There's world-class wilderness in every direction, but Missoula is far more than a gateway

CNN

3 days ago

See More Videos The American West is full of towns that serve as gateways into the natural world. Launching points, if you will, that sit on the edge of the wilderness and offer the infamous three Bs — a beer, a burger and a bed — to those seeking refuge.
But Missoula, Montana, is way more than a launching pad. Better to call it a basecamp, as one young college student working in a coffee shop put it, with plenty to do and see before you set out on your next outdoor adventure.
Because Missoula is so remote, people often think there's no diversity or culture, he explained, and they don't realize how much is going on here until they come and see for themselves.
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Share your picks for our top towns in 2026 Described as 'fairly alternative,' 'eclectic,' and 'quirky' by various locals, Missoula is home to about 80,000 residents and a large student population attending the University of Montana. With world-class wilderness in every direction, there are endless opportunities for outdoor recreation, especially when it comes to river activities, like fishing and boating, as well as hiking and mountain biking.
Missoula was once an industrial lumber town, its ambiance haunted by black smoke and the buzz of saws. But today, things are different. Modern-day Missoula is outdoorsy, artistic and musical, with university roots that bring energy to its downtown.
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Missoula sits at the confluence of four of the greatest rivers in the Western United States for fishing and recreation, according to Todd Frank, a local outdoor outfitter — the Bitterroot, the Blackfoot, the Clark Fork and Rock Creek.
Fly fishing is ingrained into the local way of life, and you can take a guided fly-fishing outing to learn the ropes if it's your first time. Other ways to experience the serenity of the Montana countryside are hiking, camping and mountain biking, which are abundant in nearby wilderness areas, such as Lolo National Forest, Bitterroot National Forest, Flathead National Forest, the Bob Marshall Wilderness and many others. Todd Frank's outdoor gear business, The Trail Head, has handy recreation guides online to hiking trails and other activities around Missoula, including their difficulty and distance from town.
Much of the appeal is that you don't have to go far to enjoy the outdoors in Missoula. Rattlesnake National Recreation Area and Wilderness is just four miles from downtown, and in summer, the Clark Fork River, which runs right through the heart of town, comes alive with activity. The scenic 'M' trail that climbs to an overlook of Missoula leaves right from town.
'Five minutes outside of town you can be on a trail, and you don't even know there's a town there,' said Matt Lautzenheiser, executive director of the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, a 32-acre park with various exhibits.
The rivers are undeniably integral to the city's tourism and any visitor is bound to interact with them in some way. Frank recommends that first-timers go for a drink out on the deck of Finn Restaurant to watch the fly fishermen in action in the river below. For some low-key river time, rent a canoe, inflatable kayak, or tube and float a segment of the Clark Fork River, a locally-beloved way to spend an afternoon on the water, close to home.
If you had arrived in Missoula prior to 1990, the center of town would have been a giant sawmill, tasked with the processing and transporting of logs. Long-time local residents can remember a time when a haze enveloped the town, wood pulp clouded the river, and the sounds of the sawmill could be heard from miles away.
'The air was bad and smoky, there wasn't really much going on,' Frank recalled about his arrival to Missoula in the early 1980s. 'When I moved here, no one went into the river. Generally speaking, all the businesses in Missoula had their back to the river. There really wasn't any fishing to be had.'
A series of regulatory changes and efforts by environmental groups throughout the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s pushed out natural resource extraction industries. The local economy was hit hard as the mills closed down, but a popular Hollywood film helped kick off Missoula's new era in tourism.
The 1992 film, 'A River Runs Through It,' starring Brad Pitt, introduced Americans to Missoula and to fly fishing in Montana, which, looking back, Frank described as a turning point. From there on out, Missoula's rivers began to take center stage.
'That movie shined a super bright spotlight on fishing in Montana,' said Frank. 'And it just blew up at that point, the number of people coming to recreate, we've been busy ever since then.'
While the success story of revitalizing the rivers tends to take center stage, Missoula has blossomed in other ways, too.
When Nick Checota moved to Missoula about 20 years ago, the historic Top Hat Lounge had seen better days. Nearby, The Wilma theater was not much better off — it, too, was rundown and lacked the musical infrastructure (i.e. stage equipment) to consistently attract artists.
Where many saw stagnation, Checota saw opportunity. He went on to buy and restore the Top Hat as a 'passion project,' then later, in 2015, he bought and renovated The Wilma. Then, in 2017, he created something brand new: the KettleHouse Amphitheater, a 4,000-person capacity, outdoor venue on the Blackfoot River, built on a property that was originally the Bonner Mill, another former timber processing plant.
ESSENTIAL MISSOULA
EAT: At The Notorious P.I.G. BBQ or Biga Pizza and a sweet treat at Veera Donuts
DRINK: Beer at Imagine Nation Brewing; cocktails at Plonk
STAY: At Goldsmith's Riverfront Inn
SEE: Montana from the river with Montana River Guides 'Nick was a game changer in our community,' Frank said. 'He has done a number of things in the community in the music scene that have really changed the face of what we have available to us.'
Today, visitors to Missoula can enjoy the town's excellent music scene by bopping around these venues, plus occasional stadium shows held at the University of Montana. The KettleHouse has been especially beloved by visitors for its scenic, sun-soaked riverside vibes. Checota said that 67% of ticket sales in summer come from out-of-state zip codes, an admirable feat given Missoula's remote location.
The ability to attract national acts is one obvious reason for the influx of visitors, Checota said, but he also thinks Missoula is becoming a destination for music lovers because of the deliberately and reasonably priced tickets. Lawn seats at the KettleHouse, for example, can be had for less than $50 for most shows — sometimes as low as $29.50.
Prior to a show, you can hit the KettleHouse Brewing Company taproom adjacent to the amphitheater. Or check out the oldest microbrewery in Montana, Bayern Brewing, started in 1987 and serving classic Bavarian brews and German pretzels and brats. Missoula has more than a dozen craft breweries to explore.
If you didn't have world-class ceramics on your Montana bingo-card, you'd be forgiven. But artists in Missoula turn out high-quality ceramics that rival the best the United States has to offer.
'People come and want to pinch themselves,' says Lisa Simon, co-owner of Radius Gallery and a former professor of English literature at the University of Montana. 'They can't believe [these ceramics] are here in Missoula, and not New York City.'
Missoula owes its prowess in this ancient art to the Archie Bray Center, a renowned ceramics center located about two hours from town.
'People come from all over the world to visit 'The Bray,'' said Simon. 'A lot of fine ceramicists moved here to Missoula to be close to The Bray.'
You can make a pilgrimage to The Bray for a two-hour clay class, though there are plenty of ways to experience the ceramic scene here in town. The Clay Studio of Missoula, for example, holds adult clay classes for all abilities, and Zootown Arts Community Center has a wide range of events and classes. Professionally-made ceramics can be found at one of the many downtown galleries, like Radius.
There are also two art museums — the Missoula Art Museum and the Montana Museum of Art and Culture on the University of Montana campus.
Missoula is also a place to explore a wide variety of Indigenous art, including a unique style of expression known as ledger art, which began in the 1890s and was revitalized in the 1970s.
'[Ledger art] is based on a traditional art form that was practiced by Plains Indians, of which there were upwards of 30 different tribes,' Simon said. 'They did a sort of pictorial flattened art that told the stories of battles, what happened that year, marriages, and big events.'
The tradition changed when the Native peoples were forced onto reservations in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Instead of painting on, say, buffalo hides, the artform was adapted onto discarded ledgers, which were available in abundance from government officials, missionaries and traders. Today, ledger art remains an important part of Indigenous storytelling. Ask around for examples of ledger art at galleries in downtown Missoula.
To discover more of the quirky and hipster side of Missoula, visit Rockin Rudy's department store or Rudy's Attic, where you can shop for Montana-themed gag gifts and nostalgic memorabilia. Or, take the family for a ride on the local carousel, which is one of the few fully hand-carved carousels in the country.
In the center of town, where the old sawmill once stood, is the newest neighborhood in Missoula. Created in 2015 and known as the Old Sawmill District, it could be considered a historic district, thanks to the fact that it sits on close to 50 acres of prime riverside real estate that was once occupied by the mill.
A walk through it reveals its modern ways, though, with a variety of brand-new apartments and condos, mixed-use commercial office space, and ground-level retail outlets. It is here that you will find a more modern version of Missoula taking root, perhaps even trendy at times — for example, behold the Montana-inspired French cuisine at Boxcar Bistro.
But the area retains a laid-back feel despite its uptick in style. The neighborhood is home to many local ballfields, which are flooded with families on summer nights, and sits adjacent to the Clark Fork River and its riverfront trail, nice for evening strolls or bike rides.
Like many smaller cities, Missoula's population saw a big increase during and after the pandemic. The popular show 'Yellowstone,' which was filmed in the Missoula area, also increased its visibility, as has the recent increase in travel to national parks. (Missoula has long been a stopping point for those road tripping between Yellowstone and Glacier).
'It's becoming more than just, 'I'll stay one night there on my way from Yellowstone to Glacier,'' Lautzenheiser said.
'It's more than just a launching pad,' he said. 'It's a place where people can spend a few days and really experience not only that kind of western culture [typical of Montana], but also that kind of quirky, interesting Missoula culture we've created.'
'These mountains are still here.'