After getting completely shutout for a campsite in Idaho the night before – on a Wednesday night, no less – we grabbed the first thing available that would stage us for a visit to Yellowstone National Park the following day.
First available certainly didn’t mean bottom of the barrel. Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park in Montana is better known as a day-use park for those visiting the caverns. However, the attached campground was more than satisfactory.
Images of Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park Campground
The images in the gallery above were taken from the state park or very nearby. The campsites are plenty large but, as is the natural environment of the area, there is not much privacy. Why? There are not many trees. But, without that, you wouldn’t get that unique Montana scenery.
I love a good thick forest but there’s something special about this landscape. I think a lot of the ‘Wild West’ era in the United States has been extremely over-sensationalized. However, when you’re out in the middle of nowhere, Montana, you can’t help but be taken back to those frontier days.
When you look at a map, you wonder just how someone crossing the plains could get tracked down, robbed and killed by undesirables. This is a massive area. You’re going at the speed of a horse, as are your enemies. You’d think the chances of running into another soul would be rather slim.
But then, you have to consider that there’s nowhere to hide. You can see for miles and miles. Add to that, the mountains and all-around rough terrain. Back in the day, the lack of flat land would have funneled pretty much everyone through a handful of narrow passages.
Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park
The park dates back pretty much to those frontier days. After being first discovered by non-natives in 1882, the park was established as Lewis and Clark Cavern National Monument in 1908. The first tours began just eight years before that. In 1938, the park was handed over to the state of Montana to become Montana’s first state park.
It should be noted that Lewis and Clark did not discover the caves. They did, however, pass by on the Jefferson River, beside where the present day campground exists, in 1805 on their famous expedition.
The caves are open from May 1 to September 30, along with some holiday tours in December. The limestone caverns are accessed by guided tour only. The tour takes about two hours and will cost you $12 per adult, $5 for children 5-11 and absolutely nothing for kids five and under.
After spending hundreds of dollars on tours and attractions in Jasper and Banff just days before, this proved to be by far a better bang for the tourist buck. The caves are spectacular. They are full of stalactites and stalagmites. The guides are extremely good at their jobs. Pictures from inside the caverns will be coming soon in a follow-up article.
State Park Campground
There is a 40 site campground within the 3,015 acre Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park. Along with the spacious 40 campsites, there is also a teepee (tipi) and three cabins. Campsites are $28 per night while the Tipi’s are $42 and the cabins are $66. If the Tipi wasn’t taken, we would have camped in it.
The campground is at around 4,300 feet above sea level with a 1,000 climb to the entrance of the caverns. Throughout, there are trails to explore.
The park is located just south of Interstate 90, east of Butte and west of Bozeman. Cutting south on U.S. 287, just east of the park, will take you into Yellowstone National Park within an hour or two.
The Jefferson River runs just across the road from the park, within sight of the campground. This river is 83 miles long and a tributary of the Missouri River. The train tracks you see in two of the above images run directly adjacent the river.
For birders, and wildlife lovers in general, American White Pelicans can be found along the river. There is an image of a trio in the slideshow above.
