A boozy time capsule of copper, culture, and cheap thrills, Butte doesn’t try to be flashy or pretty, but it’s a unique corner of one of America’s best states.
Butte was the first stop on my second transcontinental road trip. A 7-hour drive from my hometown of Trail, BC, Butte is the epitome of a western mining town.
Trail, BC and Butte actually have a neat connection: my hometown’s first smelter was built by an entrepreneur from Butte (F.A. Heinze). One of the four Copper Kings of Butte, Heinze is a legend in this area – and he’s the reason my hometown exists (Trail’s smelter is still very much around and important today).
The Trail-Butte connection is probably only interesting to me. So let’s cut to the chase. Here’s what you need to know about Butte and the must see things to do around town.
About Butte
With around 35,000 residents, Butte is the fifth largest city in Montana.
Butte doesn’t have the flashiness of Bozeman. It’s not next door to Glacier or Yellowstone National Parks. It doesn’t have the sophisticated university crowd of Missoula or the political prestige of Helena. Unlike Great Falls (the third largest city in the state), it doesn’t even have a mermaid bar.
While other Montana cities have experienced double-digit population growth over the last 10 years, Butte’s population rose just 3%.
So what is going on in Butte?
Butte’s heyday began in the late 1800s when miners discovered the hill was packed with copper. Soon after the discovery:
- Butte became known as the “richest hill on Earth” because of its copper deposits
- Immigrants surged to Butte to chase mining jobs, turning the town into, no joke, the largest city west of the Mississippi between St. Louis and San Francisco (with an estimated peak population of around 100,000 people).
- Local entrepreneurs turned into “copper kings,” creating Victorian mansions and building turn-of-the-century skyscrapers
- Today, Butte is a living museum. Walking around downtown – which is located on top of a hill with a sprawling view over the surrounding valley – feels like a bunch of Irish immigrant ghosts are staring down at you. Maybe it was the chilly fall morning or the gross coffee from my cheap hotel, but downtown Butte had some type of feeling.
Today, Butte is a testament of mining grit, and that’s the point. It’s not about nature porn or wilderness selfies. It’s about seeing a turn-of-the-century town that hasn’t’ changed as much as, say San Francisco has over the last century.
11 Must See Things to Do in Butte, Montana
Butte isn’t a tourist mecca, but there’s enough around town to keep you entertained for a weekend.
Stare at the Berkeley Pit
The number one thing you need to see in Butte is the Berkeley Pit.
In an ordinary tourist town, an old mining pit wouldn’t be the number one tourist spot. But Butte isn’t an ordinary tourist town.
What happens when you hollow out a mountain and extract every ounce of valuable ore, then ignore it for a century? You get the Berkeley Pit. Now filled with heavily polluted water, the Berkeley Pit is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s cool just to stare out at it from the viewpoint along the edge. It’s stupidly big and takes up like half the town.
While standing and looking at the neon-green lake view, you’ll hear gunshots every few minutes. That’s to scare away any birds that try to land in the water. The water is so polluted, it would kill the birds. So regular gunshot noises are the solution. Neat!
The Berkeley Pit costs like $5 to enter and is worth a 15 minute stop before leaving town.
Ride the Old Trolley Through Historic Downtown
Aside from the Berkeley Pit, downtown Butte is the main attraction in town.
Filled with turn-of-the-century skyscrapers, downtown Butte is best seen from the old-timey trolley that rattles through town.
Highlights of downtown you’ll see on the Trolley Tour include:
- The Copper King Mansion
- The Dumas Brothel
- The spooky hollow where Chinatown once stood
- The Berkeley Pit (if you didn’t already visit)
- Other skyscrapers and historic properties around downtown
- Old mining equipment right in the middle of town
Visit or Stay at the Copper King Mansion
What happens when you have too much money in Butte in the late 1800s? You build an over-the-top Victorian mansion with hand-carved staircases, Tiffany glass windows, and frescoed ceilings.
Built in 1884, the Copper King Mansion has now been turned into a bed and breakfast.
Although I stayed in a cheap roadside motel for my one night stop in Butte, the Copper King Mansion is certainly a more romantic option (no offense, Super 8 by Wyndham).
Visit Butte During Its Legendary St. Patrick’s Day
Irish immigrants dominated Butte back in the day. Today, people in Butte still toss around terms like “the most Irish place in the United States” and claim 25% of the town is of Irish heritage.
I’m not sure what Irish people think about those things, but Butte’s St. Patrick’s Day festival is well-known across Montana and beyond. If you’re looking to kick St. Patrick’s Day up a notch this year, then check out Butte.
Bonus: Visit for St. Urho’s Day on March 16
Butte is known for its Irish-American heritage, but it also has a significant Finnish connection.
Finnish immigrants helped build the town. You’ll see nods to it in places like Helsinki Bar, located in the historic Finntown area of downtown.
That’s why Butte celebrates St. Urho’s Day on March 16, the day before St. Patrick’s Day. If you’re already in down for the 17th, you might as well make it a bender and loop in the 16th as well (especially if you’re only paying $60 per night at the old Super 8).
Look Up, Way Up, for Our Lady of the Rockies
Our Lady of the Rockies is the kind of monument that makes you say, “Only in Montana.”
Just like the random letters you see on the hills above Montana towns, Our Lady of the Rockies watches over town and confuses tourists.
Look up at the mountains from anywhere in Butte. You see that big white thing jutting over the peak? That’s Our Lady of the Rockies, a statue built in the likeness of Jesus’s mom, Mary.
Here’s the crazy part: that statue may look small from down below but it’s stupidly big. In fact, at 90 feet tall, it’s the fourth largest statue in the United States.
It may seem gauche, but Our Lady of the Rockies has a nice backstory: Butte resident Bob O’Bill (hell of a name) conceived the statue in 1979 after his wife recovered from cancer. The statue is now dedicated to “all women, especially mothers.”
Our Lady of the Rockies is built on private land and you’ll have to pay a surprising amount ($28 USD!) to visit it. Your ticket includes a bus trip from downtown Butte (specifically, Our Lady of the Rockies gift shop) up to the statue and back. Buses leave all summer long.
The tour has average reviews. I’d recommend looking up at it from town, taking a photo, and moving on with your life. But hey, it’s there if you want to see it.
Get Weird at the Dumas Brothel Museum & Venus Alley
You can’t have a good mining town without a good red light district.
At the Dumas Brothel Museum, you get a front row seat to Butte’s preserved red light history.
Open from 1890 until 1982 (no, that’s not a typo), the Dumas Brothel made a lot of miners happy (and poorer) for a century. The adjacent Venus Alley is still standing.
Drink the Spirit of Butte
You can’t have a good mining town without alcohol, either.
Butte has a couple breweries and even a distillery worth checking out:
- Butte Brewing Company: Resurrected in 2015 and tracing its roots to the 1880s, Butte Brewing Company serves surprisingly good pizzas and thirst-quenching beers.
- Headframe Spirits: Named for the mining structures dotting the skyline, Headframe Spirits turns copper history into cocktails: rye, gin, bourbon cream, and drinks with names like Canadian Campfire.
- Quarry Brewing: A newbie in town compared to the century-old history of Butte Brewing Company, Quarry Brewing is smack in the middle of downtown.
Eat Like a Real Montanan: Pork Chop Sandwich
Skip the avocado toast. In Butte, legends go by pork chop sandwiches. Deep-fried, battered pork on a bun with onions and pickles.
You’ll find this culinary heartstopper at Pork Chop John’s or Muzz & Stan’s Freeway Tavern. Ask around, and think of it as Montana’s version of a hangover cure with roots.
Dine in a Time Capsule: Pekin Noodle Parlor
Established in 1911, this joint is living history: it’s the second oldest Chinese restaurant in the U.S.
Half prices, old-time booths, lanterns, and a menu that’s basically nostalgia with noodles. It’s also a James Beard “American Classic,” so bring your appetite and your manners.
Get Outdoors-ish
Who says mining towns don’t offer fresh air? Take a quick side-trip for hikes, springs, or ghost town day excursions.
Notably: Fairmont or Norris Hot Springs to soak, or Thompson Park’s trails if you actually want to move your thighs.
Final Word: Butte is a Living Museum and Isn’t Trying to Be Cute
My favorite stops are the towns that don’t try to be touristy.
Steeped in history and with just the right level of grittiness, Butte fits the bill. It’s a walk through a crucial part of western North America’s mining history and a town that supplied copper to the world.
No, Butte isn’t Bozeman. It’s certainly not Whitefish. It’s not even Kalispell. Butte is its own unique, corner of one of the best states in America, and it was a worthy stop on a cross-continent road trip.
Leave a Reply