The people who call Montana home already know how amazing it truly is. It’s not that we don’t enjoy it when people visit and love it as much as we do; Montanans just tend to roll their eyes at those who romanticize the Treasure State, as if it is a perfect paradise that will magically solve all their problems if they move here. Truth be told, there are some legitimate reasons not to move to Montana.
The next time your friend from college, extended family member, or a stranger on the internet starts to plan their magical life here, list off these perfectly valid reasons, and perhaps they’ll reconsider living in Montana.
- It gets really, really cold.
tiraslee/Flickr It gets unbearably cold. Most people don’t even go outside for months.
- It’s so cold, some of our glaciers haven’t even melted yet.
Cody Wellons/Flickr Just go to Glacier National Park, you’ll see.
- There’s not much of a nightlife.
Eugene Wilson/Flickr The good, quality bars and music venues are so few and far between that people often have to resort to hiking, camping, skiing, fishing, stargazing and bonfire conversations to entertain themselves. Can you imagine?
- Montanans eat a lot of bull testicles.
Jimmy Emerson, DVM/Flickr “Rocky Mountain Oysters” are not actually oysters at all.
- Staying anonymous and invisible is difficult.
Eric Robinson / Flickr People are always greeting you warmly in public and waving to you as you drive by.
- There are way too many beers to choose from.
squirrel83 / Flickr Montana has more quality breweries than we can keep track of. Too many decisions lead to stress.
- Rush-hour traffic doesn’t exist here.
Sean Kimmel / Flickr You might think that’s a good thing, but what excuse would you have for being late somewhere? Yikes.
- Bears.
Valerie / Flickr So many bears. All the bears. Montana has the largest grizzly population in the lower 48 states. You really want to risk it?
- There’s that whole “supervolcano” thing.
Malcolm Manners / Flickr There’s a caldera volcano in Yellowstone National Park that could easily wipe out everyone in the state if it blew. And it will. Someday.
- If you’re a creature of comfort, you might not survive in Montana.
Andrew Filer / Flickr Depending on where you live, you may not be able to just go out and buy a new pair of shoes or find good sushi.
- The cell phone service leaves much to be desired.
R. Miller/Flickr We’re working on that issue…but not very fast.
- There are a lot more cows in Montana than people.
Micolo J / Flickr Surely you wouldn’t prefer the company of cows, right?
- You might get bitten by a rattlesnake.
Shawn Rossi / Flickr It could happen. Is that a risk you’d be willing to take? Another one? Really?
- There really is no such thing as a snow day.
Fisherga / Flickr Montanans are very tough, and they’re all too used to snow. So if you’re hoping to get out of driving to work or sending your kids to school just because of a little blizzard, prepare to get your hopes dashed.
- Seriously, did we mention there are BEARS everywhere?
jerseygal2009 / Flickr Why would you want to live in a place where you could get eaten by a bear?
Stay away. 😉 Living in Montana is only suitable for the wild at heart.
tiraslee/Flickr
It gets unbearably cold. Most people don’t even go outside for months.
Cody Wellons/Flickr
Just go to Glacier National Park, you’ll see.
Eugene Wilson/Flickr
The good, quality bars and music venues are so few and far between that people often have to resort to hiking, camping, skiing, fishing, stargazing and bonfire conversations to entertain themselves. Can you imagine?
Jimmy Emerson, DVM/Flickr
“Rocky Mountain Oysters” are not actually oysters at all.
Eric Robinson / Flickr
People are always greeting you warmly in public and waving to you as you drive by.
squirrel83 / Flickr
Montana has more quality breweries than we can keep track of. Too many decisions lead to stress.
Sean Kimmel / Flickr
You might think that’s a good thing, but what excuse would you have for being late somewhere? Yikes.
Valerie / Flickr
So many bears. All the bears. Montana has the largest grizzly population in the lower 48 states. You really want to risk it?
Malcolm Manners / Flickr
There’s a caldera volcano in Yellowstone National Park that could easily wipe out everyone in the state if it blew. And it will. Someday.
Andrew Filer / Flickr
Depending on where you live, you may not be able to just go out and buy a new pair of shoes or find good sushi.
R. Miller/Flickr
We’re working on that issue…but not very fast.
Micolo J / Flickr
Surely you wouldn’t prefer the company of cows, right?
Shawn Rossi / Flickr
It could happen. Is that a risk you’d be willing to take? Another one? Really?
Fisherga / Flickr
Montanans are very tough, and they’re all too used to snow. So if you’re hoping to get out of driving to work or sending your kids to school just because of a little blizzard, prepare to get your hopes dashed.
jerseygal2009 / Flickr
Why would you want to live in a place where you could get eaten by a bear?
Looking for some things to do in Montana that the locals keep to themselves? Check this article out!
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Address: Montana, USA
The OIYS Visitor Center
Living in Montana March 09, 2021 Tori Jane Is it worth moving to Montana? We certainly think so! Montana might have a small population, but it has a large list of amazing things to do in all that open space. It’s chock-full of amazing hikes, incredible lakes, photogenic landscapes all over the place. We’re home to Glacier National Park, which is easily one of the most beautiful national parks in the entire country. If you’ve never been, you should go as soon as humanly possible, because it might just be the literal definition of Heaven on earth - and it’s right here in Montana. What are some quirky things about Montana? Montana has some pretty weird things going on. Where do we start? We’re home to a gravitational anomaly in Columbia Falls. We had an operating brothel in the state until the 1980s (seriously) in Butte. There’s a hay-sculpting contest every year in Utica. Montana has an unusually high number of UFO sightings every year. We could go on forever, but instead, you should check this article out for some more Montana weirdness. What are some weird Montana attractions? Montana is home to lots of bizarre attractions, both of the roadside-variety and otherwise. Check out the Berkeley Pit in Butte - it’s a poisonous lake that was once a copper pit-mine. Nowadays, it’s just ridiculously acidic, 1,000 feet deep, and full of unique species of bacteria that one doesn’t find in a whole lot of places. Count on Montana to be somewhere where you can pay the state to see toxic waste. If ghost towns are a passion of yours, you’re in luck, because Montana is home to around 60 of them. Test your sense of perception at the mystery vortex in Columbia Falls, where nothing is what it seems. The list never seems to end; Montana is full of absolutely fascinating and strange spots to kill all the time in the world at.
The OIYS Visitor Center
Living in Montana
March 09, 2021
Tori Jane
Is it worth moving to Montana? We certainly think so! Montana might have a small population, but it has a large list of amazing things to do in all that open space. It’s chock-full of amazing hikes, incredible lakes, photogenic landscapes all over the place. We’re home to Glacier National Park, which is easily one of the most beautiful national parks in the entire country. If you’ve never been, you should go as soon as humanly possible, because it might just be the literal definition of Heaven on earth - and it’s right here in Montana. What are some quirky things about Montana? Montana has some pretty weird things going on. Where do we start? We’re home to a gravitational anomaly in Columbia Falls. We had an operating brothel in the state until the 1980s (seriously) in Butte. There’s a hay-sculpting contest every year in Utica. Montana has an unusually high number of UFO sightings every year. We could go on forever, but instead, you should check this article out for some more Montana weirdness. What are some weird Montana attractions? Montana is home to lots of bizarre attractions, both of the roadside-variety and otherwise. Check out the Berkeley Pit in Butte - it’s a poisonous lake that was once a copper pit-mine. Nowadays, it’s just ridiculously acidic, 1,000 feet deep, and full of unique species of bacteria that one doesn’t find in a whole lot of places. Count on Montana to be somewhere where you can pay the state to see toxic waste. If ghost towns are a passion of yours, you’re in luck, because Montana is home to around 60 of them. Test your sense of perception at the mystery vortex in Columbia Falls, where nothing is what it seems. The list never seems to end; Montana is full of absolutely fascinating and strange spots to kill all the time in the world at.
The OIYS Visitor Center
The OIYS Visitor Center
We certainly think so! Montana might have a small population, but it has a large list of amazing things to do in all that open space. It’s chock-full of amazing hikes, incredible lakes, photogenic landscapes all over the place. We’re home to Glacier National Park, which is easily one of the most beautiful national parks in the entire country. If you’ve never been, you should go as soon as humanly possible, because it might just be the literal definition of Heaven on earth - and it’s right here in Montana.
What are some quirky things about Montana?
Montana has some pretty weird things going on. Where do we start? We’re home to a gravitational anomaly in Columbia Falls. We had an operating brothel in the state until the 1980s (seriously) in Butte. There’s a hay-sculpting contest every year in Utica. Montana has an unusually high number of UFO sightings every year. We could go on forever, but instead, you should check this article out for some more Montana weirdness.
What are some weird Montana attractions?
Montana is home to lots of bizarre attractions, both of the roadside-variety and otherwise. Check out the Berkeley Pit in Butte - it’s a poisonous lake that was once a copper pit-mine. Nowadays, it’s just ridiculously acidic, 1,000 feet deep, and full of unique species of bacteria that one doesn’t find in a whole lot of places. Count on Montana to be somewhere where you can pay the state to see toxic waste. If ghost towns are a passion of yours, you’re in luck, because Montana is home to around 60 of them. Test your sense of perception at the mystery vortex in Columbia Falls, where nothing is what it seems. The list never seems to end; Montana is full of absolutely fascinating and strange spots to kill all the time in the world at.
