Anaconda, Montana Vacations

Anaconda, one of the best Montana vacation areas for fishing and camping

by Michele Kadison

If you’re looking to do some of the best in Montana fishing and camping on your vacation, Anaconda is a great option for a place to find your Montana hotel and set up a home base.

Discovered in 1882, the town of Anaconda was created when the Anaconda Copper Mining Company in Butte needed a smelter for its abundant copper ore supply.  The area had an abundant amount of water and limestone, which made it a perfect smelting location.

The name Anaconda came from an Irish entrepreneur, Michael Hickey, who read an article stating that Grant’s Army was ‘encircling Lee’s forces like a giant anaconda.”  He was intrigued by the name and felt it would be good for his mine, which yielded one of the richest copper veins in Montana.  It soon became the name for one of the most famous mining companies in the United States, the Anaconda Copper Mining Company.

Anaconda’s smelting operation was shut down in 1980, but its smokestack became a state monument in 1985 for being the tallest freestanding masonry structure in the world.  The stack can be seen from the Interstate, measuring over 585 feet high and 86 feet in diameter at its base.

Other attractions in Anaconda are the Old City Hall Copper Village Museum and Art Center which originally housed not only the city government but the police department and the fire house.  The structure was renovated in 1982 and is now home to an art gallery, a history museum, and shops.  Visit the museum to learn about the smelting practices of yesteryear along with viewing turn of the century furniture, artifacts, and clothing.

Take the bus tour around Anaconda in a 1936 bus that was originally used by the Anaconda Company to take visitors around the copper smelting operation.  The tour is a great way to learn about the town’s history while looking at the historic buildings along the way.

Take a walking tour through the three National Historic districts in Anaconda where you will see some wonderful examples of turn of the century architecture.  Both the Deer Lodge County Courthouse and the Washoe Theater are impressive testimonials to this interesting period, with the Theater ranking fifth in the nation for its architecture, according to the Smithsonian Institute.

For outdoor activities, Anaconda makes a great vacation destination. The Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness is nearby where you can experience the majesty of mountain peaks reaching up to 10,000 feet high.  Take the Pintler Scenic Route through the majestic mountain passes and along the shoreline of Georgetown Lake.  Visit the many ghost towns that speak of the area’s mining past as well as St. Timothy’s Chapel overlooking Georgetown Lake.

Georgetown Lake lies 18 miles to the west of Anaconda and provides ample opportunities for great fishing, windsurfing, boating, and camping.  A great resort area, you can find excellent lodging here as well as a marina and casinos.  During the winter months, the lake makes for excellent ice fishing and snowmobiling.

Lost Creek State Park is another great camping area and includes a handicapped-accessible hiking trail to Lost Creek Falls.  See the colossal limestone cliffs rising 1,200 feet above the 500 acre canyon where bighorn sheep and mountain goats graze.  Take a picnic lunch and a camera and you’re set for the day.

Fairmont Hot Springs is a perfect place for dissolving tensions in the natural hot spring waters.  Bring your golf clubs to play the 18-hole course, or enjoy the many other outdoor activities such as horseback riding, tennis, and the waterslide.

Golfers can also play the only Jack Nicklaus Signature course in Montana at the Old Works Golf Course, just outside of Anaconda.

Washoe Park and State Fish Hatchery is yet another nearby park where you can enjoy a day of swimming, baseball, tennis, and picnicking.  Visit the Washoe Park Trout Hatchery, home of Montana’s state fish, the cutthroat trout.  The hatchery is at the east end of the park where you can take a self-guided or guided tour to learn more about raising trout.

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