Why visit Three Forks
Townapedia lists 8 museums and landmarks, 9 parks and trails, 6 places to eat and 2 places to stay in and around town.
Highlights include Sacajawea Hotel and Adams Block.
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 85°F; December lows average 15°F.
Weather in Three Forks
Forecast from the National Weather Service. Full forecast
About Three Forks
Three Forks is a city in Gallatin County, Montana, United States and is located within the watershed valley system of both the Missouri and Mississippi rivers drainage basins — and is historically considered the birthplace or start of the Missouri River. The population was 1,989 at the 2020 census. The city of Three Forks is named so because it lies geographically near the point, in nearby Missouri Headwaters State Park, where the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin rivers converge to form the Missouri River — the longest single river in North America, as well as the major portion of the Missouri–Mississippi River System from the headwaters near Three Forks to its discharge into the Gulf of Mexico. Three Forks is part of the Bozeman, MT Micropolitan Statistical Area of approximately 100,000 people and located thirty miles west of Bozeman.
From the Wikipedia article Three Forks, Montana (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Museums and landmarks8
Sacajawea Hotel
Monument and historic site · National Register of Historic Places · 0.4 mi
Historic hotel in Montana
5 North Main Street, Three Forks
Adams Block
Monument and historic site · National Register of Historic Places
United States historic place
Airway Radio Station
Monument and historic site · National Register of Historic Places · 0.6 mi
Telecommunications building in Three Forks, Montana
Missouri Headwaters State Park
Monument and historic site · National Register of Historic Places · 3.4 mi
Park in Montana, USA
Three Valleys State Bank
Monument and historic site · National Register of Historic Places
History museum in Three Forks, Montana
Parks, trails and playgrounds9
Restaurants and cafes6
Iron Horse Cafe & Pie Shop
Restaurant · Pie, American
24 North Main Street, Three Forks
Mo-Su 09:00-21:00
Where to stay2
History
The three rivers, west to east, were named by Meriwether Lewis in late July 1805 for President Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State James Madison, and Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin which was in the times the genesis of a mild controversy and eventually spawned a modern-day geographical controversy—in both cases regarding length comparisons between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Today the two confluences are incorporated inside Missouri Headwaters State Park, which is also a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
The Lewis and Clark expedition visited the site on July 28, 1805. Meriwether Lewis in his journal entry wrote:
"Both Capt. C. and myself corrisponded in opinion with rispect to the impropriety of calling either of these [three] streams the Missouri and accordingly agreed to name them after the President of the United States and the Secretaries of the Treasury and state..."
One consequence of their decision to designate, map and name the Jefferson—the largest— as a separate tributary river, is that today the Mississippi River can arguably be called longer than the Missouri River because extensive re-channelization of the streambed for hydroelectric power projects has shortened the river while the Mississippi Delta has grown, lengthening the rival river.
From the History section of Three Forks, Montana on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Churches and places of worship7
Shopping2
Gas and EV charging1
Schools, colleges and libraries5
Map of Three Forks
40 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Climate by month
Monthly table
| Month | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 33°F | 16°F | 0.4 in |
| Feb | 37°F | 18°F | 0.3 in |
| Mar | 48°F | 26°F | 0.7 in |
| Apr | 56°F | 33°F | 1.5 in |
| May | 66°F | 42°F | 2.2 in |
| Jun | 74°F | 48°F | 2.4 in |
| Jul | 85°F | 54°F | 1.4 in |
| Aug | 84°F | 51°F | 1.0 in |
| Sep | 73°F | 43°F | 1.1 in |
| Oct | 58°F | 33°F | 0.9 in |
| Nov | 42°F | 23°F | 0.6 in |
| Dec | 33°F | 15°F | 0.7 in |
U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 for Trident (5 mi away), NOAA NCEI.
People and cost of living
American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020-2024, U.S. Census Bureau. Estimates have margins of error, larger for small towns.
Disaster history
Gallatin County has had 7 federal disaster declarations since 2000, most often for fires.
- 2020-09-05: Bridger Foothills Fire (Fire)
- 2020-03-31: Covid-19 Pandemic (Biological)
- 2020-03-13: Covid-19 (Biological)
- 2005-09-13: Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (Hurricane)
- 2001-07-07: Severe Winter Storms (Severe Storm)
- 2000-08-30: Wildfires (Fire)
OpenFEMA disaster declarations summaries.
Getting there and nearby towns
Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport (BZN) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 21 miles away.
- Manhattan 11 mi east, about 18 min by car
- Belgrade 19 mi east, about 31 min by car
- Four Corners 24 mi southeast, about 38 min by car
- King Arthur Park 26 mi southeast, about 41 min by car
- Bozeman 28 mi southeast, about 45 min by car
- Boulder 36 mi northwest, about 58 min by car
- Big Sky 45 mi south, about 1 h 15 min by car
- Livingston 50 mi east, about 1 h 15 min by car
- Butte-Silver Bow (balance) 53 mi west, about 1 h 30 min by car
- Helena 54 mi northwest, about 1 h 30 min by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Local news
Headlines from INDB, the NEMICO news database.
Reviews, tips and questions
Loading what members have shared...
Sources and licences
- NCES EDGE (Public domain): public schools
- NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (Public domain): climate by month
- OpenFEMA (Public domain): disaster declarations
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- U.S. Census Bureau (Public domain): population, income, housing, education, commute
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website, landmarks and historic places
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- Three Forks, Montana, Photo and digital editing by Wikipedia User: Sagredo, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sacajawea Inn, Montanabw, CC BY-SA 3.0
- MadisionJeffersonConfluence, Mike Cline, Public domain
- Airway Radio Station in Three Forks, Crush-1abbott, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Adams Block in Three Forks, Crush-1abbott, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Three Valleys State Bank 202 Main St. in Three Forks 006, Crush-1abbott, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Holy Family Catholic Church in Three Forks Montana, Always dreamin, CC0
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