Charlie Russell Country - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 315

Cannary—better known as Calamity Jane—the celebrated hell-raiser. Its townsfolk and
neighbors now include a cadre of writers, artists, and film stars. Gentrification has made
inroads: Feed and hardware stores rub shoulders with galleries and boutiques, and cow-
boy bars compete with chic cafés. Still, few of Montana's vintage redbrick communities
work harder at preserving their past: More than 400 of Livingston's buildings, including a
remarkably handsome turn-of-the-century railroad depot turned museum, are listed in the
National Register of Historic Places. A trout-fishing mecca, Livingston's holiest shrine is
Dan Bailey's Fly Shop—revered among fly casters—with a mail-order business spanning
the globe.
Pronghorns are fond of the flat, open valleys of the American Northwest.
12. Paradise Valley
Framed by the Absaroka and Gallatin ranges, this sparsely settled alluvial plain, which
opens out south of Livingston, is traversed by the Yellowstone River. At least one fly-
fishing sage considers this stretch to be America's premier cold-water trout stream. Both
Rte. 89 and East River Road (Rte. 540) parallel the river, on opposite banks, southbound
through old ranchland. Rising to the east, the North Absaroka Mountains crown the
Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. Some lingering volcanic activity is present here—a geo-
logic heartburn that keeps the baths at nearby Chico Hot Springs Resort on perpetual sim-
mer.