Discover Glendive

A trip to Glendive can bring together a range of interests: local culture and settlement history, fossils and dinosaurs, and a historic structure. If you’re looking for a hotel in Glendive, this thematic selection can help you plan your stay.

Museums: Local History and Fossils

The Frontier Gateway Museum features exhibits about early settlers, homesteaders, local culture, and fossils. This combination connects settlement history with cultural themes and natural history. Its outdoor exhibits include historic buildings and a blacksmith shop. The museum also recreates downtown Glendive, complete with local businesses. This means the museum offers several perspectives side by side: historic buildings and crafts, a recreated downtown, and exhibits on settlement, culture, and fossils. The recreation of the town offers a different focus from the exhibits on early settlers or fossils.

The Glendive Dinosaur & Fossil Museum has a distinct focus. It features dinosaurs, how fossils form, and the work paleontologists do to discover them. The exhibits therefore cover fossils, their formation, and the work involved in discovering them. By comparison, the Frontier Gateway Museum connects fossils with local culture and early settlement history. So, when choosing between the museums based on your interests, you can distinguish between a stronger paleontological focus and a broader look at local history and culture.

Historic Structures

The historic Bell Street Bridge was built in 1926 to carry Bell Street across the Yellowstone River. Today, motor vehicles can no longer use it, and it serves as a pedestrian bridge. At the bridge, you can therefore distinguish its year of construction and original purpose from its current use. It connects a specific chapter of transportation history with its present use as a pedestrian bridge.

The First Methodist Church—now Glendive United Methodist Church—is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. For the bridge, the year it was built and its original transportation function are the main points; for the church, its historic register listing is the key reference. The two places therefore offer different ways to explore local history: a built crossing over the river and a church listed on the register.

Landscape and Activities

Makoshika State Park in Montana features badland formations. This adds a landscape theme that differs from the museums’ cultural, historical, and paleontological focuses. If you’re particularly interested in badland formations, this landscape aspect can be a distinct focus in your thematic planning.

Yellowstone River Adventures offers kayaking and jet boating. These activities have a different focus from the museum and history themes. The operator also describes a more personalized booking option by email or phone. Check the current contact details before making an inquiry, as they may change.

Discover more destinations: Richey

Return to the main travel overview: Dawson County.