Great Falls of the Missouri

Our second week in Bozeman was without the outings of the first.  Jason was in class, so the girls and I met some friends for a playdate, and went to the playground a lot, and investigated the neighborhood.  Jason gave his Masters presentation on the last day of the week (Saturday, since July 4th pushed everything back a day) and we went out to dinner to celebrate that evening.  The next morning, we headed north to Great Falls, Montana.  

Jason is from St. Louis, so we have been to the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.  Two summers ago, when we were in Montana, we visited the headwaters of the Missouri.  We thought it only fitting that we also visit the Great Falls of the Missouri.  The Great Falls are actually a series of waterfalls.  We stopped to see several of them on a 98-degree day in July.  

The largest is about 20 minutes outside of town, but we were told it was worth the drive.  We headed out, turned down a steep, winding gravel road, and arrived at the parking area.  A short walk across a suspension bridge took us to a little island where we could see the falls.  

This waterfall now has a large hydroelectric dam.  It was still awesome, but I wonder what it looked like before the technology was in place.

Back down from the viewpoint, our little monkeys found some rocks that were just screaming to be climbed.  So we climbed them!

Back across the suspension bridge and back to town for some dinner and a night in a KOA campground before heading to Glacier National Park the next day.

This particular KOA campground was actually another highlight of this little overnight stop.  All the campsites had trees and landscaping and there was a little, shallow waterpark.  Rather than a traditional pool, there was large, shallow pool (Kaia could touch the bottom in all spots) with several slides, fountains, water squirters, and other wet fun.  Perfect on a day as hot as that one was!