Most people know that the Missouri River is one of the most important rivers in the United States, but where does this mighty river begin? You can find the beginning of the Missouri River at Missouri Headwaters State Park in Montana. This is a beautiful state park with some of those amazing views that Montana is famous for.

Getting to the Missouri Headwaters

Missouri Headwaters is located just outside the town of Three Forks, Montana which is not far from Bozeman. If you are coming from Bozeman it will take about 30 minutes to get to the state park. Take I-90 out of Bozeman toward Three Forks. You should exit on to a frontage road at exit 287, but if you miss that don’t worry, you can exit at Three Forks and take the frontage road back a short ways.

No matter which exit you take you will drive on the frontage road until you reach Trident Road (yes there is a town called Three Forks and a smaller town called Trident). Follow Trident Road all the way to the Missouri Headwaters State Park.

What to See and Do at Missouri Headwaters

The Missouri Headwaters State Park encompasses the confluence of three rivers which combine to form the Missouri (hence the Three Forks and Trident names of the closest communities). If you have been driving around Montanta much, and especially if you came by way of Yellowstone, you have probably done a bit of following some winding rivers. The Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin are all large rivers in their own right. Here you see them come together into the Missouri.

While it is not a particularly large park, there are a lot of things you can do at Missouri Headwaters. The gamut of outdoor activities are available to you from fishing, to hiking, to camping, to kayaking on the rivers. I think no matter who you are you can probably find an activity to do here. The scenery is magnificent just to look at even if you don’t want to do anything active.

We only had a couple of hours at the park on our trip. We spent most of our time doing a few easy hikes or walks. Some of Meagan’s family who were with us also went fishing in the Gallatin River near one of the trails.

We did one trail that went up across some rocks which gave a great vantage point of the forks of the rivers and had interpretive signs that showed where different geographic features were. We also did a nice walk along the river itself. Near the middle of the park is an interpretive display about the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Sum Up

We really enjoyed this park. Unless you are fishing or kayaking you don’t need a lot of time to explore it. It would be a great place to camp though as it is so beautiful you could just sit and look at the scenery for a long time. The entrance fee is $8 per vehicle, except for Montana residents who get in for free. One thing to be aware of is that there are very few options to get food in this area.