Campground, Big Hole Battlefield National Historic Site, and Last Bus to Wisdom

We really like the Square Dance Center and RV Campground.  There are 22 Full Hookup 50 amp sites with at least another 8-10 30 amp and a number with electric and water.  In total it looks like at least 70 sites.  There is ample spacing between sites that are scattered among the pine trees..  Lolo Creek is behind the park with trails for pleasant walks.  There is even an 18 hole Wiffleball golf course.

The park is convenient to Lolo for shopping, restaurants and fuel.  It is just 8 miles south of Missoula and a gateway to the Bitterroot Valley.

Behind the campground along Lolo Creek.

Our site

Nearby sites

The Battlefield and Wisdom are on Hwy 43 east of US 93 at the end of the Bitterroot Valley.  Hwy 43 is at Lost Trail Pass at 7100 feet, and the Idaho border.  From there you immediately climb over Chief Joseph Pass on Hwy 43.

The Big Hole Battlefield has been on my list of places to visit for a long time.  I read histories on Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce when I was in High School,  In my travels for business I visited the Bear Paw site where Chief Joseph and a small band of women and children were surrounded and captured.  That site is just 40 miles south of Canada which they were trying to reach after many skirmishes with the Army over 1700 miles from their homeland in the Wallowa Valley of Oregon.

We have spent time in the Wallowa Valley several times in the last 5 years and learned much about the history.   There are several books that detail the history and are well worth reading.

The Big Hole looks like a large bowl or hole in the mountains that surround the high valley. 

Now I will let Linda take over and explain the book below and the need to visit Wisdom.

This may be my one and only contribution to the blog on this trip.  It all began with a book my friend Mary Lue loaned me, shown below.  When Glen saw the book he asked me if it had anything to do with Wisdom, Montana.  I told him I didn't think so, although much of the book is set in Montana.  I figured the title referred to the wisdom the protagonist of the story gained on his trip traveling the country via Greyhound Bus.  Well, I was only half right.   It happens to be about both wisdom gained and the destination to Wisdom, Montana.  I just HAD to see what this little town was like.  

 

Welcome to Wisdom, Montana, population 108, down from 382 in 1942.

Thank you, Mary Lue, for the loan of this delightful book.