Missoula Travel
Guide : Attractions.gif)
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| Riverfront
Park in Missoula, Montana |
Missoula
is blessed with a wealth of things to do due to its location.
Missoula is tough to beat for the serious fly
fisherman – the Bitterroot
River and Clark
Fork run
right through town, both excellent rivers in their own right.
To top it off, the Blackfoot
River and Rock
Creek are less
than 20 miles up the road, providing yet more quality fly
fishing opportunities.
Want to go hiking? Well, Missoula may be the hiking capital
of Montana, due to all the mountain areas and trails nearby.
The Selway-Bitteroot Wilderness Area is less than 30 miles
away with hundreds of miles of trails. The Rattlesnake Wilderness
Area just to the north of Missoula is a popular place for
both day hiking and backpacking, while the attached recreational
area also is a magnet for mountain bikers (just watch out
for the black bears). The Sapphire mountains also have excellent
day hiking and backpacking opportunities too.
Skiing
is also a popular thing to do in Missoula during the winter.
Montana
Snowbowl is a fine ski area that lies
just about 15 road miles outside of town. Montana Snowbowl
has a solid vertical drop of 2600 feet, with several bowls
open for skiing – with a total of 950 acres open for
skiing. And, Montana Snowbowl is probably only second to
Big Mountain for tree skiing in Montana – with over
500 acres of gladed runs.
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| The
Mountains Outside of Missoula |
Another
ski area, Marshall Mountain, lies just a stone’s
throw from Missoula. Marshall Mountain has a 1500 foot vertical
(if you’re generous) and 3 lifts with 480 total acres
open to skiing. A future expansion of Marshall Mountain should
also open up more runs and some interesting areas to skiing.
Another fine ski area, Discovery
ski area, is also located
relatively close too.
River
floating and rafting is also very popular in Missoula.
This is probably not surprising, considering all the rivers
that run in and around town. On weekends during the
summer, it seems the entire town empties out and heads up
to the Blackfoot
River for a float trip – using pretty
much whatever floats, from inner tubes to canoes to quality
inflatable rafts. The Bitterroot
River also receives considerable
use during the weekends from recreational floating parties.
And the Clark
Fork downstream from Missoula also receives
lots of use by floaters who are looking for whitewater – several
Class III and IV rapids are found downstream from Missoula
on the Clark Fork.
 
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