Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The battlefield is not only a serene and beautiful place today, it is haunting as well.
The National Park Service has done an extraordinary job of presenting information about
the Nez Perce War and this battle in particular. Because so little has changed in this re-
gion—from the actual landscape to the overall view—it is easy to imagine the tragic events
that gave this spot its bloody legacy.
Once a mining outpost and then a railroad town, today Melrose (population 175, elevation
5,184 feet) is a fishing town midway between Butte and Dillon. Easy access to both the
Wise River and the Big Hole River ensure a steady stream of anglers in this otherwise tiny
village.
The Sportsman Hotel
(540 N. Main St., 406/835-2141,
www.sportsmanmt.com
, motel
rooms $72/night, $432/week, cabins $107/night, $642/week) offers one-stop shopping: In
addition to the pet-friendly motel and cabins, there is an RV park with tent sites ($27 full
hookups, $15 tent sites), plus you can hire a guide and rent a raft on the premises. Hun-
ters are just 10 minutes from the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. Owners Roxie and
Chuck can point you toward some great adventures, including hikes to the otherworldly
Canyon Creek Charcoal Kilns,
a series of beehive-shaped kilns built in the 1870s to pro-
duce charcoal for the silver and lead smelters. There are also a few buildings still standing
in what was the mining town of
Farlin
on Birch Creek, including some old mining cabins,
a school, a butcher shop, and the old smelter.
Another terrific option for anglers just steps away from the Big Hole River is the
Pion-
eer Mountain Cabins
(406/596-1007 or 406/836-2711,
www.pioneermountaincabins.com
,
$75/night, $475/week), which are modern, clean, and very comfortable with air-condition-
ing, satellite TV, microwave, refrigerator, and coffee machine—all the standard amenities
that feel like luxuries when you're out in the middle of nowhere.
Although it's too small to be an incorporated town, Wise River is another fishing paradise.
The nontown—a collection of modest drinking establishments that are long on charac-
ter—grew up around the place where the Wise River flows into the Big Hole.
While the area around Wise River offers no end of opportunities for entertain-
ment—fishing, hunting, rockhounding, hiking, snowmobiling—the facilities in Wise River
are rather sparse. The notable exception is the
Wise River Club
(65013 Hwy. 43, 406/
832-3374,
www.wiseriverclub.com
,
$65 rooms with shared bath, $85 cabins with private
