4 Best Sights in Billings, Little Big Horn, and the Montana Plains, Montana

This 76,000-square-foot complex houses the largest collection of original art and personal objects of legendary cowboy artist Charlie Russell (1864–1926). Russell's more than 4,000 works of art—sculptures, watercolors, oil paintings—primarily portray the vanishing era of the Old West. His log studio and home, built at the turn of the 20th century, are adjacent to the main galleries. A highlight is the bison exhibit: more than 1,000 objects are used to tell the epic story of this Western icon, and you feel the floor tremble as you experience the sensation of being in the middle of a stampede. Also here are collections of paintings by other 19th-century and modern Western artists, interactive exhibits, and a research library.

Covering the era from 1800 to 1900, the Museum of the Upper Missouri highlights the importance of Fort Benton and the role it played as a trading post, military fort, and the head of steamboat navigation. In the summer there are daily guided tours at the adjacent Old Fort Benton, considered the birthplace of Montana; its 1846 blockhouse is the oldest standing structure in the state.

Once home to prehistoric hunters, this spot has yielded more than 30,000 artifacts related to early human history. A paved 3/4-mile trail affords views of the 2,200-year-old cave paintings depicting animal and human figures; if you bring binoculars, you'll be able to appreciate better the subtle detail of the artwork. The largest cave is 160 feet wide and 45 feet deep. A visitor center, open daily in the summer, houses an interpretive area and a gift shop.

When Spanish explorers introduced horses to the Americas, some of the animals inevitably escaped and roamed wild across the land. You can see some of the last members of these breeds in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, the first such nationally designated refuge. Approximately 120 horses, generally broken into small family groupings, roam these arid slopes with bighorn sheep, elk, deer, and mountain lions. Coat variations such as grulla, blue roan, dun, and sabino indicate Spanish lineage, as do markings such as dorsal stripes, zebra stripes on the legs, and a stripe on the withers. The best way to view the herds is simply to drive along Highway 37 and look out your window.