Missoula Field Office
| Contacts: | David Abrams | , 406-533-7617 |
Garnet Ghost Town Comes Alive
The Garnet Preservation Association and the Bureau of Land Management will host Garnet Interpretive Day June 27 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The day promises to give families a fun, wild-west experience in one of Montana’s most intact ghost towns.
Located 35 miles east of Missoula, the ghost town will be the site for gold-panning demonstrations, music, kids’ games, pie auctions, and guided tours of the town. In addition, Louis Adams of the Salish-Kootenai Tribe will speak about the centuries of Salish culture in this area.
“Our goal is to give visitors a total immersion in history,” said Dick Fichtler, Outdoor Recreation Planner with the BLM’s Missoula Field Office. “When they arrive at Garnet, it will be like stepping back in time. I think everyone will come away with a deeper appreciation for our state’s treasured past.”
More than 100 years ago, Garnet was an active gold-mining town with 1,000 residents, 31 businesses, and 13 saloons. By the 1920s, the gold had played out, and the once prosperous town slowly went into a deep sleep until its last full-time resident passed away in 1947. The ghost town is now publicly owned and managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
From Highway 200 turn south on the Garnet Range Road between mile markers 22 and 23 and travel about 11 miles to Garnet Ghost Town. Visitors using I-90 should take the Bearmouth or Drummond exit, then take the Frontage Road to Bear Gulch. Garnet is 10 miles north on Bear Gulch Road. The Bear Gulch Route is steeper and not suitable for towing units.
For more information on the event, contact Dick Fichtler at the BLM Missoula Field Office, (406) 329-3884.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
Missoula Field Office 106 North Parkmont Butte, MT 59701