Montana has been called, “The Last Best Place”.

After having spent quite a bit of time photographing different parts of Western and Central Montana, I’ve come to understand just why that term was coined.  Not only do you find yourself  surrounded by huge rolling prairies and towering mountain ranges, but also the people there are just great folks and hard workers.

Coming up, I’ll be sharing my recent work at the Bowman Cherry Orchards, located along Flathead Lake on the Eastern side.  But for now, let’s take a trip to one of the more uncommon locations that is in the Anaconda area.  A few miles south of Anaconda, just past the smelter stack, you start what’s known as the Mt. Haggin Scenic drive, which is officially MT 569 and runs 22 miles into the intersection of MT 43.

The iconic Anaconda Smelter Stack is seen near sunset with bright light rays bursting through the clouds, illuminating the surrounding landscape.

Along the drive you can expect to find few other cars.  Traffic is light, but not totally absent.  If you’re looking for true solitude, just drive off one of the dirt roads that line the sides of the highway that take you into the Mt. Haggin Wildlife Management area.  Found along one of these roads is a group of old structures sitting mostly undisturbed in the Montana prairie with the Anaconda Mountain Range in the background.

A dirt road curves off into the distance under a blue sky with puffy clouds in Western Montana.

While I didn’t see any wildlife on my recent trip to the area, but moose and mule deer are known to frequent the areas and hunting is available in the area.  Further down the highway, a lonely and decaying old cabin is sitting right next to the road, begging to be photographed.

A derelict cabin sits near Anaconda, Montana as storm clouds move in.

You can see my gallery of select images from this trip here.

Have a great week!

Ben C