What to See in Bozeman - Top Sights and Attractions

Renowned collection of dinosaur fossils. Museum of the Rockies is a museum in Bozeman, Montana. Originally affiliated with Montana State University in Bozeman, and now also, the Smithsonian Institution, the museum is known for its paleontological collections, although these are not its sole focus. The Museum of the Rockies houses the largest collection of dinosaur remains in the United States, possessing the largest Tyrannosaurus skull ever discovered, as well as the thigh bone of a Tyrannosaurus rex that contains soft-tissue remains. The museum is part of the Montana Dinosaur Trail and is Montana's official repository for paleontological specimens.

The museum's collections focus on the physical and cultural history of the Rocky Mountains and the people and animals who have lived there, and date back more than 500 million years. Permanent exhibits include: "Enduring Peoples", which chronicles the life of Native Americans on the Northern Plains and near the Rocky Mountains; "History of the Northern Rocky Mountain Region", whose inhabitants included Native Americans, fur traders, gold seekers, and settlers from frontier days through World War II; the Living History Farm, which includes the Tinsley House, where costumed interpreters demonstrate life in a turn-of-the-century home; and the Taylor Planetarium, a 40 ft (12 m), 104-seat domed theater.^[1]

Ski area in Gallatin County, Montana. Bridger Bowl is a ski area in the western United States, near Bozeman, Montana. It serves the local population of Gallatin County, including Montana State University. The summit elevation is 8,700 feet above sea level, with a vertical drop of 2,600 feet on east-facing slopes.

Located sixteen miles (26 km) north of Bozeman in the Bridger Range of southern Montana, Bridger Bowl is a locally owned non-profit ski area. It provides locals with affordable skiing, great terrain, and outstanding snowfall. The ski area and mountain range are named after the noted mountain man Jim Bridger, and are accessed from state highway 86.

In addition to the existing base lodge and a mid-mountain lodge, a new main lodge opened in 2005 at the base area.

Since 1988, local residents have been alerted to the arrival of fresh snow by a flashing blue beacon atop the Baxter Hotel in downtown Bozeman. Activated every time Bridger Bowl accumulates two inches (5 cm) of new snow, it remains on for 24 hours. Maintenance of the light is a priority, and only once in 20 years was it out of operation for two days.

Bridger Bowl opened the new Schlasman's chairlift for the 2008–09 season, the first lift-served terrain expansion in 30 years. A reconditioned 1976 Doppelmayr double chair, it was previously the "Peruvian" lift at Snowbird in Utah. Named after a miner who died in an avalanche in 1885, Schlasman's has a vertical rise of 1,700 feet (518 m) and adds 311 acres (1.26 km2) of new lift-served terrain for expert skiers only. To ride this lift, skiers are required to carry an avalanche transceiver; partners and shovels are highly recommended.

For the 2013–14 season, Bridger unveiled its new Powder Park and Alpine chair lifts. These brand-new lifts tripled the uphill capacity (3,300 vs. 1,100/hr) compared to the "old Alpine" center-pole double chair that was retired in 2013.

Bridger Bowl is noted for its expert-only skiing terrain known as "The Ridge". There are six sections of the ridge known as Schlasman's, D Route, C Route, B Route, A route, and Northwest/Hidden Gully Areas. In order to ski or snowboard the ridge, an avalanche beacon and shovel are required; most of the ridge is hiking terrain.

Montana State has hosted the NCAA Skiing Championships eight times (1960, 1983, 1985, 1996, 1998, 2008, 2012, 2020), all at Bridger Bowl, with cross-country events at adjacent Bohart Ranch.^[3]

The Cooper Park Historic District, in Bozeman, Montana, is a 75 acres historic district which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

It includes Cooper Park, a two-block square that anchors the district, and the 200 to 700 blocks of S. Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, & Cross Sts. in Bozeman, and includes 222 contributing buildings out of a total of 265 one- and two-story houses in the district.

It includes Colonial Revival, Bungalow/craftsman, and Queen Anne architecture.

There are several small clusters or pairs of houses clearly built by one hand, including four similar Bungalow-style houses at 507, 511, 515, and 523 W. Babcock, all probably built by carpenter Elmer Bartholomew around 1920, and 718 and 722 S. 7th Avenue, built by carpenter Ora E. Long.^[4]

Mountain pass in Montana. Bozeman Pass el. 5,702 feet is a mountain pass situated approximately 13 miles east of Bozeman, Montana and approximately 15 miles west of Livingston, Montana on Interstate 90. It separates the Bridger and Gallatin mountain ranges.

It is named after pioneer John Bozeman, a young Georgian who opened the Bozeman Trail from Fort Laramie, Wyoming to Virginia City, Montana in 1863, via the pass which now bears his name. The pass is part of a transcontinental railroad route constructed by the Northern Pacific Railway between Saint Paul, Minnesota and Tacoma, Washington. The Northern Pacific opened a 3,652 feet (1,113 m) tunnel under the Pass in 1884. A shorter 3,015 feet (919 m) tunnel just north of the original opened in 1945. The tracks are now used by Montana Rail Link and BNSF Railway.

Sacagawea, the Shoshone woman who guided parts of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (the Corps of Discovery), led Captain William Clark and his party of ten men through the pass on July 15, 1806. They were eastward bound and planned to explore the Yellowstone River to its mouth, where they were to rejoin Captain Meriwether Lewis and party, who were returning eastward via the Missouri River.^[5]

Arena in Bozeman, Montana. The Brick Breeden Fieldhouse is a multi-purpose indoor arena located on the campus of Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. It is the home of the Montana State Bobcats of the Big Sky Conference; the primary venue for men's and women's basketball and indoor track and field.

The arena regularly has numerous tournaments, concerts, plays, speaking engagements, and trade shows throughout the year; it annually hosts the high school all-class state volleyball tournament and the MSU Spring Rodeo. The Big Sky men's basketball tournament finals were played here in 1988, 1996, and 2002, and the women's in 1993.

On the south side of campus, its elevation at street level is 4,920 feet (1,500 m) above sea level.^[6]