Missoula, MT

A Northern Rockies paradise. A city of live water and sapphire skies. A confluence of five valleys, three rivers, and one unquenchable thirst for outdoor adventure. Fly-fishing, hiking, hunting, rafting, mountain biking, rock climbing and skiing. Missoula is surrounded by millions of acres of protected wilderness and National Forest. We have four seasons of rushing adrenaline, and enough quiet corners to occasionally sit down and catch your breath.

A place of diversity. Where authors, ranchers, fly-fishermen, and smokejumpers can share a local brew while listening to an outdoor concert and watching kayakers play in the Clark Fork whitewater park downtown. Where it’s just as easy to find a fabulous day spa as it is to locate a great fly-shop. Where cowboy hats over Chacos won’t raise eyebrows. Where sharing smiles and stories comes as easy as breathing the crystal mountain air.

A university town. Missoula is home to the University of Montana—the “most scenic campus in America,” according to Rolling Stone magazine. An institution of higher learning with a world-class reputation and a body of students that is 13,000 strong. Outside Magazine rates it “among the top 10 colleges nationally for combining academic quality and outdoor recreation.”

A dynamic downtown. Missoula’s urban core is as vibrant as the rainbow sides of the trout that rise to the evening hatch. Farmers markets and Children’s Theater. Boutiques and bookshops. Bistros and bars. Minor league baseball and major league medical care. It’s the center of attention for the 65,000 residents that call the valley home.

A very cool soul. At Missoula’s heart is the Hip Strip—a collection of wildly popular restaurants, coffee shops and bakeries that cuddle a brewery, a vintage clothier, a bookstore, a theater, a bike shop, and the best ice cream stand on the planet. The Hip Strip is situated along the banks of the Clark Fork, and it’s adjacent to an extensive pedestrian trail system, a city park, and an outdoor performing arts center. And standing at the center of it all, as it has for more than a century, is the belle of the block—the Babs.