Attractions

Take a walk through Choteau’s history and visit the Old Trail Museum. The OTM features an exhibition of an authentic sheep wagon, the Jesse Gleason Art Studio, a Blackfeet tepee, and the workspace of Pulitzer Prize-winning author A.B. Guthrie Jr. The Metis Cabin depicts the historically accurate living quarters of the melded European and Indian cultures that played a pivotal role in the early settlements of the West. The Grizzly Cabin features one of the last legally killed grizzlies taken from the Rocky Mountain Front. On the south end of the complex is a favorite summertime gathering place of Choteau residents and visitors alike, the Old Trail Ice Cream Parlor. The Old Trail Museum Complex is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

The two-story The Montana Dinosaur Center is both a paleontology research center and natural history museum. From May through September, visitors can participate in half-day site tours or multi-day courses in the field (weather permitting). The museum features a one-of-a-kind exhibit of the world’s largest life-size mounted dinosaur skeleton model of Seismosaurus halli, the “earth shaker.” Be sure to stamp your Dinosaur Trail passport when you stop in!

Just south of Choteau is one of the world’s premier bird-watching locations, the Freezout Lake Wildlife Management Area. Easily accessible, the wildlife area through the years has been developed into a spectacular viewing and hunting area sprawled across 12,000 acres. The management area includes interconnecting lakes and ponds with ditches and dikes constructed to control water levels and ensure year-round use by waterfowl, marsh-dwelling birds, and many other wildlife that inhabit wetland areas. Freezout is known worldwide as a migratory stop for snow geese and tundra swans with migrations as large as 300,000 birds. More than 200 species have been observed at or on the WMA, including American egrets, white-faced ibis, American avocets, bald and golden eagles, and gyrfalcons A visitor information kiosk, located at the Freezout Lake headquarters, provides brochures with maps and birding guides.

For a short but scenic walk away from traffic, head to the Choteau Soroptimist Walking Path! From the four-way stop at the center of town, cross the railroad tracks and turn south. Park your car in the gravel lot west of the brown-roofed pavilion. The start of the path is just behind the pavilion and runs about a half mile to the Weatherbeater Arena along Spring Creek. Watch for signs along the way describing the types of trees planted by the city of Choteau and civic organizations. Created in 1998, the path also runs east of the baseball diamonds across Highway 221, ending at the south end of the golf course. This flat and hilly one-and-a-half-mile section offers beautiful views of the city and mountains on the way back down.