Published August 28, 2025 03:25AM
Destinations & Things To Do
6 Best Natural Wonders To Visit In Montana This Year
Ask almost anyone to name the USA’s most untamed wilderness, and I’d bet my bottom dollar they’d say it’s Montana. And little wonder. One of North America’s top travel destinations, the “Big Sky” state features everything from prairie grasslands to 12,000-foot-tall mountains, creating diverse ecosystems that are home to grizzly bears, wolves, and mountain goats. For nature enthusiasts and outdoor adventurers, Montana is especially appealing. From multi-day backcountry expeditions to family-friendly short hikes, these six natural wonders present an ideal excuse to visit Montana this year.
Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park covers a vast area of over a million acres of Rocky Mountain wilderness along Montana’s border with Canada. For nature enthusiasts, it’s a smorgasbord of natural wonders, including 26 active glaciers, 762 lakes, and 175 mountains. It’s also easy to spot evidence of the park’s age thanks to the Lewis Overthrust Fault. With their distinctive red, green, and tan rock strata, these ancient mountain layers, one of Montana’s most remarkable natural wonders, are visible throughout the park.
In addition to the scenic Going-to-the-Sun Road, a 50-mile drive that takes around two hours to complete, there are over 730 miles of maintained hiking trails to explore, too. The 5.5-mile Grinnell Glacier Trail is one of the best and leads to one of the park’s most accessible glaciers, passing through habitats that support bighorn sheep, black bears, and the occasional grizzly.
Best Time to Visit: July through September is a good time for full road access and optimal hiking conditions. Peak wildflower blooms occur mid-July through early August at higher elevations.
Yellowstone National Park’s Montana Section
Although most of it is located in Wyoming, a large 260 square mile section of Yellowstone National Park extends into southern Montana. Encompassing the park’s north and west entrances, the star attraction here is the Lamar Valley. Located entirely within Montana and known as North America’s Serengeti, as it supports the continent’s largest concentration of large mammals, the valley’s 30-mile length hosts several wolf packs, thousands of bison, as well as vast herds of elk. Morning wildlife watching from Slough Creek or Pebble Creek regularly produces sightings of all three species, with peak activity occurring during the first two hours after sunrise.
The Gallatin Mountain Range forms the park’s northwestern boundary in Montana, with Electric Peak, at 10,968 feet, dominating the skyline. Another natural wonder here is Specimen Ridge, stretching 20 miles along the park’s northern boundary and home to the world’s largest petrified forest. In all, 27 distinct fossil forest layers representing 50 million years of volcanic activity can be seen here, with individual petrified trees reaching heights of 40ft and preserved standing.
Montana’s Yellowstone portion also includes Mammoth Hot Springs. Here, a remarkable two tons of calcium carbonate is deposited by thermal activity every day, creating terraces that grow at 8-12 inches annually. The Boiling River, where hot springs mix with the Gardner River, creates the only legal hot springs swimming area within the park, with water temperatures varying from 50°F in the river to 140°F at spring sources.
Best Time to Visit: May and September are optimal wildlife viewing months with fewer crowds. Winter visits from December through March offer wolf watching opportunities when packs descend to lower elevations.
Flathead Lake
Located in northwestern Montana, Flathead Lake is 28 miles long and 15 miles wide and contains 185 square miles of crystal-clear water. Created by glacial scouring during the last ice age 13,000 years ago, it reaches depths of 370 feet in some places, making it the biggest natural freshwater lake located west of the mighty Mississippi River.
Wild Horse Island, the largest island on this beautiful lake, supports a unique ecosystem including wild horses. Its isolation has also preserved populations of bighorn sheep, mule deer, coyotes, as well as bald eagles and osprey, many of which can be seen while hiking the island’s five-mile loop trail (visit during early morning hours when animals feed in open meadows). The island’s ponderosa pine forests are also unique, with some trees exceeding 400 years of age.
Best Time to Visit: July through August provides the warmest water temperatures (68-70°F) suitable for swimming. October offers calm conditions and larch trees turning gold along the surrounding mountains.
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
Situated where the Bighorn River cuts through 2,000-foot-deep limestone cliffs along the Montana-Wyoming border, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area is another must-visit natural wonder in Montana. Covering an area of 120,000 acres and formed over 70 million years as the Bighorn Mountains uplifted, this ancient river has maintained its course and, in the process, exposes rock layers dating back 500 million years. The Devil Canyon section displays the most spectacular geology, with vertical walls of Madison Limestone creating narrows only 50 feet wide at water level that extend 1,000 feet skyward.
Bighorn Lake, created by the Yellowtail Dam in 1965, extends 71 miles through the canyon and boasts an impressive 190 miles of shoreline. Up to 485 feet deep in places, it’s Montana’s deepest body of water and supports larger-than-average walleye, catfish, and sauger due to an abundance of smaller forage fish. The lake’s brown trout fishery produces specimens exceeding 30 pounds, with spawning runs of sauger in April attracting thousands of pelicans that congregate below the dam, creating one of Montana’s largest waterbird gatherings.
Best Time to Visit: May through June is great for their wildflower displays and comfortable temperatures. September offers excellent fishing and wildlife viewing as animals prepare for winter.
Giant Springs State Park
Home to one of the largest freshwater springs in North America, Giant Springs State Park discharges a whopping 156 million gallons at a constant temperature of 54°F daily. The springs emerge from the Madison Limestone aquifer after a 2,900-year underground journey beginning in the Little Belt Mountains 60 miles to the south. The main spring vent measures 40 feet across and eight feet in depth and produces sufficient water to fill an entire Olympic swimming pool every few minutes.
The Roe River, flowing just 201 feet from Giant Springs to the Missouri River and one of the world’s shortest rivers, is known for its spawning runs of rainbow trout. The springs’ stable temperature also creates ideal conditions for the park’s fish hatchery, which produces millions of rainbow trout a year to stock Montana’s waters. You can observe trout at various life stages through underwater viewing windows, with daily feedings providing a memorable experience.
Best Time to Visit: Try to arrive between April through May for peak spring flows and migrating waterfowl. September provides comfortable temperatures and prairie dog colonies preparing for winter.
Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park
Protecting Montana’s most extensive limestone cave system, Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park features over three miles of surveyed passages within Jefferson Hill’s 300-million-year-old Madison Limestone formation. Formed over two million years, caverns here reach heights of 60 feet and are decorated with formations growing at a modest one cubic inch per century. The cave system maintains a constant temperature of 48°F with high humidity levels, helping preserve delicate formations, including six-foot soda straws with their paper-thin walls.
Book one of the attraction’s Paradise Tours for a manageable 90-minute underground adventure. Perfect for families, you’ll see rare helictites that grow horizontally and upward in defiance of gravity, as well as cool “cave bacon” formations with their alternating bands of brown and white minerals. The deepest accessible point reaches 325 feet below the entrance with mesmerizing reflective pools of water.
Thirteen different bat species make their home in the caves, including Townsend’s big-eared bats that form maternity colonies of 30-50 females each summer. Nighttime feedings are an unforgettable experience, so try to time your arrival for at least 30 minutes after sunset to witness this amazing spectacle.
Best Time to Visit: June through August are ideal for cave tours, while October offers spectacular autumn colors in the Jefferson River valley.
The Final Word
If you didn’t already know it, the best of Montana’s natural wonders show off the “Big Sky” state’s remarkable geological diversity. From ancient limestone caverns to active glaciers and thermal springs and to deep, clear lakes, each of these destinations offers the kind of authentic outdoor experiences that’ll have you wanting to come back to Montana time and time again.
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Destinations & Things To Do
Why Are the Leaves Already Changing? And What It Could Mean for Fall Brilliance.
Reports are rolling in of leaves changing early across western states. Here’s what it could mean for how we experience fall this year.
(Photo: Getty)
Published August 28, 2025 04:00AM
As if your local Starbucks releasing pumpkin spice lattes in August wasn’t pushy enough, now nature is getting the early jump on fall.
Folks across the U.S. are reporting to neighbors and local weather stations on the shocking early arrival of fall foliage at their homes, nearly a month before the usual hello.
The 9NEWS Weather Impact Team in Denver, Colorado reported that leaves are already turning yellow, orange, and red in the western half of the state. The transformation is linked to statewide drought, caused by a weak snowpack during the 2024/25 winter, and insufficient summer rainfall.
But it’s not just that color change is prematurely happening.
“Trees are experiencing stress,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist, Tom Kines, told Outside. There’s another dynamic at play with trees that Kines also shared.
What We’re Missing
As the days grow shorter and temperatures drop, the natural process of color change occurs. Trees are sent signals to slow down on their production of chlorophyll and vibrant shades of yellow, orange, and red emerge.
Drought conditions such as high heat and less rain fall deprive leaves of the moisture needed to produce chlorophyll that keeps them green. Soaring temperatures and drought also sends trees into stress, dulling the experience of fall foliage.
“The leaves are turning colors too quickly,”Kines said. “They are not as bright or vivid as they would be.”
Current reports of early fall foliage are that the colors are less vibrant than in other years. Areas experiencing drought-like conditions, may see a less impressive fall.
Drought Happens Often. What’s Different This Year?
“In New England, a lot of those areas, while it’s been dry recently, they have received enough rainfall that their colors should be okay,” Kines said. For Western states, it’s a different story.
Kines also said that the timing and brilliance of foliage depends on when it rains. “If you have dry weather in the early part of the summer and rain second half, it will balance out things,” Kines said.
That checks out. In the Pacific Northwest where I am based, we’re used to high heat in June, this year it came later in the season. Excessive heat warnings have been issued across the Pacific Northwest as we end August. Washington and Oregon are still breaking 100 degree Fahrenheit.
The bushes in my front yard started turning yellow last week.
Outside’s associate editor Madison Dapcevich recently reported on the best places to catch fall foliage this year, per the 2025 Farmer’s Almanac. As Kines mentioned, the Northeast will be the place to be, Acadia National Park (Maine) and Adirondack and Catskill Mountains (New York) made the top five.
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What started as a neglected patch of grass is now where I work, rest, host, and recharge—and you can create your own version, too
The author’s backyard is an oasis (Photo: Sierra Shafer)
This was the summer of outside. I’ve always loved gathering in the backyard, but this year I wanted to go all in on creating a space that wasn’t just pretty for one dinner party but functional every day. A place to cool off, cook meals, rest, host friends, regulate my nervous system, and enjoy time outdoors alone or with people I love.
I bought my house in Salt Lake City, Utah, four years ago and began gutting the entire thing. Every wall, every floorboard, every outdated system—ripped out and redone. It’s been a labor of love that often stole weekends from the mountains and ski days from the calendar. I spent more Saturday mornings than I care to admit pulling rusted nails from ceiling stringers or insulating the attic on 104-degree August days when I should’ve been on a river trip.
And for years, the backyard sat neglected. A patch of dead grass. No shade, no seating, no charm. But eventually, after spray-painting hand-me-down patio chairs, collecting potted plants from Buy Nothing groups, and wishing I had more reasons to linger outside, I turned my attention to the last blank canvas of my home.
I approached it the same way I approach planning or packing for any big outdoor objective: start with a clear goal, prioritize what adds value, and leave out the rest. Plus, make sure there are good snacks and cold beer involved.
My goals for the space were simple:
- Easy access to fresh air on days I’m chained to my laptop
- A low-stress outdoor hang zone where friends can drop by without a big production in the group text
- Micro-adventure vibes—the feeling you get on a camping trip, minus the packing list
Bit by bit, I turned the yard into a place I actually wanted to be. I invested in a few big-ticket items I knew I’d use for years—like the sauna and cold plunge—but I also DIY’d where I could, thrifted patio furniture, and waited for sales. It didn’t happen all at once, and it didn’t have to be perfect.
You also don’t need to replicate my to-do list (or have the same square footage) to feel the payoff. Maybe you start with a $12 citronella candle and pop up your camp chair in a shady spot of the driveway. Maybe you hang a string of solar lights or drag your old camp table onto the porch. The point is to create a space that invites you outside today, not “someday,” especially on days when you can’t go much further than your own backyard.
Below, you’ll find the gear that moved the needle most for me, plus why it earns its keep, who it’s best for, and what to try if you’re working with a different budget or space. Mix, match, upcycle, or scale way down. Either way, the goal is the same: more sun on your skin, less time on your phone, and a backyard (or stoop, or patio) that feels like the easiest adventure you’ll take all week.
Addlon Solar String Lights ($25 for 48 Feet)
If you do nothing else to your backyard, start here. String up solar lights and boom—you’ve created ambiance. These are bright enough to illuminate a whole hangout zone and cute enough to feel intentional without being fussy, and they can go up anywhere thanks to the solar panel. No wiring needed.
They’re easy to install and look great, especially at night. So far, mine have held up great, but I will likely store them inside during the winter to cut down on exposure and weather.
Purple Leaf Cantilever Umbrella ($478)
If you want to spend a lot of time outside in a space that doesn’t get natural shade, this is one of those upgrades that makes your whole setup more livable. I picked mine up used on a local marketplace to save some cash, but even if you have to buy one new, it’s worth every penny.
The 10×10-foot canopy casts a huge swath of shade, which is enough to cover a dining table, a pair of lounge chairs and a couch, or a full corner of your deck. The double-top design helps with airflow (so it doesn’t become a sail in the wind), and the UV-resistant fabric hasn’t faded, even after long, hot days of use. My favorite part: The 360-degree rotation and adjustable height/tilt. I can shift it throughout the day without dragging furniture around. It’s a splurge. But it’s also the difference between staying outside for 30 minutes or staying out all day.
Solo Stove Bonfire ($329)
I wanted a fire pit that felt permanent enough to anchor my backyard, but still portable enough to toss in the car for a weekend trip. The Bonfire hits that perfect middle ground. At just over 23 pounds, I can move it easily, but four or five people can still gather around for s’mores, full moon gazing, or post-dinner wine. Setup is easy, and cleanup is even easier (the removable ash pan is clutch).
Solo Stove makes a range of sizes depending on your space. The Bonfire sits right in the middle. I also added the tabletop-sized Mesa to the mix, which brings just the right amount of glow and ambiance to the patio table.
Soundboks Go Bluetooth Speaker ($799)
This is not your cute little travel speaker. This is the speaker you bring out when you’re ready to turn post-ride beers into a Saturday night party. The sound is loud, rich, and absurdly crisp—even outside, even when there’s background noise, even when you’re standing on the far edge of the yard. It connects via Bluetooth, holds a charge that lasts all day (and into the dance party with a 40-hour charge), and can be paired with additional speakers if you want to go full block party mode. I use it for everything from mellow workday playlists to spontaneous backyard dance breaks. Pro tip: Start with Caamp or Brandi Carlile. End with 50 Cent.
Yeti Tundra 45 Cooler ($325)
When it’s not riding in the back of my Subaru, it lives on the back deck—packed with cold drinks so no one has to trek inside every time they want a Spindrift. It sits in direct sun all day and still keeps ice frozen for days. No melt, no lukewarm cans.
The Tundra 45 doesn’t have wheels like the Roadie 32 Wheeled (which our testers picked as Best Cooler of 2025), but it’s built using the same construction and it’s incredibly spacious, durable, and airtight. I’ve been amazed at how much better a backyard gathering feels when cold drinks are within arm’s reach. A good cooler is the unsung hero of outdoor life, and this one’s the real deal.
DIY Stock Tank Pool
I’ve been dreaming of DIY-ing a stock tank pool ever since my friend John sent me a photo of himself floating in a tube with an Aperol Spritz in hand and his newborn daughter on his chest. That was five years ago, and I finally have the space and time to install my own.
I bought a literal stock tank from Tractor Supply for $600, added a pump and fittings and a few other supplies for under $400, and boom: a real, chlorinated swimming hole in the backyard. I followed a combination of YouTube videos, texted a cousin, and read this blog. While it’s not Instagrammable in its asethic, it works, and at least I know the only Band-Aids floating in there are mine. When winter comes, I’ll drain it, cover it, and call it good.
Gozney Arc XL Pizza Oven, $999
This was the hit of the summer for me (and all my new friends that appeared suddenly?). The Arc XL delivers restaurant-quality 16-inch pizzas in under 60 seconds. The lateral rolling flame means fewer turns, and the results are those perfect, blistered, chewy crusts I usually only get from my favorite wood-fired spots with long waiting lists.
My topping of choice? Peaches, burrata, prosciutto, basil, and a drizzle of hot honey.
I made one mistake however: I didn’t buy the Gozney stand, and my cheap Amazon one fell apart almost immediately. So now I haul it out of the garage for every pizza night. Learn from me: buy the real one. Other than that, it’s easy to use, super efficient with gas (I just hook it up to the propane tank from my old grill), and surprisingly lightweight, though I do recommend having a friend help you move it.
Plunge Original Cold Plunge Tub ($5,941)
This is the thing I’ve used the most in my backyard this summer. I’m simply a better person after I’ve jumped into an alpine lake—but I can’t always get to one in the middle of a workday. I can get to my backyard, however, and this plunge has truly been life-changing. It’s helped on days when my anxiety disorder feels unregulated, when period cramps are wreaking havoc on my body, when my back is sore from mountain biking, or when it’s just too damn hot out and I need to chill.
Mine is set at 55 degreesFahrenheit, and I’m still only staying in for five minutes, but the app makes it easy to track, adjust, and follow challenges to build your tolerance for the uncomfortable. I’m working on channeling my inner Wim Hof and using it morning and night. Installation was extremely simple. The chiller is quiet, the acrylic tub is roomy and durable, and the design is sleek enough to sit right outside my garage out of sight from the neighbors.
Plunge the Standard Sauna, $12,591
A sauna in your backyard sounds like a luxury—and it is—but it’s also one of the most grounding, body-resetting rituals I’ve added to my life. I opted for the Plunge Sauna because it’s compact enough to tuck into a side yard or corner space, sleek enough to not look clunky, and it heats up fast (from cold to 174 degreesFahrenheit in under 20 minutes). Plus, the cedar wood smells amazing. The standard size fits up to five people (the Sauana Mini fits two; the Sauna XL seats up to seven), with a folding bench that allows for more movement space instead of seating. Hot yoga, anyone?
While it says it can be assembled in a few hours with two people, I chose to have it professionally installed because #time (and it still took nearly a full day). I also hired an electrician to add a special outlet to my garage panel because this requires a dedicated circuit.
You can control the temperature and lighting through the app, and the full glass door gives it a modern, inviting look. For me, it’s the ultimate bookend to cold plunging, but even on its own, it brings a whole new dimension to outdoor living. What I’m most looking forward to is using it this winter post-ski day. Apres just got very zen at my house.
The Payoff
This backyard project was about creating a space I actually wanted to be in (away from screens!), inviting in all weather, and restorative in every way. Now, it helps me recover after long days, host friends without stress, and soak up sun, fresh air, firelight, and good carbs.
The upgrades I made range from big to small, but they all share one purpose: making it easier and more joyful to be outside. Whether you’re stringing up lights or going full backyard revamp, the invitation is the same—step outside and stay a while.
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