Skip I-90 and take this Montana highway, where ghost towns, sapphires, and sage hills await

It’s only 64 miles but you’ll want all day

Montana Highway 1 connects Anaconda and Drummond across 64 miles of forested mountains and sage-covered hills, and most people blow right past it on Interstate 90 between Butte and Missoula. That’s a mistake.

The Pintler Veterans’ Memorial Scenic Highway, named in honor of American veterans, follows Flint Creek through a stretch of Big Sky Country that the freeway never touches.

The drive takes about an hour longer than the interstate, but what you find along the way makes the detour worth every mile.

Mining built these towns and the buildings still stand

Anaconda started as a company town for a massive copper smelting operation. Philipsburg got going in 1866 after miners struck silver in the surrounding hills.

Copper and silver raised every building along this road, and when you drive through today, you can still see the old storefronts and brick facades standing right where they were.

The mines eventually faded, and tourism stepped in as the new lifeline. This byway lets you trace that whole story town by town.

A 585-foot smokestack towers over the valley

The first thing you notice pulling into Anaconda is the smokestack.

The Anaconda Smelter Stack rises 585 feet, which makes it the tallest masonry structure in North America. Builders finished it in 1918 as part of the town’s massive copper smelter.

Today it anchors Anaconda Smoke Stack State Park, and you can photograph it from a viewing site near Goodman Park. Interpretive signs at the site walk you through the smelter’s history.

The thing dominates the skyline for miles.

Step inside a 1930s Art Deco movie palace

Downtown Anaconda has the Washoe Theatre, one of the finest surviving Art Deco movie houses in the country.

Architect B. Marcus Priteca designed it in the 1930s, and the interior still glows with gold, silver, and copper detailing, murals, and ornate plasterwork.

The place earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. What catches you off guard is that it still runs as a working cinema.

You can buy a ticket and watch a movie inside a building that looks like it belongs in a museum.

Montana’s oldest trout hatchery is right in town

Before you leave Anaconda, take a walk through the historic district. The downtown is compact and easy to cover on foot, with old architecture lining the streets.

The Washoe Park Trout Hatchery dates to 1907, making it the oldest in Montana, and it manages the state’s only westslope cutthroat broodstock.

The Copper Village Museum and Art Center mixes rotating art with local history.

If your timing is right, seasonal historic bus tours leave from the visitor center and cover the highlights.

Georgetown Lake sits ringed by three mountain ranges

Heading west from Anaconda, the road climbs to Georgetown Lake, perched above 6,000 feet. The lake covers about 2,800 acres with three mountain ranges framing the water on all sides.

Rainbow trout, brook trout, and kokanee salmon make it one of Montana’s top fishing spots. Summer brings boating, kayaking, paddleboarding, and camping at nearby forest campgrounds.

Come winter, anglers head out onto the ice after kokanee, rainbow trout, and trophy brook trout. The lake pulls people in year-round.

No-frills skiing with 2,388 feet of vertical drop

Discovery Ski Area sits just off the highway near Georgetown Lake, and it keeps things simple. The summit tops out at 8,158 feet with 2,388 feet of vertical drop.

Terrain runs from gentle beginner slopes to expert bowls, so there’s something for every skill level. Discovery skips the resort extras and puts the focus on the skiing itself.

The high, cold setting keeps snow on the ground deep into the season, which means you get solid coverage without the crowds of bigger mountains.

Colorful Victorians line Philipsburg’s Broadway Street

The road drops from the mountains into Philipsburg, and you know you’ve arrived when you see Broadway Street.

Colorful, restored Victorian buildings line both sides in a stretch that feels like an Old West main street brought back to life.

The whole downtown runs about three blocks, packed with shops, galleries, museums, and a brewery. You can walk from one end to the other in a few minutes.

Everything sits close together, so you just park once and wander.

Buy a bag of gravel and sift for real sapphires

Philipsburg is one of Montana’s top sapphire destinations, and you don’t need any experience to try your hand at it. Several long-running gem shops along the main street sell bags of gravel for you to sift through.

You dump the gravel into a screen, wash it, and pick through what’s left looking for sapphires. It works for all ages and keeps kids busy for hours.

If you find a good stone, the shops can clean it, cut it, and set it into jewelry you take home.

Over 1,000 kinds of candy fill the Sweet Palace

Inside a restored Victorian building on Broadway Street, the Sweet Palace stocks more than 1,000 kinds of candy under one roof. You can watch the crew make fudge, caramels, and taffy fresh on site.

An antique taffy wrapper from 1918 is still part of the show, cranking away while you watch. The smell alone pulls you through the door.

The shop has turned into a landmark for anyone driving through Philipsburg, and walking out empty-handed takes more willpower than most people have.

A silver ghost town clings to the mountainside above

A steep mountain road from Philipsburg leads up to Granite, a silver ghost town that once held about 3,000 residents.

In the 1890s they called it the Silver Queen, and the camp had saloons, a hospital, and its own newspaper. Then the silver market crashed in 1893, and the mines went silent.

Granite Ghost Town State Park now preserves the mine superintendent’s house and the ruins of the miners’ union hall. The buildings sit right where people left them.

Flint Creek rolls through ranch land to the finish

Past Philipsburg, the highway follows Flint Creek down through a broad green valley where small farms and ranch land stretch to the horizon.

You’ll roll through tiny towns like Hall and Maxville, the kind of places with more fences than buildings. Moose, elk, and deer show up along this stretch, so keep your eyes on the shoulders.

The road meets Interstate 90 again at Drummond. By then you’ve seen a side of Montana that freeway travelers never know exists.

Drive the Pintler Scenic Highway in Montana

You can pick up the Pintler Veterans’ Memorial Scenic Highway at either end, starting from Anaconda or Drummond along Montana Highway 1 in southwestern Montana.

The route runs 64 miles through the mountains, and you’ll want a full day or a weekend to do it right. Plan stops in Anaconda, Georgetown Lake, Philipsburg, and Granite Ghost Town so you’re not rushing through.

Gas up before you start, bring layers for the elevation changes, and check the official website for current road conditions before you go.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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