Glacier Country, Montana is a tourism region in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

state of

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

. Glacier Country includes the cities of

Missoula Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

, Kalispell, Polson, Libby, Whitefish, Browning,

Eureka Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...

, and Thompson Falls. Glacier Country is home to Glacier National Park, and Montana's 2nd largest city-

Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ; fla, label= Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County. It is located along the Clark Fork ...

. The 2015 population of Glacier Country is 332,702.

Regions

Glacier County

Glacier County is located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

. As of the 2010 census, the population was 13,399. /sup> The

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

is located in northwestern Montana between the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, known to the Blackfeet as the "Backbone of the World." The county is geographically and culturally diverse and includes the Blackfeet American Indian Reservation, Glacier National Park, and

Lewis and Clark National Forest Lewis and Clark National Forest is located in west central Montana, United States. Spanning , the forest is managed as two separate zones. The eastern sections, under the Jefferson Division, is a mixture of grass and shrublands dotted with "islan ...

. The county is bordered by 75 miles of international boundary with two ports of entry (Piegan and Del Bonita) open year-round and one seasonal (Chief Mountain) international border crossing into

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Ravalli County

Ravalli County Ravalli County is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,174. Its county seat is Hamilton. Ravalli County is part of a north–south mountain valley bordered by the Sapphir ...

is located in the southwestern part of the

. As of the 2010 census, the population was 40,212. /sup> Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

. /sup> Ravalli County is part of a north/south mountain valley bordered by the

Sapphire Mountains The Sapphire Mountains are a range of mountains located in southwestern Montana in the northwestern United States. From a point near the Clark Fork River and the city of Missoula, they run in a southerly direction for a distance of approximately ...

on the East and the

Bitterroot Mountains The Northern and Central Bitterroot Range, collectively the Bitterroot Mountains ( Salish: čkʷlkʷqin), is the largest portion of the Bitterroot Range, part of the Rocky Mountains and Idaho Batholith, located in the panhandle of Idaho and we ...

on the West. It is often referred to as the Bitterroot Valley, named for the

Bitterroot Bitterroot (''Lewisia rediviva'') is a small perennial herb in the family Montiaceae. Its specific epithet ("revived, reborn") refers to its ability to regenerate from dry and seemingly dead roots. The genus '' Lewisia'' was moved in 2009 fro ...

Flower. The county is entirely on the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

side of the Continental Divide, which follows the Idaho-Montana border from

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

until Ravalli County. Here it turns east into Montana, between

Chief Joseph Pass Chief Joseph Pass ( elev. ) is a mountain pass on the continental divide of the Rocky Mountains in the northwestern United States joining Lemhi County, Idaho, and Beaverhead County, Montana. The pass is in the Bitterroot Mountains and is trav ...

and

Lost Trail Pass Lost Trail Pass is a mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of the northwestern United States, on the border of Idaho and Montana in the Bitterroot Mountains. The pass is at an elevation of above sea level and is traversed by U.S. Highway 93. The ...

, and follows the Ravalli County-

Beaverhead County Beaverhead County is the largest county by area in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,371. Its county seat is Dillon. The county was founded in 1865. Much of the perimeter of the county is the Continental Di ...

border.

Flathead & Lake Counties

Flathead and Lake counties are usually the main recreation areas for Glacier Country, and are home to Glacier National Park. The main commercial centers for this region are Kalispell and Whitefish. Kalispell is the commercial core for Northwest Montana, and has a population of around 25,000 people, making it the second largest city in Glacier Country, Montana. Whitefish is the 3rd largest city in northwest Montana, and has doubled its population in the past 10 years. It is served

Glacier Park International Airport Glacier Park International Airport is in Flathead County, Montana, United States, six miles northeast of Kalispell. The airport is owned and operated by the Flathead Municipal Airport Authority, a public agency created by the county in 1974. T ...

Missoula

is the largest city in all of

Western Montana Western Montana is the western region of the U.S. state of Montana. The most restrictive definition limits western Montana only to the parts of the state west of the Continental Divide. Other common definitions add in the mountainous areas east ...

, and the second largest in

. As of 2009 the city of Missoula had surpassed 65,000 people, and its county had well surpassed 100,000 people at around 108,623. It is the core commercial and shopping hub in all of Western Montana, and 2nd in Montana, and is also considered the cultural hub of Montana. Missoula is home to Montana's largest on-campus state University—the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fa ...

, which in 2010 had over 15,000 students. Missoula is also the largest Media market in the state. Some local news sources include the

Missoulian The ''Missoulian'' is a daily newspaper printed in Missoula, Montana, United States. The newspaper has been owned by Lee Enterprises since 1959. The ''Missoulian'' is the largest published newspaper in Western Montana, and is distributed througho ...

and the

Missoula Independent ''The Missoula Independent'' was a free weekly alternative newspaper in Missoula, Montana, United States. It was acquired by Lee Enterprises, owner of the daily ''Missoulian'', in 2017. On September 11, 2018, Lee Enterprises shut down the ''Indepe ...

. Missoula is also served by the

Missoula International Airport Missoula Montana Airport is located in Missoula, in Missoula County, Montana. It is owned by the Missoula County Airport Authority.. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective June 7, 2014. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for ...

. Missoula has a

semi-pro ''Semi-Pro'' is a 2008 American sports comedy film. The film was directed by Kent Alterman in his directorial debut, written by Scot Armstrong, and produced by Jimmy Miller. It stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin and Maura Tier ...

baseball team, the

Missoula Osprey The Missoula PaddleHeads are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Missoula, Montana, and play their home games at Ogren Par ...

Downtown Missoula Downtown Missoula is the central business district in Missoula, Montana, and West-Central Montana. Downtown Missoula's rough boundaries are the Clark Fork River to its south, Madison St. to its east, the old U.S 93 highway/ North Orange St. to ...

is a thriving area, and is known as the main shopping district of

. Missoula's nickname is the ''Garden City'' for its dense trees and green landscape, and because Missoula winters are slightly more mild than in the rest of the state.

Lincoln, Sanders, Mineral

Lincoln, Sanders and Mineral counties are probably the “quietest” out of all the regions, with small communities and towns. Libby, Montana is the county seat of Lincoln County. Libby has a population of 2,626 people and is home to

Marc Racicot Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

Thompson Falls, Montana Thompson Falls is a city in and the county seat of Sanders County, Montana. The population was 1,336 at the time of the 2020 census. History Thompson Falls was named after British explorer, geographer and fur trader David Thompson, who founde ...

is the county seat of Sanders County. Thompson Falls population is 1,321 and is home to

Thompson Falls High School Thompson Falls High School is a high school in Thompson Falls, Montana Thompson Falls is a city in and the county seat of Sanders County, Montana. The population was 1,336 at the time of the 2020 census. History Thompson Falls was named af ...

Superior, Montana Superior is a town in, and the county seat of, Mineral County, Montana, United States. The population was 830 at the 2020 census. History Superior was named after its founders' hometown of Superior, Wisconsin in 1869. The post office was establi ...

is the county seat of Mineral County and has a population of 893 people.

Largest Cities

References

Regions of Montana