Benton RV Park & Campground

The Great Outdoors

Central Montana has loads of exciting outdoor activities to participate in, and unlike more popular regions like Yellowstone and Glacier National Park, you’ll never find the trails to be crowded around Fort Benton. If you’re looking for a great hiking trail when you get a motorhome rental near Benton RV Park and Campground, your first stop should be Sluice Boxes State Park. The park’s main trail follows an old rail line used to haul precious minerals in Montana’s early years. Today it offers excellent views and equally good fishing on Belt Creek, which the trail parallels for much of its length.Another option is to rent a kayak in Fort Benton or Great Falls to explore the White Cliffs of the Missouri. This section of the Mighty Mo’ starts about half an hour's drive northeast of Fort Benton and extends for over 70 miles through the undeveloped countryside. The beautiful white cliffs and surrounding prairie look identical to the way they were described in the journals of Lewis and Clark. This can be a multi-day adventure or done in one long day if the river is flowing fast. There are few access points, though, as the river passes through the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, where development is prohibited.One of the most enjoyable things to do when you book an RV in Chouteau County is to simply stroll along the waterfront in Fort Benton. There’s an excellent mile-long pedestrian trail running beside the Missouri, between the Missouri Breaks Interpretive Center and the town boat launch. A 19th-century truss bridge spans the river and connects the pedestrian trail to a small park on the opposite shore. The pedestrian trail also visits one of Fort Benton’s most iconic statues, which chronicles the heartbreaking story of Shep. Shep was a dog whose owner passed away and was taken back east on the railroad. Every day Shep came to the train station, waiting for his master to return until he too passed away.

Exploring the City

Years after Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery passed through the area, it became a major transit point as the final navigable location for steamships traveling up the Missouri River. Its downtown is peppered with beautiful historic buildings dating back to the 19th century, and it’s not hard to imagine the traders of the day carousing in the town’s restaurants and saloons. The Grand Union Hotel, built in the late 1800s before railroads became the dominant form of transportation, is one of Montana’s most iconic hotels and well worth visiting if you have the time when camping with an RV.To learn more about Fort Benton’s history, check out the Museum of the Northern Great Plains. It tells the region’s story, from Lewis and Clark through the opening of the railroads to homesteaders, and finally, to its role as a quaint river town popular with tourists. It’s a great tour if you enjoy seeing the evolution of small-town America.Not far from the museum is Old Fort Benton, the military garrison that once guarded the community when it was a trading post. Much of it has crumbled in the intervening 200 years, but what’s left is a vivid reminder of what the town once represented: the final frontier. From there, wander down the street to the Missouri Breaks National Monument Interpretive Center. The monument is actually over an hour's drive away, but it’s so remote that the visitor’s center needed to be placed in Fort Benton. The center gives a fascinating look at the wildlife, geology, and history of the monument and is a great stop before getting into the wilderness itself.