BUTTE, HELENA, AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA - Montana and Wyoming - page 329

homemade bread is dusted with sugar, the ice cream is all Montana-made, and the en-
trées—ranging from mouthwatering burgers, sandwiches, and Butte-style pasties to crab
cakes and specials like teriyaki salmon—are large and savory. Don't miss the onion rings,
which are served hanging on little stands, or the beer-battered fried pickles. And whatever
you do, don't forgo dessert; it's sublime.
The UpNSmokin BBQ House (136 W. Broadway, 406/240-1616, 11am-8pm daily)
serves up mouthwatering small-batch applewood-smoked barbecue for true aficionados.
If you need a delicious, easy-on-the-palate craft beer to wash down the succulent bar-
becue, head over to Philipsburg Brewing Company (101 W. Broadway, 406/859-2739,
10am-8pm daily) for a pint or a growler. Opened in 2012 in a stunning Victorian building,
the bar even boasts a copper plate, cooled with glycol lines, so that mugs set on the bar nev-
er get warm. Not unlike the dance floors on springs that Philipsburg was once known for,
this is P-burg technology at its best.
Information
A good source of information on the local area is the Philipsburg Chamber of Commerce
(135 S. Sansome St., 406/859-3388, www.philipsburgmt.com , 9am-5pm Sun.-Fri.).
Getting There
Philipsburg is 78 miles southeast of Missoula and 55 miles northwest of Butte. From either
city, I-90 leads to Highway 1, which can be accessed at Drummond. From Drummond,
Philipsburg is 27 miles south.
ANACONDA
The much smaller sibling of Butte, Anaconda (population 9,299, elevation 4,756 feet)
boomed with the mines and suffered when the company hurriedly pulled out of the region.
But this fierce little town has not given up: The population is rising slowly, after a downturn
of more than 6 percent between 2000 and 2010. They are working to restore some of their
most glorious buildings, and they've transformed slag heaps and mining refuse into recre-
ational opportunities like the free, 140-foot Copper Chute (406/563-2400) slide. And the
Old Works Golf Course, built on the black sand of the slag heap and littered with inter-
esting pieces of old equipment, is one of the finest in the state. Anaconda is working to
make the most of their location too, just minutes from Georgetown Lake and Discovery
Ski Area. In winter, the scene in the town's central park, Kennedy Commons —ice skaters,
the community Christmas tree—looks like a tableau in the Saturday Evening Post. Not an