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U.S. Route 2 in Montana

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Not to be confused with Montana Highway 2.
This article is about the section of U.S. Route 2 in Montana. For the entire route, see U.S. Route 2.

U.S. Highway 2 marker
U.S. Highway 2
Map
US 2 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MDT
Length666.645 mi[1] (1,072.861 km)
Existed1926–present
Major junctions
West end US 2 at the Idaho state line west of Troy
Major intersections
East end US 2 at the North Dakota state line east of Bainville
Location
CountryUnited States
StateMontana
CountiesLincoln, Flathead, Glacier, Toole, Liberty, Hill, Blaine, Phillips, Valley, Roosevelt
Highway system
← MT 1→ MT 2

U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway in the state of Montana. It extends approximately 666.645 miles (1,072.861 km) from the Idaho state line east to the North Dakota state line.

Route description

[edit]
US 2 in Essex

US 2 is a vital northern corridor for Montana. The road has more of its mileage within Montana than in any other state. It passes through three Indian reservations, comes very close to two others, and skirts the southern border of Glacier National Park. Most of the Montana segment of US 2 runs alongside BNSF Railway's Northern Transcon route.

US 2 passes into Montana 10 miles (16 km) from Troy, a small town. It is also near the lowest point in Montana, where the Kootenai River leaves the state. The first large town the highway comes to is Libby. After this, it meanders south and east toward Kalispell, a city of about 20,000 residents north of Flathead Lake, the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River. From there the highway passes through the southern end of Glacier National Park and follows the Middle Fork of the Flathead River and the BNSF Railway line. After crossing the Continental Divide at Marias Pass west of East Glacier, the highway exits the Rocky Mountains and begins its trek through the northern plains. Just before entering East Glacier, it crosses the boundary of the Blackfeet Nation of northern Montana.

As the highway enters the Great Plains, specifically the northern High Plains, the first town it encounters is Browning, the largest settlement in the Blackfeet Nation. From here to the North Dakota border, the area surrounding the highway and the adjacent railroad is known as the "Hi-Line" to Montanans from the early Great Northern Railway route.[2] The Hi-Line is one of around 50 colloquial regions in Montana. It next travels through Cut Bank and Shelby, where it meets Interstate 15 (I-15) and becomes the northern border of the area known as the "Golden Triangle", another colloquial region in Montana. This area is one of the most agriculturally productive in the country. From Shelby, it hits a string of small towns before it goes on to Havre, near the geographical center of the road in the state and the other northern apex of the Golden Triangle. Just south of Havre and off the highway about 15 miles (24 km) is Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation. The highway continues east to Malta, before which it travels through the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and parallels the Milk River. From Malta, the highway continues on to Glasgow, just north of the Fort Peck Dam, and then into the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. The highway stays within the reservation for much of its remaining length through Montana and parallels the Missouri River east of the dam. On the reservation, it travels through Wolf Point and Poplar and then exits the reservation a short distance before leaving the state. The final town of Bainville is the last major town on the highway as it leaves the state, near the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers.

History

[edit]

The route has remained mostly unchanged from its original routing, except to expand lanes or straighten and widen some narrow sections.

The most notable reroutings from the original corridor are: 1) the section from Moyie Springs, Idaho, to just inside the Montana border, which once ran much further north, as seen on the 1937 map of the area[3] (Old US 2N intersects today's US 2 about 2.6 miles (4.2 km) east of the state line); 2) passing north of Kila; 3) a route swap with Secondary Highway 206 (S-206) between Evergreen and Columbia Falls in 1983 (as seen in the 1985 state map);[4] 4) widening the highway to three or four lanes between Hungry Horse and West Glacier in 1987 (as seen on page 35 of the 2013 road log); and 5) construction of a more direct route between East Glacier and Browning over the Two Medicine River (which eliminated the concurrency with US 89 between Kiowa and Browning). All these former segments are still in use today. The former section from East Glacier to Kiowa is Montana Highway 49 (MT 49).

One former segment of the original 1926 corridor is maintained as a hiking trail, just east of the intersection with MT 56.

At Marias Pass, the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Monument, a 60-foot-tall (18 m) obelisk patterned after the Washington Monument, was built in 1931 to honor the 25th anniversary of the U.S. Forest Service. It originally stood right in the middle of the highway, with traffic flowing around it. In 1989, it was placed in a rest area/memorial park south of the highway, and the highway at the summit was widened to four lanes to allow slower vehicles to be passed before descending the pass.[5]

Major intersections

[edit]
CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
Lincoln​0.0000.000
 US 2 west – Bonners Ferry		Continuation into Idaho
3.7646.058
 S-508 north (Yaak River Road)
Troy16.95127.280
 MT 56 south – Thompson Falls
Libby32.38752.122
 MT 37 north (California Avenue) – Eureka
​35.78957.597
 S-482 south
41.96867.541
 S-482 north
Flathead​81.374130.959
 S-556 south (Thompson River Road)
Kalispell119.807192.811
 US 93 Alt. – Whitefish, Missoula		Kalispell bypass; US 93 Alt. exit 4
120.297193.599

 S-424 north / S-503 south (Meridian Road)
121.016194.756 US 93 (Main Street) – Whitefish, Missoula
Evergreen123.028197.994
 MT 35 south – Bigfork
124.844200.917Reserve Drive (S-548 west)S-548 is unsigned; to US 93 Alt.
​134.132215.865

 MT 40 west to US 93 – Whitefish
Columbia Falls136.876220.281
 S-486 north (Nucleus Avenue)
​138.477222.857
 S-206 south
West Glacier153.146246.465Going-to-the-Sun Road
Flathead–Glacier
county line		​196.587316.376Marias Pass
GlacierEast Glacier208.143334.974
 MT 49 north (Looking Glass Hill Road) – Glacier National Park		MT 49 closed in winter
Browning220.505354.868
 US 89 north – St. Mary		West end of US 89 concurrency
221.080355.794
 S-464 north
​224.346361.050
 US 89 south – Great Falls		East end of US 89 concurrency
235.711379.340
 S-444 north
253.772408.406
 S-358 south – Valier
Cut Bank255.029410.429
 S-213 north
TooleShelby278.317447.908 I-15 – Lethbridge, Great Falls

 I-15 BL begins		Exit 363 on I-15; west end of 1-15 Bus. concurrency
279.310449.506
 I-15 BL north (Oilfield Avenue) – Lethbridge		East end of 1-15 Bus. concurrency
​284.796458.335
 S-417 south
303.325488.154
 S-343 north – Galata
Liberty​319.763514.609
 S-409 north – Whitlash
Chester321.713517.747
 S-223 south (5th Street W) – Fort Benton
Joplin331.797533.976
 S-224 north – Joplin
HillRudyard341.516549.617
 S-432 south (Rudyard Road S)
341.848550.151
 S-255 north (Rudyard Road N)
Gildford353.516568.929

 S-449 north / S-448 south – Gildford
​379.169610.213
 US 87 south – Great Falls		US 87 northern terminus
Havre382.490615.558
 S-234 south (5th Avenue) – Beaver Creek Recreation Area
382.633615.788

 S-232 north (7th Avenue) to S-233 – Canada
BlaineChinook403.670649.644

 S-240 south (Cleveland Road) to S-529
​405.878653.197
 S-325 north
Harlem425.703685.103
 S-241 north
Fort Belknap Agency428.664689.868
 MT 66 south – Hays
PhillipsDodson453.247729.430
 S-204 south (Sage Road)
​461.571742.827
 S-363 south
Malta470.744757.589
 US 191 north – Loring, Swift Current		West end of US 191 concurrency
470.948757.917
 US 191 south – Lewistown		East end of US 191 concurrency
Saco498.545802.330
 S-243 north
ValleyHinsdale512.174824.264
 S-537 north (Montana Street)
Glasgow540.944870.565
 MT 42 south – Fort Peck
​543.178874.160 MT 24 – Opheim, Fort Peck
Nashua555.271893.622
 MT 117 south – Fort Peck
​557.030896.453
 S-438 north
Roosevelt​588.781947.551
 S-250 north
Wolf Point590.055949.601
 MT 25 south – Circle
​596.680960.263 MT 13 – Scobey, Circle
616.632992.373
 S-251 north
618.625995.580
 S-480 south
Brockton625.0941,005.991
 S-344 north
Culbertson644.0341,036.472
 MT 16 south (Broadway) – Sidney		West end of MT 16 concurrency
644.1011,036.580
 MT 16 north (1st Avenue E) – Plentywood, Regina		East end of MT 16 concurrency; west end of Theodore Roosevelt Expressway
Bainville658.4121,059.611 S-327 (Clinton Street)
​659.2591,060.975
 S-405 north
666.6451,072.861
 US 2 east (Theodore Roosevelt Expressway) – Williston		Continuation into North Dakota
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Montana Department of Transportation (January 19, 2022). "ALTIS Road Log Report" (PDF). Helena: Montana Department of Transportation. pp. 32–43. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  2. ^ Osborne, Janie (August 2, 2023). "A Slice of Big Sky Country You Won't See on 'Yellowstone'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  3. ^ Texaco; Rand McNally and Company (1937). Road Map: Idaho, Montana, Wyoming (Map). c. 1:1,774,080. Chicago: Rand McNally and Company. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  4. ^ Montana Promotion Division (1985). State Highway Map (PDF) (Map). c. 1:1,393,920. Helena: Montana Department of Transportation. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  5. ^ Franz, Justin (May 6, 2012). "Places: Marias Pass". Flathead Beacon. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
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Template:Attached KML/U.S. Route 2 in Montana
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U.S. Route 2
Previous state:
Idaho 		Montana Next state:
North Dakota
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