HELENA, Mont. – (AP) — Montana’s capital is perfectly positioned as a halfway point between Glacier and Yellowstone national parks, but visitors often decide to extend their stopovers once they get a feel for the city’s burgeoning art scene and its accessible hiking, biking and skiing trails.
Helena is a city built on gold. It was founded in 1864 when four miners who had been searching unsuccessfully for the precious metal decided this spot on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains would be their “last chance.” They struck gold, and Last Chance Gulch became the main street of the city that by the late 1800s boasted more millionaires per capita than any other in the world.
Photo credit: AP | This 2012 photograph shows the crowd at the annual Symphony Under the Stars concert on the Carroll College lawn in Helena, Mont. The summertime event draws some 12,000 people and is one of a number of free things to do in Helena, Montana’s capital, which is located about halfway between Glacier and Yellowstone parks. This year’s concert takes place July 20. (AP Photo/Allen S. Lefohn)