Discover Three Forks

Three Forks offers several ways to shape a stay: a network of paved trails along a former railroad line, sites devoted to railroad and local history, and Three Forks Ponds as a state fishing access site. These themes offer different points of interest. When planning, you can decide whether to focus more on trails, historical topics, or a fishing access site.

Trails along the Milwaukee Railroad

The Headwaters Trail System is a network of paved trails along the former Milwaukee Railroad line and runs through the city of Three Forks. The former railroad line shapes the route of today's trail system. The trails lead to Headwaters State Park and Droulliard Fishing Access on the Jefferson River. In 2007, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks named it Montana Trail of the Year. This gives you two aspects to consider when choosing what interests you: the route along the old railroad line and the trail system's historical recognition.

Railroad and local history

The Railroad and Trident Heritage Center is located in John Q. Adams Milwaukee Railroad Park at the eastern entrance to Three Forks. It preserves the railroad history of Three Forks and the former town of Trident. Its historical scope therefore extends beyond the name of the present-day city: Trident, as a former town, is also part of the center's story.

A museum with a wide-ranging collection

The Headwaters Heritage Museum is housed in a 1910 bank building that originally served as the Three Valleys State Bank. Highlights include an anvil found at the headwaters, which may be the oldest anvil made in the United States. Another notable item is Montana's largest brook trout caught on record, which was caught in 1966 and weighed 29.5 pounds. The collection also includes an extensive barbed-wire collection and a dugout canoe used in a television documentary about Lewis and Clark.

The collection also includes a log cabin from Gallatin City. Built in the 1860s, it is associated with Gallatin City, the county's first county seat. The upper exhibit rooms include an old-fashioned kitchen, a schoolroom, a dressmaking and millinery shop, a beauty salon, a tool room, and a dentist's office. The museum thus brings together artifacts and displays of earlier everyday and working spaces. Compared with the Railroad and Trident Heritage Center, its focus includes not only local history but also the former bank building and the variety of exhibits.

Fishing access at Three Forks Ponds

Three Forks Ponds is a state fishing access site in southwest Montana and is managed by the city of Three Forks. Three Forks Ponds has a boat ramp. This gives the site a different focus from the trails and historic sites. When choosing based on your interests, you can distinguish the fishing access site with a boat ramp from the former railroad line and the themes of the two historical sites.

Explore more destinations: Belgrade, Bozeman, Gallatin Gateway, West Yellowstone, Big Sky

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