Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument
October 31, 2009 by RV Camper
Filed under Montana Campgrounds, Montana Parks
Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument
On January 17, 2001, the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument was officially added to the Department of the Interior’s National Landscape Monument System. This national monument includes an ecosystem that parallels the Upper Missouri National Wild and Scenic River through north-central Montana. Much of the land in this area (375,000 acres) is public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
In some areas, these BLM acres are intermingled with State of Montana lands and private property. This designation applies only to the BLM managed lands. The landscape throughout this monument contains a spectacular array of biological, scientific, historic, wildlife, ecological, and cultural resources mixed with a remote location that offers opportunities for solitude not commonly found today.
This remote location retains unspoiled, natural settings that form a backdrop for outstanding recreational and cultural tourism opportunities. The center of this monument is the 149-mile long Upper Missouri National Wild and Scenic River. The Upper Missouri begins at historic Fort Benton, Montana on U.S. Highway 87 and ends 149 miles later where the Fred Robinson Bridge on U.S. Highway 191 crosses the Missouri River.
The remote nature of this segment of the Upper Missouri River has buffered the area from most human influence. It has maintained the same vistas that awed the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805 and 1806. Also traveled by the Nez Perce (Chief Joseph) in 1877.