Missoula,
MT, Travel Guide.gif)
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| The
Clark Fork and Missoula, Montana |
Missoula,
Montana is the state’s fastest growing city.
Sitting in the scenic Bitterroot Valley, Missoula has for
many years been attracting people from out of state who want
to settle in Montana but don’t want to live out in
the middle of nowhere. And for these people, Missoula fits
the bill perfectly.
Missoula,
MT, as far as Montana cities go, has pretty much everything
a person could want. This is partially due to
the mass influx of tourists that pass through Missoula during
the summer. But also due to the presence of the largest college
in Montana, the University of Montana, which swells the Missoula
population by more than 20,000 people during the academic
year – many of whom also hang around Missoula during
the summer. Overall, Missoulas population is around 60,000.
The whole surrounding area probably pushes the population
closer to 100,000 - making Missoula the second largest "metropolitan" area
in Montana.
As the
fastest growing place in Montana, Missoula has, of course,
a number of problems that go with it. Missoula has
the dubious honor of being the only place in Montana that
really has any sort of air pollution problems that are manmade,
particularly during the winter (smoke from forest fires can
plague anyplace in Montana during fire season). The traffic
in and around Missoula can also be, quite simply, a nightmare.
This is especially true south of Missoula along Highway 93,
as much of the development that is occurring in the Bitterroot
Valley has been south of Missoula – essentially following
the Bitterroot
River.
Missoula Location
Missoula
is located in the Southwest section of Montana, near the
border with Idaho. The massive Frank Church-Selway
Bitterroot Wilderness Complex sits to the west of Missoula,
while the Sapphire mountains lie to the east of town. The
Rattlesnake Wilderness Area, a small wilderness area, also
lies just a handful of miles to the north of Missoula. And,
outside of the wilderness areas, are miles and miles of
the Bitterroot National Forest.
Interstate
90 also runs along the northern edge of town . Since
Missoula is the last major town of any consequence for
many miles
for people traveling west, Missoula also receives lots of
people who just spend the night in Missoula before moving
on.
Missoula lies in a beautiful valley called the Bitterroot
Valley. This big, sprawling valley is surrounded by towering
mountains to the east and west, with smaller mountains visible
to the north and south as well. Due to this scenic location,
and the huge amount of recreational activities the valley
and mountains provide, it is probably not surprising that
people from all over are moving here.
For
people visiting Missoula, Montana, for the first time,
try to make a point of finding and visiting the downtown.
Missoula, like all too many towns these days, is about
70% strip mall and development, while the remaining downtown
is sort of tucked away. Once you break away from the strip
malls and such and enter the downtown, visitors will be
greeted by tree lined streets with a very nicely refurbished
downtown – with numerous specialty shops and restuarants.
The Clark
Fork, which runs right through downtown, also provides
a nice backdrop for downtown Missoula.
Missoula
Weather
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| Downtown
Missoula, Montana |
Montana
probably doesn’t have the worlds nicest weather.
However, as far as Montana weather goes, Missoula is a
wonderful place to go for people who hate the cold weather.
Missoula lies quite the distance from the continental divide.
As such, it isn’t very often that the true, cold,
arctic air that blasts the eastern and central part of
Montana actually reaches Missoula (the mountains block
the cold air). For this reason, Missoula really is the “banana
belt” of Montana.
The
flip side to that, though, is Missoula – like Kalispell – has
lots of gray, rather dreary days during the fall, winter
and spring. Clouds build up in and around the mountains
and, at times, hang around for weeks – with the sun
hardly making an appearance at all. The clouds – while
they help keep the winter nights warmer than they otherwise
would be – also can wear on the nerves of people
who are use to sunshine.
The
city of Missoula also doesn’t get much in the way
of snow, at least by Montana standards. Typically, Missoula
receives less than 50 inches of snow a year. A fair amount
to be sure, but not nearly the amount received in other
areas of Montana. Moreover, the warmer weather in Missoula
frequently prevents the snow (at least down in the Bitterroot
Valley and in town itself), from hanging around all winter.
Of course, this all changes when heading into the mountains,
where the snow piles up and sticks around for 8 months
of the year – but that’s another story.
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