Pompeys Pillar National Monument and Visitor Center

Plan Your Visit

Visit the Monument and climb the boardwalk to the top of the pillar, learn about the Lewis and Clark expedition and more at the Visitor Center, and enjoy the picturesque riverside grounds and trails.

Hours and Seasons

For the 2026 season, we will open on 01 May 2026 and close on 01 October 2026 (so, our last day of operation for the 2026 season will be 30 September 2026).

Monument gates are open 8:00 am - 4:00 pm daily, except Tuesdays when the Monument is closed for maintenance. Monument gates open each day at 8:00 am, and the vehicle entrance gate closes at 3:30 pm, while the vehicle exit gate and the Interpretive Center close at 4:00pm. This ensures that if you arrive at 3:29pm by vehicle, you have at least 30 minutes before needing to depart.

The Monument and the adjoining Area of Critical Environmental Concern are open during daylight hours only. When the vehicle gates are closed, including on Tuesdays, visitors are welcome to park outside the gates and walk-in (during daylight hours only).

Things to Do

• Experience the Pillar: Pompeys Pillar is a solitary sandstone formation that spans about 2 acres at its base and rises 120 feet into Montana's Big Sky. Follow the boardwalk up the Pillar to see Captain William Clark’s famous signature and hundreds of other etchings and petroglyphs carved into the sandstone. The boardwalk – which extends to the top of the pillar – is approximately 1,000 feet long and includes about 200 steps.
• Explore the Visitor Center: Exhibits illuminate the journey of Captain Clark and his detachment, including Sacagawea and her son Pomp, down the Yellowstone River Valley in 1806. The center also addresses native cultures, flora and fauna, and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Numerous J.K. Ralston paintings and sketches are on permanent display, and a tipi, replica canoes, and a homesteader’s farm can be explored on the grounds outside.
• Enjoy the Grounds: Adjacent to the Yellowstone River and shaded by large trees, the grounds around the Visitor Center are ideal for picnicking and relaxing. Paved walkways connect to picnic tables and grassy lawns. In addition, numerous mowed trails ranging from 0.1 to 1 mile in length extend along the river corridor and through mixed grass prairie. Please help us to be good neighbors by respecting private property adjacent to the trails.

Features and Services

• Access and parking: The Visitor Center has a large, paved parking area that can accommodate some oversized vehicles such as buses and RVs.
• Day Use Only: Overnight camping is prohibited within the Monument.
• Cell service is generally good, depending on the provider. Public internet is not available.
• Toilets: Four vault toilets are available; two are on the north side of the parking lot, with the others near the steps leading up the boardwalk. The restrooms in the Visitor Center are flush toilets with accessible stalls and changing tables.
• Drinking Water: The Visitor Center has a water fountain and bottle-filling station.
• Pets must be leashed and are not allowed in the Visitor Center or on the boardwalk up the Pillar.
• School Groups and Special Events may be accommodated by special arrangement. For more information, please email blm_mt_ppnm_pillarschoolgroups@blm.gov.
• Nearby Attractions and Amenities include the nearby town of Worden (gas station, ATM and restroom facilities) and several Yellowstone River fishing and boat access points (courtesy of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks). The Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument is roughly an hour’s drive south of Pompeys Pillar. The nearest medical facilities are in Billings, MT, which has two hospitals and an international airport.