Day Trips

Little Big Horn National Battlefield & the Big Horn County Museum

This area memorializes the U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry and the Sioux and Cheyenne in one of the Indian’s last armed efforts to preserve their way of life. Here on June 25 and 26 of 1876, 263 soldiers, including Lt. Col. George A. Custer and attached personnel of the U.S. Army, died fighting several thousand Lakota, and Cheyenne warriors.

The Big Horn County Historical Museum is located 3 miles from the RV Park and only 15 miles from the famous Battle of the Little Bighorn and was established in 1979. The museum complex consists of twenty four historic structures, two farm exhibit buildings and a main exhibit building which features a rotating exhibit, visitor center and gift shop. Activities include quilting, making ice cream, churning butter, sharpening knives, trapping, operating the telegraph equipment, experiencing class in a one room school, singing in the church, early medicine, old fashioned games, rope making, and much more. Be sure to stop by and enjoy this wonderful historical museum!

Custer’s Last Stand Reenactment

The most controversial battle in American history is fought again each June at one of Custer Country’s biggest annual attractions – the world-famous Custer’s Last Stand Reenactment.

The sweeping pageantry of high plains history is portrayed by over 250 participants, including descendants of the troopers, Indian warriors, and scouts involved in the original battle.

Listed as one of the “top 100 Events in America” by Destinations Magazine, Custer’s Last Stand Reenactment has been the focus of two A&E television productions and segments on CNN and BBC. Hollywood film crews shot the reenactment for the motion picture “Legends of Crazy Horse.” Hundreds of journalists and producers from coast to coast in the US, Europe, Great Britain, Australia, China, Taiwan and South America have featured this event.

A wealth of background and connections to many related sources is available at the Custer’s Last Stand Reenactment website.

Chief Plenty Coups

Crow Chief Plenty Coups donated his home and surroundings to be used by all people in friendship. In his dedication speech he said, “This park is not to be a memorial to me, but to the Crow Nation. It is given as a token of my friendship for all people both red and white.” When he died in 1932, it became a park, managed by the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department.

The park is open from 8am to 8pm and the visitor center-museum is open daily from May 1 to September 30. Museum hours are 10am to 5pm each day. It is open by appointment from October through April. The museum displays, videos, photos, and tells the stories of the Apsaalooke (Crow) people.

The park also includes Chief Plenty Coups’ homestead, the medicine spring and a memorial to his peace efforts and to the Crow Indians. A spacious picnic area is fully developed with tables, grills, restrooms and drinking water.

More information can be obtained by writing Chief Plenty Coups State Park, Box 100, Pryor, MT 59066 or calling (406) 665-252-1289.

Pompeys Pillar National Monument

Along the entire Lewis & Clark Trail there is just one spot where you don’t have to imagine the famed explorers having been there. This famous sandstone butte, called Pompeys Pillar, bears the only remaining physical evidence along the trail of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Clark’s signature, the day and date remain visible on the towering pillar’s rock face. Protected by a see-through covering, the signature can be viewed any time of year. The federal Bureau of Land Management operates Pompeys Pillar as a year-round visitor facility with staffed services available between Memorial Day and September 30. Walk-in access and self guided tours are allowed the rest of the year.