The 7 Friendliest Little Towns In Montana

The friendliest towns in Montana always have a reason to celebrate. Step outside and you will see glacier-carved peaks, historic missions, and bright night skies. In St. Ignatius, locals share the Catholic heritage of an early settlement. Whitefish brings people together at a lively country and rodeo festival. Other town events head outdoors too with festivals like whitewater rafting. These seven friendliest towns in Montana offer all of this and much more.

St. Ignatius

St. Ignatius was founded by a Belgian Jesuit missionary named Father Pierre-Jean De Smet in the 1800s. Today, that heritage is kept alive through a living Catholic community at the St. Ignatius Mission. This mission is open for tours today, including the 1864 Providence Sisters' home. Inside the church, one can view 58 hand-painted murals from the early 1900s. Visitors here can enjoy a relaxing agritourist trip, purchasing fresh produce from the Eagles Acres Family Farm or the Mission Country Market. Every July, the entire Mission Valley celebrates its heritage through its Good Old Days Celebration, featuring a BBQ, pancake breakfast, craft vendors, and a lawn mower race.

Stevensville

Before Pierre-Jean De Smet came to St. Ignatius, he established the earliest settlement in Montana in 1841, within the lands of the Bitterroot Salish people. This mission would go on to become the town of Stevensville. Today, the St. Mary's Mission & Museum preserves both the work of those early missionaries while honoring the Salish people. Nearby to the mission is the Fort Owen State Park, built in 1850 out of local materials such as adobe, and featuring the original East Barracks, root cellar, and information signs. Every August, Stevensville puts on a sweet show with the Creamery Picnic, featuring a parade, ice cream, and a BBQ contest. One way to learn about how settlers and missionaries lived in Montana is to attend the Western Heritage Days in June, with chuck wagons, horse-drawn tours, and Salish dancing and drumming.

Whitefish

Whitefish is the closest town to Montana's icy Glacier National Park. The park gets its name from its glacial-covered peaks, which can be seen either by hiking or by taking a scenic car ride on the Going to the Sun Road. There are plenty of fun experiences in Whitefish itself, ranging from alpine slides at the Whitefish Mountain Resort to touring the grounds of one of Montana's best coffee roasters at Montana Coffee Traders. Whitefish puts on a lot of big annual events, such as a three-day music festival and rodeo at the Under The Big Sky event in July, and the Whitefish Woody Weekend in June. This festival showcases the best in wooden boats, which hit the waters of Whitefish Lake.

Ekalaka

Ekalaka was named after a Sioux woman named Ijkalaka, who was the wife of a white scout. Her name translates to Moving About. Visitors to Ekalaka will want to get out and stretch their legs to see the unusual scenery in town, especially at the Medicine Rocks State Park. These sandstone rocks are heavily weathered to the point that they resemble blocks of Swiss cheese. When Teddy Roosevelt saw these rocks, he called it a "fantastically beautiful" place. Visiting at night rewards the effort due to it being an International Dark Sky Sanctuary, with the stars shining brighter than most places in the U.S. due to the absence of artificial lights. Other than the rocks, visitors can partake in the Days of 85 Fair, Rodeo, and Parade in August. This event brings out the entire community for art, quilting, BBQ, rodeo, and many other western-style festivities, while also learning about history from the Carter County Museum or enjoying some Mexican fare at the TSO Cantina restaurant.

Ennis

Ennis is a community of fishers. After all, the Madison River runs right through town, with all the trout one could ask for. That's why fly fishers can spend an entire weekend casting lines out onto the river, or following the river north to Ennis Lake, a clear blue body of water in the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. Swimmers can go diving into the lake at Kobayashi Beach. One of the best times to come to Ennis to catch trout is at the Fly Fishing and Outdoor Festival, hosted in August at Peter T's Park with demonstrations, food, and music. This park serves as the central location for many other festivals throughout the year, such as the Madison Valley Arts Festival hosted in July by the Ennis Arts Association. For 4th of July travelers, the town puts on a 4th of July Parade and a Veterans' Memorial Ceremony.

Big Sky

One of Montana's nicknames is Big Sky Country for its wide-open views of the open sky atop the mountains. One of the best places to experience these views is in the community of Big Sky itself. In the winter, skiers and snowboarders can enjoy 5,800 acres of winter activities at the Big Sky Resort, while in the summer, hikers can choose from a multitude of butte and pine savannah trails to explore throughout the Custer Gallatin National Forest, or they can go hiking through several trails in the Big Sky Resort, such as the Moose Tracks, which drifts through a stream and into meadows. In July, Big Sky gets rowdy with its Wildlands Festival, a premier musical event with major country music stars such as Carrie Underwood.

Bigfork

Bigfork sits at the fork of the Flathead River and Swan River, which flow into the larger Flathead Lake. With so many bodies of water close by, Bigfork has developed a reputation for whitewater rafting, which they celebrate every May with the Whitewater Festival. It's been going on for more than 50 years, and challenges rafters to tackle the wild rapids of the Swan River. The town also comes out for a thrilling car show in September via the Rumble in the Bay with vintage and sports cars proudly on display. Other than these events, visitors can get onto Flathead Lake via Wayfarers State Park, or they can rent a boat out to Wild Horse Island, named after the wild horses that wander this lake-bound island.

Communities of Outdoorsy Folks

If there's one aspect that binds all of these towns together, it's their love for the outdoors. In Whitefish, one can reach towering icy peaks, while Bigfork offers water adventures out to an island filled with wild horses. Other towns take a more relaxing approach to the outdoors, like Ennis' trout fishing culture. The other common thread binding all of these towns together is their friendly spirit, which can be experienced both during music festivals and town parades and throughout the year.