Retrace the path of Lewis and Clark and parallel two mighty rivers—the Missouri and the Yellowstone—on a loop around the state’s northeastern badlands and spacious plains. This route-less-traveled crosses the Fort Peck Indian Reservation and passes through lands where dinosaurs once roamed.
ROUTE: GLASGOW > WOLF POINT > SCOBEY > SYDNEY >GLENDIVE > WIBAUX > TERRY > GLASGOW
From Glasgow, head to Wolf Point, home of the annual Wild Horse Stampede in July. Stop in Scobey for a back-in-time visit exploring the Daniels County Museum and Pioneer Town just west of town. Make time to venture to Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge and look for the beautiful white pelicans that call the refuge home.
View Western art and pioneer artifacts at the MonDak Heritage Center in Sidney. From here, take a side trip to the Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, once the fur-trading hub of the Upper Missouri River. The site straddles the Montana–North Dakota border.
In Glendive, pre-book a dinosaur fossil hunt (open April to October). See a Triceratops horridus skull and hike the badlands at Makoshika State Park, one of the stops on the Montana Dinosaur Trail.
Drive along the Big Sky Back Country Byway, a 105-mile scenic route following a section of the historic Regina-Yellowstone (R-Y) Trail. Stop at the byway kiosk in Terry to learn more about the drive. At the northern end of the route, visit the Fort Peck Interpretive Center and Museum to see one of the world’s most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons, named Peck’s Rex™.
Explore any of the six recreation areas surrounding Fort Peck Lake. See Fort Peck Dam and take a free tour of the Fort Peck Power Plant Museum (open Memorial Day to Labor Day). Downstream, hike the Beaver Creek Nature Trail and look for bison on the Leo B. Coleman Wildlife Exhibit driving route.
