Missoula
Heritage District · Missoula, Montana
A river and railroad town of about seventy-five thousand where five valleys meet, and the one place in Montana that reads as a small city rather than a frontier survival. The Clark Fork runs through the middle of it with a surfing wave built into the river downtown, the University of Montana is on the far bank, and the national smokejumper base is by the airport — this is where aerial firefighters have trained since 1954. It has more bookshops, breweries and independent restaurants than the rest of the state put together, and it is the gateway to the Bitterroot and the Blackfoot.
101 East Main Street, Missoula, Montana, 59802, United States
A working city, open at all hours. Shops keep daytime hours and the downtown restaurants and breweries run late. The Smokejumper Visitor Center by the airport is FREE and open with tours in summer only, to a posted schedule. The Missoula Art Museum is free. Saturday markets run downtown through the summer. Wildfire smoke can affect air quality significantly in August.