Things To Do in Three Forks and Ennis

These lovely limestone caverns are named for the famous explorers, but there is no evidence that their party ever saw or visited them. Discovered in the late 19th century, these caverns are a succession of vaulted chambers and passageways, thickly decorated with stalactites and…

This is one of a few buffalo jumps, or pishkun, that have been excavated. Prior to the advent of the horse, the Northern Shoshone and the Bannock drove the bison off this steep cliff to their death on the rocks below. Long rows of rocks funneled the animals to the cliff. There is a…

You can easily spend an hour just exploring the interpretive signage at this historic state park. Begin by following the Missouri River out from Three Forks. The headwaters themselves are no great shakes -- just another river -- but the sunsets from the bank of the river are…

The Ennis National Fish Hatchery, constructed in 1931, is probably the only place in America where you can observe two genetic mutants of ordinary rainbow trout: albino and blue. (These fish are not released into the wild trout population.) Some of the trout in the hatchery ponds…

Just before midnight on August 17, 1959, a massive earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale jolted Yellowstone and the Madison River canyon, sending large chunks of mountain into the river. A campsite just below the mountain was covered with rubble and 19 people were buried…