My dad always says, “Every place has its paradises.” It’s true, from the Great Plains to the Rocky Mountains, every landscape has its beauty.
We recently packed up the camper and the family and headed to Loma, in north-central Montana. We left the mountains and pine trees to camp and spend time in a different environment for a weekend. I was initially hesitant because I really love the mountains, and especially camping in and near them! But then I thought of my dad’s words, and it turns out, he’s right! We had so much fun and found an incredible amount of beauty, big sky, and diversity near Loma and along the Missouri River.
We camped just past the Wood Bottom Campground under two enormous cottonwood trees along the Missouri River. There wasn’t much of a beach, so we did have to watch the boys (almost 4 and 21 months) carefully.
The fishing was great for little ones! You throw out your line, play awhile, and watch for a bite. In just a couple days of relaxed fishing, we caught two catfish, a few sturgeon, and a golden eye. We had never eaten sturgeon before (and make sure if you catch one to identify whether it is a pallid sturgeon [endangered!] or a shovelnose sturgeon). When we got back home, we cut the meat up, put on kabobs, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled them with salt and pepper, grilled them, and dipped the pieces in melted butter. It was phenomenal!!! Dare I say, it was the best fish we’ve had in Montana?!
If your littles enjoy biking, this is also a great area. The road is pretty rutted up in some areas, but for the most part, the gravel roads are quiet and enjoyable for biking straight from your campsite. Because much of the surrounding land is public (BLM), you can even bike on the road, and then find a nice gulch to wander up and explore.
When we went (early June), it was windy and cool temperatures. If it’s not windy, I hear the bugs can be pretty bad. I’m thankful we just had wind and very few bugs!
We also enjoyed some other outdoor activities such as rock hunting. They say baculites can be found around here. We didn’t find any, but we did find some barite crystals and smoky quartz crystals in a washed out road.
Decision Point, located near the Wood Bottom Campground, is an easy and short hike for little ones. It was here that Lewis and Clark had to decide whether to take the Marias River or the Missouri River. They spent 10 days camped here, exploring the area trying to figure out which river was the correct one. Spoiler: Based on their findings, they chose the correct one! 😉
We saw an abundance of wildlife in the area! Bald eagles, fish (obviously), an antelope doe and her new kid, ducks, pelicans, pheasants, turkeys, plovers, cliff swallows, deer, a beaver, crawfish, a pigmy short horned lizard (the first I’ve seen here!)
Because we had such a fun and memorable trip (and found out how delicious sturgeon meat is!), we plan on making this an annual camping adventure!
Have you camped in this area? Let us know your thoughts if you have!
