Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park

As you may have seen in my previous blog posts (here, here and here) a month ago I was enjoying a road trip all the way from Seattle to the Yellowstone National Park. In addition to everything I could see and enjoy there, on my way back I made one final stop for just one more attraction: the Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park in Montana.

This state park has a curious History. The Native Americans in the region already knew of a big system of caverns in the limestone of the mountains in these area, and when settlers started arriving in Montana a particularly enterpreneurial one took ownership of the land (as it happened in those days), put some infrastructure around and in the caves and started selling tickets for tours. It became a major attraction given how beautiful the rock formations were. Long story short, eventually the caves became part of the Yellowstone National Park, but the National Park Service complained that the caverns were too far away from Yellowstone and the NPS already had the Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico and so, lo and behold, the Lewis and Clark State Park was created as the first state park in Montana.

I took the tour inside the caves and they are indeed amazing. They were originally formed millions of years ago as joints in the layers of limestone rock, and then the slightly acidic groundwater started dissolving the stone and creating a number of very interesting formations. When the state park was created, concrete steps and proper lighting were added, but still tours are limited and can only be taken with a state park guide. Furthermore the tours are not for everybody: some steps are challenging and you have to watch your head in many places. Having said that, the beauty of the rock formations is such that it is very much worth it. In addition, this cave is one of the few places left where the native western big-eared bats can live: you can see them, and care is taken to not disturb them and to help preserve the species.

In all, it was a great way to end on a high note what had already been a great road trip. The Lewis and Clark Caverns are one of those "out of the beaten path" attractions and I highly recommend them (except if you're claustrophobic).














Location: Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park, 25 Lewis & Clark Caverns Road, Whitehall, MT 59759, USA

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