If you’re traveling through Montana, you’ll see a lot of interesting things. The state is full of unique roadside attractions that offer visitors a window into the past. There are also a lot of really cool barns all across Montana, and some of them have colorful quilts hanging on the front of them.

The quilts are known as “barn quilts”, and there’s actually a scenic barn quilt trail in Montana. So, what is the significance of barn quilts and what do they mean?

Paint was very expensive in those days and painting a decorative yet distinctive quilt pattern on their barns was a wonderful way of allowing for decoration. It also became an excellent way for travelers to find particular families or cross roads, as towns people would just tell them which pattern to look for.

What Do Quilts on Barns in Montana Mean?

The history of barn quilts is quite interesting. Barn quilts were used during the Revolutionary War as a way to show that an area was safe and that supplies were available. Many barn quilts were used to represent agricultural families and farmland. Some barn quilts were inspired by a single block of a family quilt.

Where Can You See Barn Quilts in Montana?

You can see over 70 different barn quilts on the Meagher County Arts & Cultural Trail. Driving the trail takes less than two hours, but it’s well worth it. The route was a project approved by the Meagher County Chamber of Commerce in 2017 and is a great way to see all the amazing communities in the county including Ringling, Martinsdale, White Sulphur Springs, and more.

There is no shortage for outdoor adventures!

Paradise Adventure Company

Montana Whitewater

Yellowstone Raft Company

Bear Paw Outfitters

LEWIS & CLARK EXPEDITION

Caverns – Cardwell, MT – 75 miles

Pompeys Pillar – Lewis & Clark Landmark – Billings, MT – 140 miles

Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center – Great Falls, MT – 200 miles

LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS

AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Livingston Chamber of Commerce – visit the Chamber website to find out more information in the visitors guide on local art galleries, theaters, businesses, events, antiquing, tennis, golf, biking, skiing, and more.

RESORT & DAY SPA

Chico Hot Springs – Pray, MT – 7 miles

• Day Spa & Resort
• Swimming
• Horseback Riding
• Scenic River Floats
• Fine Dining

Sage Lodge – Pray, MT – 6 miles

• Day Spa & Resort
• Fly Fishing
• Hiking, Biking and Horseback Riding
• Scenic River Floats
• Llama Treks

GOLF

Livingston Golf Club
Overland Golf Course – Big Timber, MT

MUSEUMS

Visit the museum website for hours, directions, tickets, upcoming events, etc.

Livingston Depot Museum – Livingston, MT – 18 miles

Fly Fishing Museum – Livingston, MT 18 miles

Yellowstone Gateway Museum – Livingston, MT – 18 miles

Museum of the Rockies – Bozeman, MT – 45 miles

American Computer & Robotics Museum – Bozeman, MT – 45 miles

Charles M. Bair Family Museum – Martinsdale, MT – 102 miles

Buffalo Bill Center of the West – Cody, WY – 175 miles

C.M. Russell Museum – Great Falls, MT – 200 miles

MUSIC

Music Ranch Montana

We are blessed with an unsurpassed natural setting for this place of Music, here in Paradise Valley Montana, on the route to the main gate into Yellowstone National Park. It is our hope that many, many people of all ages, from here in North America and throughout the world will enjoy Music Ranch Montana, either as novice entertainers, acclaimed professionals or as happy listeners. We hope that you keep in touch and come by for a visit. There are a great many people involved in this dream and we all look forward to serving you. Visit the Music Ranch Montana for more information and upcoming events!

Old Saloon

Visit the Old Saloon website for more information

Pine Creek Lodge

Visit the Pine Creek Lodge website for more information

Saloon At Chico Hot Springs

Live Music Fridays & Saturdays – Visit the Saloon At Chico website for more information and upcoming events.

Red Ants Pants Music Festival

Annual Music Festival in White Sulpher Springs, Montana – Visit the Red Ants Pants Music Festival for more information!

NATIONAL & STATE PARKS

Yellowstone National Park – Montana & Wyoming – 35 miles

Grand Teton National Park – Wyoming – 282 miles

Glacier National Park – Montana – 375 miles

Natural Bridge State Park – Big Timber, MT – 80 miles

Little Bighorn Battlefield – Crow Agency, MT – 190 miles

Pictograph Cave State Park – Billings, MT – 142 miles

RODEOS

PBR Rodeo

Visit the LIVINGSTON CLASSIC PBR TOURING PRO DIVISION website for more information and ticket sales.

Livingston Roundup Rodeo

The Livingston Roundup Rodeo has a long and colorful history of its own, dating back to the “Roaring 20s,” when the event began. Visit the Livingston Roundup Rodeo website for more information and ticket sales.

SCENIC MOTORCYCLE RIDES

Pam and Chan ride the Beartooth Highway

As riders ourselves we hope that you’ll unload your trailers, toy haulers, or bumper lifts and explore the GREAT motorcycle roads that surround us. Dual sport riders can head up Mill Creek or up into the Tom Miner Basin and find everything from mellow gravel two track to Forest Service cuts that will take you to the back of beyond. Road riders can head off in any direction for the kind of riding that fills the pages of magazines and stays with you forever, or at least until you ride it again.

Here are a few of our favorites.

Beartooth Highway

If you follow the driving/riding directions for the Beartooth Highway you have another world-class option. Fourteen miles outside of Cooke City is a well marked RIGHT hand turn that will connect you to the Chief Joseph Highway.) If it’s a BIG day of riding you’re after, the Beartooth is waiting. From our RV Park enter Yellowstone through the North Gate and in Mammoth turn left and ride the amazing Lamar Valley, exiting the park through the Northeast Gate and into Cooke City.

It’s a good idea to fill the tank here, you’ll have better things to pay attention to coming up.

The Beartooth Highway makes everybody’s short list of spectacular roads…anywhere. Before long the switchbacks will have you riding above the treeline, and you’ll summit the road at 10,970 ft!Then it’s countless switchbacks down to the valley and a great ride into Red Lodge for a well-deserved break. Highway 78 will take you through great rolling countryside on your way to Roscoe, and in Absarokee you’ll follow the Stillwater river into Columbus. Here you can jump onto I-90 and head back to Livingston.

These 300 miles makes for a long day, we suggest you start early.Weather is VERY changeable on this ride, please check the current conditions and forecast on the Beartooth Highway website

Chief Joseph Highway

If you follow the driving/riding directions for the Beartooth Highway you have another world-class option. Fourteen miles outside of Cooke City is a well marked RIGHT hand turn that will connect you to the Chief Joseph Highway. Detailed information

The Bridger Range Scenic Drive

The thirty-one mile long Bridger Range Scenic Drive is a paved route that runs between Wilsall and Bozeman, Montana. The scenic drive follows Montana Highway 86 (also called Bridger Canyon Road), for its entire distance. Highlights of the trip include the scenic Bridger Range, along with excellent views of the Crazy Mountains. Visit the BigSkyFishing.com website for more information

The Boulder River Backcountry Drive

The Boulder River Backcountry Drive is a forty-seven mile drive that leads into the heart of the Absaroka Mountains south of Big Timber, Montana. The route closely follows the Boulder River, which provides excellent fishing and, in its upper reaches, superb access. The first twenty or so miles of the drive follow a paved road, before turning to a gravel surface for the remainder of the route. The drive, which is a one-way trip, dead-ends at a popular trail head that lies at the edge of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area.  Highlights of the drive include Natural Falls Bridge State Monument, the Boulder River, beautiful agricultural fields south of Big Timber and superb views of the Absaroka Mountains and the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area. Visit the BigSkyFishing.com website for more information.

Paradise Valley Dual-Sport Rides

If you turn off on just about any gravel road around here you can bet on 3 things;
the road will get steeper….
the road will get narrower…
the elevation AND the view will take your breath away…

For trails and info contact:

OHV Program Manager
Montana State Parks
PO Box 20071
1420 East Sixth Ave
Helena, MT 59620
(406) 444-7642

Yellowstone Ranger District
5242 Highway 89 South
Livingston, MT 59047
(406) 222-1892

Gardiner Ranger District
PO Box 5, Hwy 89 South
Gardiner, MT 59030
(406) 848-7375

WILDLIFE WATCHING

There is a vast variety of wildlife in Paradise Valley and Yellowstone National Park.

WHITE WATER RAFTING

Montana Whitewater Raft Company

Wild West Whitewater Rafting

Paradise River Rafting

Rubber Ducky River Rentals

WINDSURFING

Dailey Lake

Windsurf on Dailey Lake, 30 miles south of Livingston, with Emigrant Peak hovering at 11,000 feet above. Daily Lake has the most consistent winds in Montana and is a safe lake with a gravel launch site and no obstacles. In addition to windsurfing, the lake provides great fishing for trout and walleye. For equipment or directions and trails contact Timber Trails on Park St. 406-222-9550.

WORLD CLASS FISHING

From its origins in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming to its confluence with the Missouri in western North Dakota, the Yellowstone is the longest free-flowing river in the lower 48 states. The upper reaches of the Yellowstone receives universal praise as one of the finest trout streams in the world. Ranches, pasture lands and homes old & new line the banks of the river here in Paradise Valley, and it’s this limited access that gives the river its reputation as a waterway better floated than waded. Our river access here at Yellowstone’s Edge has solved that problem for you!

All 3000 ft of river access in this photo is available to our guests.

All 3000 ft of river access in this photo is available to our guests here at Yellowstone’s Edge. And at the southern end (bottom of picture) another 3000 feet of access is available right from our park. Every river seems to have its “blue ribbon” section of prime fishing water, and on the ‘stone’ it’s considered to be the “bird float”, between the access points of Grey Owl and Mallards Rest. Our RV park is completely within this section with 3000 feet of riverbank within our RV park, connecting at the south end to an additional 3000+ feet of state Fish & Game lands which our guests are free to enjoy.

You can walk from your RV and enjoy over a mile of wading on this world-class fishery. Our access ranges from gradual, shallow rocky areas suitable for youngsters and timid waders, to the boulders, riffles and holes favored by trophy trout.A trout crazy town like Livingston is full of well-stocked fly shops, staffed by experts that can tell you where, when, and what you need to target that fish of a lifetime. And if you need a change of pace we can point you towards Mill Creek or Big Creek, two wonderful tributaries that hold native cutthroat and some VERY sizable Rainbows!And if the LONG 4 mile drive to the Angler’s West Fly Shop in Emigrant has you worn out just remember it’s right next door to a wonderful cafe’, and 50 yards from a delightful bakery!

We look forward to hosting you here at Yellowstone’s Edge and helping to get your fishing pointed in the right direction. We have a campfire outside the office every evening at 7:00 PM. It’s a great place to hear fishing stories and to share your own…NO EYEWITNESSES….A fishing license is required.

SCENIC DRIVES

Headwaters of the Missouri River – Three Forks, MT – 60 miles

Beartooth Scenic Highway – Montana – 70 miles

Historic Virginia City – Virginia City, MT – 75 miles

Going to the Sun Road – Glacier National Park – 375 miles