History Comes to Life on the Carter County Talking Trail...

10 Point Talking Trail

This photo shows the entrance of the Carter County Museum in Ekalaka, Montana. The stone-walled building features a sign over the door and a bright blue bench nearby. A large colorful banner promotes the Annual Dino Shindig...

1060 - Carter County Museum

Nestled in the Russell Creek Valley sits Ekalaka, a small town rich in history and home to the Carter County Museum, which offers visitors a portal...

Read More or Listen Now

This photo shows the unique sandstone formations at Medicine Rocks State Park in Montana. The weathered rocks are full of holes, caves, and unusual shapes, surrounded by scattered pine trees under a clear blue sky.

1061 - Medicine Rocks State Park

In the quiet corner of southeast Montana, a swath of grassy prairie coexists with fragrant, towering pines and magical eroded sandstone formations...

Read More or Listen Now

This photo shows the entrance sign for Lantis Spring National Forest Campground in Montana. The brown-and-white sign stands prominently in a grassy landscape with rolling green hills and scattered trees stretching into the distance under a bright sky.

1062 - Lantis Springs

During the height of the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps was founded to provide jobs for young, unemployed men. Between 1933 and...

Read More or Listen Now

This photo shows a section of forest at Ekalaka Park in Montana, where numerous trees have been snapped and stripped, leaving jagged stumps across the hillside. The broken and fallen trees suggest severe storm or tornado damage, set against a backdrop of rolling green hills and standing pines.

1063 - Ekalaka Park

Carter County Montana is off the beaten path, away from the hustle and bustle of interstate traffic whose sole focus is often on how to get from point A to B...

Read More or Listen Now

This photo shows Capitol Rock in southeastern Montana, a striking white sandstone formation rising above the surrounding prairie. In the foreground stands a small stone monument with a plaque, marking the site’s historical and geological significance.

1064 - Capitol Rock

Meandering through the Long Pines Unit of the Custer Gallatin National Forest is the Little Missouri River. The valley along the river is rich in history...

Read More or Listen Now

This photo shows the entrance sign for Camp Needmore in Montana, set against rolling green prairie and a winding dirt road that leads into the campgrounds surrounded by forested hills in the distance.

1065 - Camp Needmore

In the years between 1933 and 1942, Civilian Conservation Corps camps were popping up all across the United States. At its peak, Montana was home...

Read More or Listen Now

This photo shows the Tri-Point Fire Tower in southeastern Montana, a tall steel lookout structure built for wildfire detection. The tower rises high above the prairie landscape, featuring a zig-zagging staircase leading to an enclosed observation cab at the top, once used to spot smoke and monitor fire activity across the surrounding region. It stands as both a historic and functional landmark of forest management.

1066 - Tri-Point Fire Tower

While fire lookouts date back to the 19th century, their popularity as a form of fire detection surged after the Great Fire of 1910, which charred three million...

Read More or Listen Now

This photo shows the Stoneville Saloon in the small town of Alzada, Montana. The rustic, Old West–style saloon sits at the center of town, with motorcycles and vehicles parked out front, reflecting its popularity as a stop for travelers and bikers. Surrounded by wide open prairie and distant farmsteads, the saloon stands as a landmark gathering place in this rural community.

1067 - Town of Alzada

Long before highways and cell towers, during the times of the wild west, Montana was an unbridled land, home to Native Americans, frontiersmen, fur-traders...

Read More or Listen Now

This photo shows the wide-open prairie landscape near Piniele, Montana. Rolling grasslands stretch into the distance, dotted with clusters of pine trees and scattered cattle, highlighting the area’s rural ranching heritage and natural beauty.

1068 - Piniele

The turn of the twentieth century brought increased westward expansion, cattlemen, homesteaders, and gold barons to Montana...

Read More or Listen Now

This photo shows a rural scene in Belltower, Montana, featuring an open landscape with rolling hills and grassland. In the foreground, there is a metal sign listing family names such as Farwell, Rozell, Summers, and Kennedy, representing local homesteads or community members. A dirt road winds into the distance, leading toward a large white barn-like structure, with a clear blue sky and scattered clouds above.

1069 - Bell Tower

The advent of the white man, beginning with fur trappers and mountain men, started to change the dynamic of southeastern Montana in the late 1800s...

Read More or Listen Now

Carter County, Montana was founded in 1917 and comprises 3,313 square miles in the southeastern corner of the state. The Carter County Museum (Ekalaka), was the first county museum in Montana and the first to display dinosaurs, including complete skeletons of Edmontosaurus and T. rex. Nearby Medicine Rocks State Park is sacred to the Lakota (Sioux), Tsistsistas and So'taa'ee'o (Northern Cheyenne), Apsaalooke (Crow), Minnetaree (Hidatsa), Sahnish (Arikara) and Mandan indigenous nation, who have ancestral lands in this area. Camp Needmore, which is south of Ekalaka, is a historic Civilian Conservation Corps Camp that is now available for family reunions, weddings, and hosts the 4H camp each summer. Other sites on the Trail include Ekalaka Park and Lantis Springs campgrounds, Capitol Rock National Natural Landmark, and the Tri-Point Lookout Tower. In the southern part of the county, travelers can explore the town of Alzada, and view the sites of Belltower and Pinele communities.

This trail was made possible by a grant from The Foundation for Montana History and partnerships with Medicine Rocks State Park and the U. S. Forest Service. Download the Talking Trail mobile app, and experience the stories of Carter County, Montana today!

More Trails