Montana will soon have a new state park — the state’s first new park in three years.
On Friday afternoon, the Montana State Parks and Recreation Board approved the acquisition of a 109-acre parcel of land near the confluence of the Missouri and Judith rivers, which will be donated to the state.
The future Judith Landing State Park will not only provide crucial public access to the Missouri River but is also steeped in history.
These buildings were once part of the historic P-N Ranch, one of the state’s first and largest private cattle ranches. There are also remnants of a stone warehouse once used to store goods shipped along the Missouri River during the steamboat era. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
“It began millennia ago with the Indigenous people who inhabited that land for decades and decades, and generations and generations," said Megan Buecking of the Montana State Parks Foundation. "Important treaties were held there, and following that, there was also a dinosaur discovery, the first military camp in Montana, and it was also an important stop on Lewis and Clark’s journey west.”
Coming Sunday: MTN News takes a tour of the land that is now Montana's 56th state park.
