About Montana

The place

Okay, first thing: it’s big!

It’s roughly 500 miles wide and 300 miles deep – 145,000 square miles. It is the fourth largest state in the Union but only five other states have fewer people, which yields a very, very low 6.5-people-per-square-mile ratio. That also yields a very low car-per-mile ratio on our roadways. We like it like this. Just 990,000 souls make Montana their home. We have several counties larger than several states, and a couple of those counties have fewer than 1,000 people. It’s true, we have three times more cows than people.

Most of the population, say two-thirds, is in the mountainous western one-third of the state. As the west end population grows, the rural and agricultural east end declines.

We only have a few cities over 10,000 population: Billings at about 105,000, Missoula at 71,000, Great Falls at 59,000, Bozeman at 39,000, Butte at 32,000, Helena at 30,000 and Kalispell at 22,000. All have ample amenities and accommodations, including accessible air hubs. Because towns are so widely dispersed, you may be surprised at the accommodations even our smallest villages offer.

Montana is a place of extremes. The eastern two-thirds is big prairie and rich farmland, rolling hills of good grass pasture, and rugged badlands, underneath which lies vast stores of coal and crude oil. And the sky is really, really big! The western third is mountain foothills, productive river valleys and, well, mountains with plentiful timber and minerals and recreation opportunities. The highest peak is just under 13,000 feet above sea level. Ironically, the state’s lowest elevation is in the mountainous northwest corner at 1,800 feet.

The weather

The lowest temperature in the lower 48 states was recorded at Montana’s Rogers Pass – minus 70 degrees – and the highest in Montana was 117 degrees at Glendive and Medicine Lake. That yields an incredible temperature spread of 187 degrees! The greatest recorded temperature change in 24 hours was on January 15, 1972, in Loma, Montana. The temperature rose from -56F degrees to 49F!

And winds will gust over 100 miles per hour with 80 mph winds not uncommon.

Average precipitation runs between 11 and 15 inches per year, quite arid overall, but extremes are seen in Belfry at just 6.5 inches average, and 41 inches at Many Glacier. The town of Circle in eastern Montana holds the record at 11.5 inches of rain in 24 hours. You may experience violent thunderstorms that drop buckets of rain and bushels of hail, but they are usually brief.

Snow in July or August is uncommon but not unheard of. Snowpack may exceed 300 inches (25 feet) as it does on average at King’s Hill at around 7,000 feet, and some cities will see 50 inches in a season. Shonkin saw 48 inches of snow in 24 hours, the state record. Cook City once saw 418 inches (35 feet) of snow in one season.

It all says a lot about needing to be prepared for weather extremes.

The history, economy, people

Montana has seven Indian reservations that are home to the proud Blackfeet, Crow, Salish, Kootenai, Pend d’ Oreille, Assiniboine, Gros Ventre, Chippewa, Cree and Northern Cheyenne.

Some white trappers and traders were in the area well before the Corps of Discovery came and went in 1804-1806, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. In 1858 gold was discovered on Gold Creek (of course) and the flood was on. The Bozeman trail was opened in 1863 and the first cattle herds came in 1866 as did the first telegraph. The loggers, sodbusters and merchants weren’t far behind, aided by railroads that were linked in 1881.

The state’s history and economy can be characterized by a long, and still occurring, series of booms and busts. A 10-year development and construction boom largely went bust in 2009 and shows no sign of recovery at this writing in late 2010. Montanans know to lay something aside in good times because hard times are sure to come.

In this rugged, harsh and unforgiving country, people grow to be tough and hard working; resilient, self-reliant and independent; perhaps reticent at times but gregarious and outgoing at others.

They tend to trust other folks and a handshake still means a lot here, and as much as a person’s word. They are generous and helpful; they still care about one another; neighborliness is the norm.



About the Roads

A lack of traffic

Montana is one of those rural states that receives more from the Federal Government than residents contribute – far more (thank you, urban states). A lot of those federal dollars arrive in the form of ag subsidies, but a sizeable chunk is dedicated to highway construction and maintenance, as well.

Highway money began to really flow in the 1980s. Many secondary highways that had needed major improvement for decades were tackled. Even the Interstates were finally finished in the 1980s.

And things have been steadily improving since. In fact, in the fall of 2010 an outfit that rates highway systems said Montana’s is second best in the nation. I’ve personally ridden about 90 percent of the highways in the state in the last few years and I can tell you the roads are fine.

Generally you will find Montana’s highways are smooth and safe, with the exception of a persistently high rate of DUI-related accidents and injury.

The surfaces

Montana’s roadways are generally in excellent condition. Nevertheless, with our extreme weather, surfaces can crumble quite suddenly and unexpectedly, especially after the first thaw. Always look well ahead for pavement problems.

Sand may be present on roadways, especially hazardous in turns. This may be the result of highway department sanding operations after snow or ice forms, or it may be washing off nearby hillsides and mountains.

When riding along steep terrain with cliffs at the roadside, be watching for rocks on the road. We’ve seen them from billiard ball size to the size of a refrigerator.

It seems a lot of drivers in Montana are hauling loads. In the west, those gathering firewood frequently lose a few blocks. In the east, we’ve seen where big hay bales, perhaps a half-ton, have let loose from the load. We’ve also seen sugar beets, from five to 20 pounds, falling from trucks after harvest has begun (September).

We see the evidence of the occasional diesel or cooling fluid spills, both highly anathema to traction.

Now here’s another surface hazard that is entirely unnecessary and really pisses me off: soupy manure drained onto the surface from livestock hauling trailers. I’m sure it’s illegal but it happens all the time. Watch for it, avoid it. If you see it happening, report it!