Rock City, Montana

Rock City, Montana.

In the Spring of 2019 I took a day trip to explore a place known as Rock City, north of Valier in North Central Montana. This location is almost straight north out of Valier, MT and is along the Two Medicine River. The area is known for its sandstone pillars often refereed to as hoodoos. The hoodoos have been created from the soft sandstone being eroded away by wind and water. Often a harder layer of stone remains on top of the pillars to give them kind of a mushroom shape. There are hundreds of these hoodoos spread over the landscape above the river’s edge with areas you can walk between them which gives the area the impression of being a city. The pillars raise from just a few feet high to over 20 feet for some of the taller ones. Some of them are rather fragile so I would not recommend climbing on them.

The road to Rock City goes through some farmland and is not improved the last couple of miles, so I would recommend a four wheel drive vehicle if there has been any rain or snow recently in the area. There are no improvements at the site, so don’t expect to find bathrooms or picnic tables or anything at the site. If you come prepared it is a nice area for a picnic and to just spend some time walking among the pillars.

The day I visited was a little bit rainy and overcast, so it did not lend itself to great photographic opportunities. I think on a better day when the Sun is right, it could make for some good pictures as there a lot of colors on the rocks that could add some interest during the right conditions.

If you are in the area, it might be a good time to explore Lake Frances which is located on the outskirts of Valier. There is also another site, similar to Rock City, known as Little Jerusalem which is farther north closer to Sweetgrass, MT. Rock City is much larger however, so if you only have time to visit one, I would recommend Rocky City.

If you want to know more about the location, feel free to contact me via my contact page above.