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.
50 Absurd Facts About Montana That Sound Fake (But Aren’t)
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.
