Montana is one of the least densely populated states in the country, with just 7.1 people per square mile. That puts the state in 3rd, just behind Wyoming, with 6 people per square mile, and Alaska, with 1.3 people per square mile. With those numbers, it’s no surprise that Montana features some wild, untouched geography and a few of the most well known national parks in the United States. Here are 50 incredible facts about Montana that you’ve probably never heard before.
15 Fascinating Facts About Montana:
- Triple Ocean Watershed: At Triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park, a raindrop can flow to the Arctic, Atlantic, or Pacific Ocean, one of the few true triple ocean divides on Earth.
- Bell-Ringing Boulders: Near Butte, a boulder field rings like church bells when tapped, but only when rocks are together, due to iron content and vibration—a rare natural phenomenon.
- World’s Largest Snowflake: In 1887, Fort Keogh recorded 15-inch-wide, 8-inch-thick snowflakes, earning Montana the Guinness World Record for largest snowflakes.
- Extreme Temperature Whiplash: Loma, Montana, saw a 103°F swing (-54°F to 49°F) in 24 hours on January 15, 1972, the sharpest temperature change ever recorded.
- Nuclear Missile Command Central: Malmstrom Air Force Base manages 150 Minuteman III ICBM silos hidden under wheat fields, a key part of U.S. nuclear defense.
- Lower 48’s Coldest Temperature: Rogers Pass hit -70°F on January 20, 1954, colder than a typical day on Mars, the lowest in the contiguous U.S.
- More Shoreline Than California: Fort Peck Reservoir’s 1,520 miles of shoreline surpasses California’s 840-mile Pacific coast, despite being landlocked.
- Toxic Lake: Berkeley Pit, a former copper mine, holds 40 billion gallons of acidic, metal-laden water, killing thousands of geese in 2016 and attracting 35,000 tourists yearly.
- Earthquake-Built Lake: A 1959 quake (7.3 magnitude) created Quake Lake overnight by damming the Madison River, killing 28 people.
- Mummified Dinosaur: Leonardo, a 77-million-year-old Brachylophosaurus, is the best-preserved dinosaur ever found, with skin, organs, and last meal intact.
- Disappearing Glaciers: Glacier National Park’s 150 glaciers (1850) are down to 26, likely vanishing soon, a stark sign of climate change.
- Inland Rainforest: Bull River Valley’s temperate rainforest has 500-year-old cedars up to 175 feet tall, a surprising ecosystem for Montana.
- Grasshopper Glacier: Beartooth Mountains’ Grasshopper Glacier once held millions of extinct locusts, a frozen insect time capsule, now mostly melted.
- Chinese Wall: A 22-mile, 1,000-foot-tall limestone cliff in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, accessible only by days of hiking, visible from 30,000 feet.
- Sapphires Fit for a Queen: Yogo sapphires, so pure they need no treatment, adorn England’s crown jewels, mined from a remote Montana gulch.
