Western Montana

Montana’s Highway 56 bridges Highway 200 and Highway 2 giving you some of the most beautiful scenic sights Montana has to offer. My boyfriend and I took this drive on our way home from a Glacier National Park trip. Even with awe-inspiring gorgeous sites of Glacier this drive was a great finish to our trip. We stopped for a quick picnic lunch at the rest stop on the corner of Hwy 2 and Hwy 56. Once we had finished our lunch we headed south on Hwy 56 with the mountains and trees surrounding the winding highway.

My boyfriend had to be patient with me as I was still in vacation mode, meaning we stop everywhere for photos and take little side trips off the main road. I was disappointed with the lack of wildlife we saw in Glacier so I kept my eyes peeled as we drove down the highway.

Right as the road curved around the edge of Bull Lake, there perched atop the tree was a HUGE bald eagle. I gasp and my boyfriend knew he had to pull over. There was no turn out off the road there so it was not exactly safe for me to hop out of the truck, but I did it anyways. My boyfriend took the truck to a safer spot to park and waited for me to snap a shot of the Eagle. As I made my approach I stepped over the guardrail near the edge of Bull lake and saw a large truck barreling down the road. I knew I did not have much time to take my photo so I quickly move to a location where I could see the eagle and started to take photos. Much to my disappointment the truck drove by and the eagle began to fly away. I took some photos and later reviewed them, finding that I got some really amazingly burly pictures. The eagle was gone and I was crushed. I got back in the truck, continuing down the highway with views of Bull River.

As we approached near the end of the highway, I saw the road sign for Ross Creek Cedars. We turned up the road and went for about 4 miles. I had been to the cedar grove before but I had never seen the Ross Creek Falls, which according to the road sign was about two miles up the road. When we reached the cedar grove the road was still covered in a lot of snow. My boyfriend looked down at the 4 wheel drive switch but I told him it was alright we could go another time. If you would like more information on the Ross Creek Cedars you can click here. We turned the truck around and stopped on a corner that should have been near where the falls where. There was no sign but the guardrail separated and a path headed down the hill where I could see rushing water. I climbed down the steep hill for a few feet and decided the path was a little more than I could handle and I headed back, so I still have not seen the falls. We got back on the highway and continued to head home. Although we had a few mishaps, like not being able to find the falls and that darn eagle flying away, it was an enjoyable drive with lots of beauty. If you are interested in driving the highway 56 you can connect from highway 2 east of Troy or highway 200 west of Noxon. The highway is about 35 miles in length.