travelers' rest state park

Enjoyed 3 hours here with 10 home schooled kids on a sunny day in March. The State Park is free for Montana residents, and they only charged us $2 a student for the 3 presentations. What an excellent job the staff did! We had 2 wonderful presentations from retired teachers whose passion is Montana history. What a treat to actually get to touch and feel the replicas. The visitor's center was really well done. The 3rd presentation was an archeology walk which was fascinating - thanks to our park ranger, Vernon! Tom L. did a fantastic job as a living historian. Thanks for sharing your time, your collection, and your passion to teach the next generation. I would recommend this to any group - just let them know your coming, and they'll put on a great presentation and treat you like friends coming for a visit.

The Rangers are fabulous, and really know their stuff! Traveler's Rest has a pretty awesome history - and not without controversy. Spend some time learning about this important Lewis and Clark site.

This Traveler Rest Park is awesome for the fact becuase you can actually stand in the place (which is confirmed) where lewis and clark once stood. It can not get any better for the history buff. Can see and play with reproduction items that L&C had on their exdpition even a harper ferry gun!! Also there are many places that you can bird watch which can also appeal to the nature buff!!!!

This state park has a very nice visitors' center. It may not be the splashiest state park I have visited. But, it is special because one can actually stand in a place where Lewis and Clark are confirmed to have camped as they travelled to the west coast and back. I think of history as a 4th dimension - time. Just imagine Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, York, Gass and the rest of expedition taking a break and conducting their daily duties in that very spot. It's great to be exactly where they were, seeing the world pretty much as they saw it.There are nice educational displays inside the visitor center - definitely worth taking in. I would say about an hour or a bit more is about right for a visit. Montana residents can visit without paying a fee; out of state travelers must pay a fee. There is also a nice picnic area in the park.

It was interesting seeing where Lewis and Clark had their camp and how it was laid out. It would be nice if they would possibly mark things out to show how the camp looked. It was fun talking to one of their "actors" who had a camp set up before the walk to see the actual camp. He showed how they used a musket. How they loaded it, measured the powder, made balls to load the musket, how they banked a fire so it wouldn't go out. He used charcoal instead of wood. But it was all very interesting and he was very informative and tried to answer any questions you had concerning the period. If you enjoy history, this is definitely a place to visit. Take your time, enjoy nature, enjoy the view and the creek. Be sure to read all the placards to understand what they had to go through to make this part of the country what it is today.

If you are in the Missoula or Bitterroot valley area, don't miss the very small but informative museum outside Lolo and walk to the Lewis & Clark camp when they rested after an exhausting trip across the mountains. They even asked if we wanted a free guide that was very informative (Bruce was great!).

Either with a tour guide, or on your own, this is a peaceful and scenic walk back through history. Many indoor exhibits which seem to transport you to the days of the LOLO TRAIL, NATIVE Americans, and LEWIS AND CLARK. Plan on a good couple of hours to see it all! Well worth the time, for lessons and memories which will last a lifetime! Indoor and outdoor experience.

We stopped here due to signs. Glad we did! Jo Ann was a wealth of knowledge about the history of the area! Very informative and interesting Lewis and Clark information. One of the best exhibit stops on our trip!