Getting There
Great Lakes Airlines (tel. 800/554-5111; www.greatlakesav.com) provides daily commuter airline service to Lewistown Municipal Airport (tel. 406/535-3264; www.lwtairport.com) on a route that flies to Worland, Wyoming, then Denver.
Lewistown is connected to other Montana cities by two-lane U.S. highways that radiate from the town. From Billings, go north 92 miles, then west 31 miles on U.S. 87. From Great Falls, Lewistown is 105 miles east on U.S. 87.
Visitor Information
The Lewistown Chamber of Commerce has its offices at Symmes Park at 408 NE Main St. (tel. 866/912-3980 or 406/535-5436; www.lewistownchamber.com and www.destinationlewistownmontana.com). Local maps, and maps from the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, and the C.M. Russell Wildlife Refuge are all available. Information about Lewistown is also available from Travel Montana's Russell Country (tel. 800/527-5348; www.russell.visitmt.com).
Getting Around
Rental cars are available from Sparks Rent-a-car (tel. 406/535-7701).
Special Events
The Chokecherry Festival, held on the Saturday following Labor Day, honors that smarter-than-the-average-berry, the chokecherry, one of the few indigenous fruits of the prairie. Generally overlooked by poets and songwriters -- no one has ever been the chokecherry of someone's eye, nor has life ever been a bowl of chokecherries -- Lewistown attempts to place the chokecherry on its proper pedestal with parades, bake sales, pie cook-offs, and even a pit-spitting contest.
Lewistown's other big annual event is the Montana Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Each year in mid-August, cowboys, ranchers, large-animal vets, and other swaybacked and bowlegged Montana literati gather to swap lies and poems. Those who may have considered the term "cowboy poetry" an oxymoron are usually pleasantly surprised to find a relentless rhyming vitality to the poetry, along with a lot of humor, and an honest and healthy appreciation of fellow poets. For details on these events, call the Lewistown Chamber of Commerce at tel. 866/912-3980.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
