Makoshika State Park

maryo (Atlas Obscura User)

the Yellowstone River, the longest stretch of wild, undamned river left in the U.S., winding by the landforms in the distance.

summer time with the regional grain dust haze in the air User Submitted

View from the top of a bluff

big sky view from visitors center User Submitted

Cap rocks User Submitted

cap rocks User Submitted

land bridge on cap rock nature trail User Submitted

User Submitted

'cannonball' rock outcropping User Submitted

land bridge User Submitted

spring time maryo (Atlas Obscura User)

elephant skin clay formations User Submitted

Cap Rocks User Submitted

ZBRAH (Atlas Obscura User)

breaingram (Atlas Obscura User)

Roaming the ridges of Makoshika, you can see how this ancient river delta lay down the reefs of clay and sediment to feed the inland sea back when its waters still flowed.

Sometimes, travelers find themselves stuck here after a wild summer thunderstorm because the hills and roads tumultuously slide back into the muddy river beds that house their original formations. More than one weary traveler has been airlifted out over the years because the mud becomes impassable after a hard rain.

Now, it’s home to wild things; juniper, sage and some of the most intensely clear dark night skies in the lower 48. It’s a place where you can still hear the sound of your own heartbeat, be greeted by an instant flash of thunderous rainbow and wander in what little fauna this harsh land can sustain with the wind always reshaping the land around you.

Makoshika is one of the largest state parks in Montana, the most popular, and one of the stops along the Montana Dino Trail.

Make time to hike the trails, including a short but strenuous trail that takes you to a real Hadrosaur fossil still partially in the sandstone.

The park also houses the fossil remains of Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops.

Know Before You Go

It's on the outskirts of town, so you need a map to navigate through the neighborhoods that surround the main road into the park. Everyone in town knows where it is at though, so you should be able to make your way there.