What to See in Billings - Top Sights and Attractions

Stadium in Billings, Montana. Dehler Park is a multi-use stadium in Billings, Montana. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home of the Billings Mustangs of the independent Pioneer League. It is also the home field of the Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets. The ballpark opened on June 29, 2008 and has a capacity of 3,071 people. It replaced Cobb Field which was a fixture in Billings since the 1930s. The groundbreaking ceremony took place March 22, 2007.

The stadium was named by Billings businessman Jon Dehler, who purchased the naming rights in 2007 to honor his father, Billy Joe Dehler. The park still has part of Cobb Field included, as a section down the right field line includes some of the same bench seating used at the old stadium. Outside of that and the over 2,500+ individual seats are two grass berm areas for picnic seating. Patrons can walk around the entire field thanks to an outfield terrace, which is also home to those who buy a standing room-only ticket. Theoretically the stadium could feasibly hold well over 6,000 people with a large standing room-only crowd.

The first event at the stadium was on June 29, 2008, an American Legion baseball game between the Billings Scarlets and Bozeman Bucks. The Bucks led 10–3 when the game was suspended after seven innings due to malfunctions with the lights. It was completed at Pirtz Field, the local Legion Ballpark, the following night with the Bucks winning 16–3. The first home run, hit by Matt Comer of the Bucks, was retrieved by a man riding a bicycle outside the stadium. After some speculation as to what would become of the ball, the owner of the ball came forth and agreed to donate the ball to the Billings Parks and Recreation Department for a Dehler Park Hall of Fame display.

On June 30 the park hosted local Little League championship games before the Billings Mustangs and Great Falls Voyagers met in the first professional baseball game at the park on July 1. The Mustangs won a rain-soaked 9–7 game highlighted by a Michael Konstanty grand slam which stands as the first professional homer at the field. Attendance for the game was 3,749.

In 2021 the park was featured in a Geico commercial.^[1]

Expansive zoo with botanical park. ZooMontana is a 70-acre wildlife park located in Billings, Montana, U.S. and is Montana's only zoo and botanical park. It currently maintains nearly 100 animals, representing 58 species. These animals all live in habitats designed to imitate their natural habitats. The zoo was incorporated and established as a non-profit 501 C organization in 1982. It focuses on year-round wildlife native to Montana, the Rocky Mountains, and other cold temperature regions at or above the 45th Parallel. Indoor habitats include animals from around the world. The zoo hosts over 80,000 visitors per year. Canyon Creek runs through the center of the zoo's grounds, creating a natural and tranquil park-like setting. 2018 marked the establishment of the Yellowstone Arboretum located on the ZooMontana grounds, containing a large selection of native and non-native trees.^[3]

Museum in Billings, Montana. The Western Heritage Center is a regional museum located in historic downtown Billings, Montana, United States. The museum is housed in the historic Parmly Billings Memorial Library, built in 1901. The building is a stately Richardsonian Romanesque structure with twin towers, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Western Heritage Center displays original exhibits about south-central Montana and the Northern Plains and houses oral histories and artifacts about the history of the Yellowstone River Valley. The museum celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2021.

The Western Heritage Center, a former affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The museum opened in 1971 after a organized group of leading citizens prevented the building from being torn down. The founders established the museum as an interpretive center with an emphasis on changing exhibits, outreach programming, and the incorporation of new technologies.

In 2001, the Western Heritage Center received the Montana Governor's Humanities Award, the second organization to receive an honor usually reserved for individual contributions to the Humanities. In 2002, the WHC became the first Smithsonian Institution affiliated museum in the Northern Plains. Beginning in 2004, and running through 2009, WHC received federal appropriations from the United States Department of the Interior for the American Indian Tribal Histories Project, a program contributing to the preservation of Crow and Northern Cheyenne tribal histories. The museum is one of six museums in Montana accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

The Western Heritage Center programs include a monthly High Noon lecture and video series, a walking tour program (Hoof It with a Historian), fourteen traveling exhibits, partnerships with regional museums, schools, and businesses, and active participation in local events. The WHC displays six to seven exhibits annually, most based on original research. The Western Heritage Center publishes books, video materials, and education kits relating to regional history. The museum cares for 40,000 artifacts illustrating and documenting Yellowstone River Valley history. The museum is open to the public between early March and late December, Tuesday-Saturday, 10-5. The museum receives annual funding and support from Yellowstone County.^[8]

Theatre in Billings, Montana. Billings Studio Theatre is a studio theatre and not-for-profit community theatre company located at 1500 Rimrock Road in Billings, Montana.

The first performance by the company was There's Always Juliet in 1953. In 1963, the company decided it needed a home and moved into a church in downtown Billings. Five years later, the church became condemned and effort to build a new home began. In 1971, Billings Studio Theatre opened its doors to a new theatre located in the western part of Billings.

Currently, the company produces several plays and musicals each year. There are both children's and adult productions and some more recent productions have included The Laramie Project, Oklahoma!, 12 Angry Men, and Wit.

In 2013, it became the first community theater company in Montana to stage a "full version of the musical "Les Misérables"."

About 500 people a year volunteer at the theater. The theater "showcases two Rocky Mountain College productions annually" and "operates a children's theatre, The Growing Stage."^[9]