traces the route Meriwether Lewis took on his eastbound journey in 1806. From windswept prairies once crisscrossed by Native trails to ghost towns and historic campsites, the landscape is rich with stories and discoveries that shaped the American West.

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POINTS OF INTEREST

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📍Between Lincoln and Ovando, Montana – “Prairie of the Knobs”

• On July 6, 1806, Lewis’s party crossed this open prairie scattered with distinctive rounded hills.

  • He identified the path as a Hidatsa war trail, and they passed remains of Indian lodges.

  • The party crossed the Continental Divide at Lewis and Clark Pass, and the next day they spotted their first buffalo in a year.​

📍 Garnet Ghost Town

• • Known as Montana’s best-preserved ghost town

  • Offers a step back into the 1800s mining era — free from modern development

  • Located off Garnet Range Road, between mile markers 22 and 23 (approx. 30 miles east of Missoula)​​​

📍Missoula/Lolo, Montana – Traveler's Rest State Park

• • The only archaeologically verified campsite of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

  • The Corps camped here:

  • September 9–11, 1805 (westbound)

  • June 30–July 3, 1806 (eastbound)

  • It was here on the return trip of 1806 that the expedition split into two parties

  • 👉Field Notes – Travelers' Rest Discovery: On July 19, 2002, archaeologists unearthed what’s believed to be a Corps of Discovery latrine. Soil analysis revealed significant mercury content, confirming the site’s use—mercury was commonly used in the expedition’s medical treatments.
     

Ready to go? Book your reservations below!

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