Our Impressions of Miles City, MT

Geographically Miles City is located in the eastern portion of Montana in the upper plains area. Miles City is a wonderful place, one of our surprising jewels along our travels! There is a thriving commercial area with big box stores and chain restaurants. But there is also a thriving downtown with local stores and restaurants. It is unusual to find a town with both areas thriving!

Attractions

Confluence of the Yellowstone and the Tongue River: This is an amazing spot to just sit and look at the water. Lots of people fishing. The river is a beautiful and serene place to see. It is the perfect spot to unwind and relax, and the views are simply stunning.

Fort Keogh was a military outpost that was used to protect the settlers in the area and guard the frontier against Native American attacks. The first fort was abandoned after just a few years, but it left a lasting legacy on the town. There is only one original building remaining.

Range Riders Museum: The Range Riders Museum is probably our favorite local museum anywhere in the country! There are 13 buildings of exhibits preserving the history of the cowboy and ranching culture in the American West. The museum features history of the cowboy, rodeo, and ranching traditions. A must visit!

Food and Drink

The Black Iron Grill is in the downtown area. It came highly recommended by the campground owners. The food was good, the wait staff was attentive and the lunch
menu was reasonably priced.

The Montana Bar is a must visit, just to say you have been there. It opened in 1908 and has been operating ever since. It has a tremendous amount of character. Much of the interior is the same as it was 100 years ago. The glass tile floor is the same, the wooden booths are the same as is the gorgeous wooden bar.

Tongue River Winery is a family owned and operated winery near the downtown area. Try some samples, and bring home a couple of bottles for later!

Home Base: The Campground

For us, a campground is not our destination. Our RV is self-contained. Except for water, electric and sewer rarely do we use campground services or amenities. We are explorers, not campground reviewers!

We stayed on site 5 at Big Sky Camp and RV Park in Miles City. 30 and 50 amp service were available. The campground was clean and well maintained. The owners were very friendly and accommodating. Our full hook up (water-sewer-electric) site was on reasonably level gravel. Our pull through site was long enough to leave the Jeep hooked up and still have both vehicles off the road. There was good cell phone coverage (Verizon) and a good open southern sky for our satellite. Easy off and on I-94. You will hear some road noise, but it quiets down to almost nothing at night.

This is a no-frills campground on a large gravel footprint. There is no grass. However, there is plenty of space between sites and it is convenient to I-94, downtown and the commercial big box zone.

We would stay here again.

Fun Facts

Miles City grew at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Tongue Rivers.

Fort Keogh served as a remount station during World War I.

Miles City became the largest horse market in the world when horses began being bred and raised at Fort Keogh. Horses from Ft. Keogh supplied most of the horses used in WWI.

Guinness World Records reports that the largest natural snowflake ever measured, 15 inches in diameter, was recorded at Fort Keogh on January 28, 1887.

Statistics:

Population:	8,368
Founded:	1876
Elevation:	2,362 ft.
Average income:	$67,727
Average price of housing:	$227,537
Median age of the population:	43 years of age

Website: https://milescitychamber.com/

Summary

We were pleasantly surprised by Miles City. It is easy to get around. The people we met and talked to were very proud of their town and its heritage. This is a place we could see returning to. If you happen by Miles City, make sure you stop by the Range Riders Museum, it is one of the best local museums in the country!!

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Since beginning our full-time journey to discover the country, we have found something to appreciate in every city and town we have passed through. We hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we have enjoyed discovering them!

Your partners in travel,
Kathryn and Dave
RVing Nomads

It’s a lifestyle

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• We have visited each town, attraction and restaurant we are writing about • No person, business or attraction has paid us for an endorsement. • AI has not been used to write any of the content of this blog. • All the photos in this blog were taken by Dave or Kathryn Harrington.