Butte Montana Sights & Attractions

Visitors to Butte will quickly learn the city embraces its gold rush past. It is evident in its vintage signs, historic buildings and numerous trolleys and tours devoted to the memory of mining days.

One of the few museums in the world located on an actual mine yard, The World Museum of Mining immerses you in the story of mining's heyday unlike anywhere else. The Orphan Girl 100 foot headframe stands sentinel over head. It is the only publicly accessible headframe in Butte. The mine at the museum was in operation from 1875-1956. Along with the mine grounds with all its authentic structures, there is a reproduction of an 1890's mining town with nearly 50 buildings, and countless artifacts. The main event would be the underground tour as a guide takes you down 65 feet below the museum in to the Orphan Girl Mine. The mine went 2,700 feet deep and produced 7.5 million ounces of Silver while in operation. (wear warm cloths) Open April to October.

A 90 foot statue in the likeness of Mary, Mother of Jesus atop a mountain overlooking Butte. Only open around June to October with just a few tour times each day. The round trip tour from Butte takes two and a half hours weather permitting .

The Berkely Pit open copper mine started in 1955, mining until 1982. By 1980 nearly 1.5 billion tons of material had been removed from the Pit, including more than 290 million tons of copper ore. The pit enabled Butte to claim the title The Richest Hill on Earth. The pit is 7,000 feet long, 5,600 feet wide and 1,600 feet deep from the high wall on the north side. Visitors can view the mine from a platform located above it but the platform is only open in the summer.

On June 8, 1917, 168 men died in the tragic Speculator Fire Disaster. The interpretive plaques explain the different mines and the stories of the people and events in Butte mining history. The memorial offers visitors a panoramic view of the Highland Mountains, the Continental Divide and the remnants of the once booming mining industry.

Bring a bike or go for a run, the Butte trail system in town is not just scenic but historic. The trail starts (or ends) at Granite Mountain Memorial Overlook, passes though the historic Mountain Con mine yard (famous for its Mile High-Mile Deep sign), and utalizes trails called the BA&P Hill Trail and the Top of the World Trail that once were railroads.

Big Butte is how the town got its name, easily identified with the large M on its slopes. This extinct volcano has been climbed countless times but incredibly wasn't purchased by the city until 2006. Back in 1910, engineering students from the Montana School of Mines built the 67 feet tall and 75 feet wide letter M on the southeast slope of Big Butte.
Years later in 1952 students and alumni added lights to the iconic symbol.

Butte Sights & Attractions