Billings is Montana’s largest city.

To see its tour of attractions, take the Billings Historic Site Tour, a self-guided tour described on page 4 of this issue.

Logan International Airport atop the rimrocks makes Billings an accessible gateway to the world.

Across from the airport is a log cabin that sits above the huge Peter Yegen Jr. Yellowstone County Museum. Below the cabin, built into the sandstone rimrocks, is a collection that chronicles the settling of the 84-mile-long county.

Billings is the comfort zone of the West. In the Yellowstone Valley below, the city bustles with shopping, industry, art galleries, 200 restaurants, Cincinnati Reds farm club baseball, Bulls hockey, first-class live theater and entertainment, 4,000 hotel/motel rooms, horse, car and motorcycle racing, new movie theaters, performing arts theaters, museums and historic attractions. Multitudes of parks and river accesses offer outdoor fun.

Finding Your Way

Around Billings

Geographically, Billings is divided into the West End, Downtown and Historic District, The Heights, and Lockwood.

The West End

Access the West End from the Zoo Drive I-90 Exit 443 or the City Center Exit 446. ZooMontana is just off Exit 443. See its acres of habitat filled with exceptional animal species. It opens at 10 a.m. daily. Shiloh Road, which intersects Zoo Drive, will lead you to the major West End arterials of King Avenue, Central, Broadwater, Grand, and Rimrock Road.

From Shiloh, Rimrock Road leads you to Zimmerman Trail and up to the top of the rimrocks. Turn right (east) on Highway 3 to reach the airport.

Exits 443 and 446 lead you to West End hotels, and a wide variety of shopping and dining.

Take I-90 Exit 447 to reach the Bureau of Land Management State Office, and the motels and businesses surrounding it. Exit 447 is also the access to Riverfront Park and the Audubon Center on South Billings Blvd. It offers a small lake with non-motorized boating, picnicking, fishing, equestrian trails (horses not provided) and hiking. The park covers several acres and offers a perfect place to get some exercise. There is plenty of shade. No admission is charged.

Downtown

If you are coming from the west, Downtown is most easily accessed at Exit 450. North 27th Street is the spine of Downtown, leading straight to the airport. First, Third, and Sixth Avenues North are downtown one-way arterials running West. (First Avenue becomes a two-way at North 18th Street.) Montana Avenue, Second and Fourth Avenues North are downtown one-way arterials running East.

If you are coming from the east, Downtown and the Heights can be accessed from Exit 452. Take First Avenue to go Downtown.

The restored train depot on Montana Avenue in the Historic District, where passengers boarded in days gone by, is now a great place to tour and take pictures. It is a neighbor to a great selection of restaurants, shops and art.

Billings Historic District buildings and businesses have been renovated and refurbished back to the bustling atmosphere of the days when the Magic City sprang from the fertile banks of the Yellowstone River. Enjoy the modern-day cobblestones, ironwork any blacksmith would be proud of, flowers and trees.

The heart of Downtown Billings is at Second Avenue North and Broadway (North 28th Street). Skypoint points to the Big Sky of Montana and offers you shade and shelter. You’ll find helpful maps and merchant lists in kiosks around town.

Billings Heights

If you are coming from the east along I-94, we recommend that you take Exit 23 at Pompeys Pillar (28 miles east of Billings). Visit the National Monument that bears Captain William Clark’s carved signature. Then proceed along Highway 312. Stop in Worden and Huntley to discover unhurried businesses and friendly people.

Visit the Huntley Project Museum of Irrigated Agriculture. Plow right into conservation and agriculture in this park setting.

Follow 312 into Billings Heights. The Heights is a geographical benchland that rises above the Yellowstone River Valley. At Pemberton Lane, turn right and check out the wildlife displays at the Fish, Wildlife and Parks center overlooking Lake Elmo. Return to Main Street for a wide variety of food and shopping.

Main Street in the Heights will lead you to MetraPark, the home of MontanaFair, concerts, sports shows, ag shows, hockey, trade shows, horse racing, motorsports and rodeos. Pose for a picture in front of the statue of world famous Saddle Bronc Champion Dan Mortensen. It is right in front of the MetraPark arena. You can drive right up to it.

Lockwood

Access Lockwood at Exit 452 or 455. We recommend that you check out a true Western experience by stopping at Billings Livestock Yards (on the Frontage Road next to I-90) to see a cattle or horse sale. Cattle sales are every Thursday, and horse sales are the fourth weekend of each month.

Take Coburn Road to Pictograph Cave State Park to learn about people who drew their history as long as 7,000 years ago.