The computer at Yelp is going to move this but this rest area is in HYSHAM MONTANA which is well west in the state, between Miles City and Billings. There are two rest areas here, one in each direction eastbound and westbound. I was at the westbound one today.
Very nice though basic. It has parking in a large open spot, trucks to one side and cars to the other. It's straight in from the highway, which is something that I think needs to be improved. Force people to slow down as they come in.
The rest area also has a historical marker, "One of the most famous trappers of the Rocky Mountain fur trade era was Jedediah Smith, who came west with St. Louis trader William Ashley in 1822. He spent his first winter in Montana at the mouth of the Musselshell River about 100 miles northwest of here. Over the next decade, Smith trapped and explored the Great Plains and Rockies. He re-discovered the South Pass in Wyoming in 1824 and established overland routes to California and Oregon. The trails Smith and his comrades blazed in the 1820s served thousands of emigrants during the great overland migrations of the 1840s and 1850s."
Enjoy the scenery here. It's stunningly beautiful.
[Review 20797 overall - 62 in Montana - 1781 of 2023.] read more