Things to do in Great Falls
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Great Falls
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months overall, with long light and spillway water in June and harvest light, fishing and no crowds in September.
Worst months, with deep cold, serious wind, ice and reduced museum hours, but the cheapest rooms of the year.
Western Art Week makes March the most exciting month in the city and the hardest for downtown rooms.
Peak Glacier gateway season plus Montana State Fair in late July, the most expensive fortnight of the year.
Good shoulder months with colder water and shorter days, plus migrations at Benton Lake in spring and fall.
What's on
- Western Art Week mid-March, around 19 March
A week of Western art shows and auctions across the city, culminating in The Russell auction at the C.M. Russell Museum.
- Montana State Fair late July to early August
Nine days at Montana ExpoPark with PRCA rodeo nights, concerts, horse racing, livestock shows and a full carnival.
Best things to do in Great Falls
Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center
The best Lewis and Clark museum in the country, on a bluff above the Missouri where the expedition portaged the falls.
Giant Springs State Park
One of the largest freshwater springs in the US, feeding the 201 foot Roe River beside lawns, a hatchery and river trails.
C.M. Russell Museum
The largest collection of Charles M. Russell art anywhere, plus his preserved house and log cabin studio on the grounds.
Ryan Dam
The overlook and island park at the tallest of the five falls, where the canyon and spillway show why the portage took a month.
Sip 'n Dip Lounge
A 1962 tiki lounge where mermaids swim behind the bar in landlocked Montana, and the Fishbowl is the local ritual.
First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park
A mile long bison cliff used for a thousand years, with a strong visitor center and huge views from the top of the jump.
Gibson Park
The city front porch park on the Missouri, with gardens, a duck pond and the river trail running straight through it.
Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art
Free contemporary art in a grand old schoolhouse, the modern counterpoint to the Russell Museum a few blocks away.
Where to stay in Great Falls
Downtown
best overall base, walkable city break
Central Avenue hotels put museums, dining, the Newberry and Gibson Park within walking distance of your room.
Riverfront / West Side
families, river views and easy parking
Newer builds across the river face the Missouri, with West Bank Park and trail access at the door.
10th Avenue South / South Side
one night road stops and large groups
The main commercial corridor has the most chain rooms, but you will drive everywhere and see the least character.
Think twice about
- 10th Avenue South and I-15 exit motel corridor
Unvetted budget motels here range from fine to grim within blocks and serve long stay trade. Book only a named property with strong recent reviews.
- Black Eagle
A proud industrial smelter town with almost no visitor lodging and no evening scene. Visit for Borries and golf, do not base there.
- Far north side and airport fringe motels
Isolated and unwalkable stock chosen only on nightly rate. The downtown budget inns cost little more and put you inside the city.
Best restaurants in Great Falls
Dante's Creative Cuisine
The city best dinner, steakhouse Italian cooking in a renovated 1908 ironworks building, with a Thursday lobster night.
Enbar Craft Cocktail Lounge
The city only cocktail led room, built on Montana spirits, with strong small plates and the best date night in town.
Borries Supper Club
A fourth generation supper club in Black Eagle, famous for hand cut steaks, Prime Rib Tuesday and house made ravioli.
Roadhouse Diner
A tiny diner grinding local ranch beef in house, with national diner honours and Montana best burger claims.
Clark and Lewie's
The full service restaurant inside the O'Haire Inn, serving all day breakfast and the Sip n Dip full menu.
The Celtic Cowboy
The Hotel Arvon Irish pub, downtown living room for boxty, fish and chips, live music and a proper pint.
Mighty Mo Brewing Co
The city brewpub named for the Missouri River, the easy downtown group dinner with house beer and a full pub menu.
Fire Artisan Pizza
Wood fired artisan pizza downtown, a block from Enbar, and the best non pub dinner in the core.
Outdoor things to do in Great Falls
River's Edge Trail
Over 60 miles of paved path and singletrack along both banks of the Missouri, linking the falls, springs and downtown.
Knowcals
Downtown local outfitter for kayak and paddleboard rentals and guided adventures on the Missouri in town.
Headhunters Fly Shop
The Missouri River most celebrated guide service at Craig, for a drift boat day on a famous trout tailwater.
Sluice Boxes State Park
A wild limestone canyon hike on Belt Creek with creek crossings and old mining remnants, and almost nobody else there.
Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge
A huge prairie wetland north of the city where spring and fall migrations fill the sky with waterfowl and raptors.
Meadow Lark Country Club
The city premier private club since 1919, on the banks of the Missouri, playable only with a member connection.
Eagle Falls Golf Club
The best public round in town, a walkable city 18 beside the Missouri with river views and honest pricing.
Anaconda Hills Golf Course
A quirky, hilly municipal course over the old smelter hills in Black Eagle, short on the card and full of character.
Best hotels in Great Falls
Hotel Arvon
A 33 room boutique in an 1890s downtown landmark, full of Western art, with the Celtic Cowboy pub and secure parking.
The Gibson Hotel Great Falls, an Ascend Collection Hotel
A renovated downtown boutique with big modern rooms and breakfast ordered at night and delivered to your door.
SpringHill Suites by Marriott Great Falls
All suite riverfront Marriott with a pool, hot breakfast and Missouri River sunrises, the family workhorse base.
Aisling Suites
Small downtown suite lodging for longer stays and Glacier base weeks, with apartment style space at city prices.
Hampton Inn Great Falls
The reliable branded option on the south side, with a pool and free breakfast for groups that need identical rooms.
O'Haire Inn
The retro motor inn that contains the Sip n Dip, renovated rooms and the best value downtown night in Montana.
Super 8 by Wyndham Great Falls City Center
The functional downtown budget chain, clean and central for a late arrival at half the boutique price.
Is Great Falls expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $75 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $140 a person |
| Splurge | $280 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- The Newberry: a few days ahead
- Knowcals: a few days ahead
- Headhunters Fly Shop: weeks ahead
- Eagle Falls Golf Club: a few days ahead
- Glacier National Park: weeks ahead
- Dante's Creative Cuisine: a few days ahead
- Borries Supper Club: a few days ahead
- Hotel Arvon: weeks ahead
- Downtown boutique hotels sell out for Western Art Week in March and tighten for Montana State Fair week, so book months and weeks ahead.
- The Russell auction tickets go on sale in January and headline sessions fill.
- Guided Missouri River fishing from Craig needs weeks of lead time for May to July.
- Book Dantes on weekends and event weeks, and plan Roadhouse Diner around its limited days and sell outs.
Is Great Falls safe?
- Car break ins are the main visitor risk, so leave nothing visible in a parked car anywhere in the city.
- Downtown has visible homelessness and disorder on quiet blocks after dark, so use lit active blocks late and drive longer empty stretches.
- Respect dam release warnings and signed closures, and treat the cold Missouri as a hazard year round.
- Watch for rattlesnakes at the Buffalo Jump and on singletrack, and check winter road reports before highway drives.
Great Falls travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Four of the five falls are dammed, so come for the canyon, spillways and portage story rather than free waterfalls.
- The Roe River shortest river title is a retired record category, still a pretty story but not a current fact.
- Downtown is quiet on non event weekday evenings, so build nights around a show, a home stand or the Sip n Dip.
- Glacier is 2.5 to 3 hours each way, so a daily commute to the park is a false economy in time.
Getting around Great Falls: public transport and more
- Downtown, Gibson Park and the Russell Museum are walkable, but Giant Springs, Ryan Dam and the Buffalo Jump all need a car.
- Rideshare supply is thin and surges on event nights, so do not rely on it at trailheads or Ryan Dam.
- Wind is a real driving condition on I-15 and US-89, and winter chinooks can turn melt into ice overnight.
- Fuel up in town before day trips, because services thin out fast in the surrounding country.
Who Great Falls suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Great Falls your trip
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