Bannack State Park

Gold was found on Grasshopper Creek in 1862 and Bannack went from nothing to several thousand people within a year, becoming the first territorial capital of Montana in 1864. Its sheriff, Henry Plummer, was hanged by vigilantes in 1864 on accusations of leading a road-agent gang - whether he was guilty has been argued ever since and the evidence is thin either way. The gold thinned, the capital moved, and the town emptied. About sixty buildings stand, kept stabilised rather than restored: you walk into unfurnished rooms with sagging floors, peeling wallpaper and daylight through the boards. Most are open to enter. There is no town, no shops and no services on site.

What you actually see

• About sixty standing buildings - stabilised, not restored.
• Rooms open to walk into - unfurnished, weathering.
• Montana's first territorial capital - for a short period from 1864.
• The Plummer vigilante story - contested on thin evidence.

When to go

May to September; roads and buildings are difficult in winter. Two to three hours.

Honest expectations

There are no services at all - bring water and food. The access road is gravel. Floors and stairs in some buildings are unsafe and closed. It is genuinely remote.

Nearby

Dillon is east; the Big Hole valley is north-west.