Montana Highway 200 (MT 200) in the U.S. state of

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

is a route running east–west, across the entire state of Montana. From the starting point at ID 200, near

Heron Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus ''Botaurus'' are referred to as bi ...

, the highway runs east to ND 200 near Fairview. It is part of a chain of state highways numbered 200 that extend from

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

across Montana,

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

, and

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, totaling approximately long. At , Montana Highway 200 is also the longest route signed as a state highway in the United States. Highway 200 helps to connect many small towns located in central Montana and the vast plains area of eastern Montana, to larger

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 o ...

cities such as Great Falls and

Missoula Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot River, Bitterroot and Blackfoot River (Montana), ...

Route description

At its western end at the

state line, MT 200 follows the

Clark Fork River The Clark Fork, or the Clark Fork of the Columbia River, is a river in the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho, approximately long. It is named after William Clark of the 1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition. The largest river by volume in Montana, it ...

at the feet of the

Cabinet Mountains The Cabinet Mountains are part of the Rocky Mountains, located in northwest Montana and the Idaho panhandle, in the United States. The mountains cover an area of . The Cabinet Mountains lie south of the Purcell Mountains, between the Kootenai R ...

eastward for until it meets the

Flathead River The Flathead River (, , ), in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Montana, originates in the Canadian Rockies to the north of Glacier National Park and flows southwest into Flathead Lake, then after a journey of , empties into the Cla ...

at MT 135. It then follows the Flathead River east for to Sčilíp (formerly Dixon) where the Flathead River turns north. MT 200 continues east following the Jocko River for and borders the CSKT Bison Range until it intersects with US 93 at Ravalli. The two highways share a concurrency and travel south

I-90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

, where they head east into

. MT 200 follows I-90 through Missoula for , with US 93 departing and US 12 joining the route along the way, leaving the interstate near Milltown. The highway runs parallel to the Blackfoot River and is subject to hazardous driving conditions in the winter, particularly due to

black ice Black ice, sometimes called clear ice, is a coating of glaze ice on a surface, for example on streets or on lakes. The ice itself is not black, but visually transparent, allowing the often black road below to be seen through it and light to be ...

. From I-90, the road travels east to Lincoln, and another where it crosses Rogers Pass on the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

. It continues east for to Bowman's Corner where it intersects US 287, and then another to Sun River where it merges with US 89. The two highways travel for east to

I-15 I15 may refer to: * Interstate 15, a north–south Interstate Highway in the United States of America * Polikarpov I-15, a Soviet fighter aircraft * I15 (band), a band * , of the Imperial Japanese Navy * Älvsborg Regiment The Älvsborg Regiment ...

near Vaughn, where they join the interstate and travel south for to Great Falls. In Great Falls, MT 200 and US 89 leave I-15, where they become concurrent with MT 3, share a brief concurrency with I-315 (I-15 Business), and merge with US 87, following 10th Avenue South eastward through the city. The four routes of US 87, US 89, MT 3, and MT 200 share a concurrency from Great Falls to Armington Junction (near Belt), where US 89 heads south and the three remaining routes continue east for . At Eddie's Corner (near

Moore Moore may refer to: Language * Mooré language, spoken in West Africa People * Moore (surname) ** List of people with surname Moore * Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador * Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior ...

), the routes meet US 191 where MT 3 and US 191 share a common alignment to Harlowton. US 87, US 191, and MT 200 share a concurrency to Lewistown, where US 191 heads north, and US 87/MT 200 continue another to Grass Range. At Grass Range, MT 200 and US 87 end their concurrency and MT 200 continues east for to MT 59 in

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. MT 200 continues east to

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...

where it intersects MT 13 and MT 200S (an auxiliary route that connects MT 200 with Glendive). It continues east until it intersects MT 16 and MT 23, where MT 16 and MT 200 head north into

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and share a concurrency. MT 200 leaves Sydney and travels northeast for to Fairview, where it turns east and crosses into

. MT 200 follows the following MDT corridors:

History

Today's Highway 200 is part of a four-state chain of such routes, but it did not begin that way. It was assembled from other state and federal routes over the years. The status of the routes and route segments that became Highway 200 in 1937. * The section from the Idaho line to Ravalli was the original MT 3. * No concurrency from Ravalli to Missoula on US 93 or US 10. * The section from Bonner to Sun River was then MT 20, and much was yet to be constructed. The route even followed segments of today's MT 21 to Augusta and future US 287 (then MT 33). * No concurrency from Sun River to Grass Range along US 87. * The section from Grass Range to Circle was part of the original MT 18. * The remainder of MT 18 ran from Circle to Glendive, today's MT 200S. * The section from Circle to Sidney was Montana 23, ending at then MT 14. * MT 14 ran the rest of the way to Fairview. By 1941, US 10 Alternate (US 10A) had replaced MT 3 as part of an alternate route from Wye to

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...

via

Sandpoint Sandpoint is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Bonner County, Idaho, United States. Its population was 9,777 as of the 2022 census. Sandpoint's major economic contributors include forest products, light manufacturing, tourism, recre ...

and was now concurrent with US 93 to US 10. Between 1948 and 1959, many construction projects and route redesignations with concurrencies made MT 20 from Bonner to Sidney the baseline for today's MT 200. MT 23N replaced MT 14 from Sidney to Fairview and MT 20S replaced MT 18 from Circle to Glendive. In 1960, MT 20 picked up the Sidney to Fairview segment. By 1969, the entire MT 20 had become MT 200 and included the former US 10A from Idaho to Wye, and following US 10/93 through Missoula. MT 20S became 200S.

Major junctions

Related route

Montana Highway 200S (MT 200S) is a

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A Bypass route, bypass or beltway is not considered a spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the ...

of MT 200 that branches off the main route near

and has an interchange with

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

shortly before terminating at the I-94 business loop in Glendive. MT 200S was originally part of MT 18, renamed MT 20S when MT 23 from Circle to Sidney was renamed MT 20 and received its current name when MT 20 was renamed MT 200. In the state road log, MT 200S picks up the mileposts from route N-57 (C000057) from mileposts 279.109 to 323.472, for a total of . Major intersections

References

External links

{{Attached KML, display=title,inline
Historical Highway Maps from MDT