This was a great place to stop and brouse the musium. It has a lot of interesting artifacts and the staff are helpful. It is worth the trip to see it. i think its like 5.00 to get in. not a bad price. and you see the other attractions also.
The Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center is a beautiful building with a wonderful view of the meeting of the two rivers. It is not a large museum, but the exhibits are interesting and there is a very nice gift shop. If there are not too many people in the building, I love to stand in the center of the room and listen to the acoustics of my voice. It is worth the stop, so relax and enjoy. Fort Union and Fort Buford are nearby as well.
This spot gives you a great view of the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, a key spot in early history. Lots of interesting displays concerning Lewis & Clark and the early forts built in this important historic spot.
Memorable, fun, outdoor activity. Paddlefishing can sometimes become quite adventurous as you are spearing a very large fish from the shore of the Yellowstone river. Seeing a fellow sportsman running down the bank is quite common as you try to bring in your catch. The Fish & Wildlife personnel are on hand to clean your prehistoric trophy for they are after the roe. Since the paddlefish is endangered the caviar is in high demand so they keep the season short around May-June I believe. I'm certainly no expert on this just a local so if someone else can explain it all better I would welcome their input. It really is a unique fun experience in the land of dinosaur bones.
We made special trip there as my husband an Eastern Montana native has been wanting to see the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers for some time. It was neat to see the confluence of the two rivers but truly there was no area high enough to get a good panoramic perspective of the rivers meeting. The Interpretive Center was very educational with good exhibits and the building, grounds, and picnic area were beautifully manicured and well kept. Unfortunately no so for the camp ground, it was very over grown, dirty, and smelly with vaulted restrooms that don't seem to be cleaned very regularly. They have a lot of nerve charging to camp there as nasty as it was!!! It's sad that they do not take care of the camp ground area as well as they do the adjoining Interpretive Center grounds. We came to scout the area for a future camping outing but that won't ever be happening, we need never come back.
As part of following William Clark's journey down the Yellowstone River we planned to get as close to where it joins the Missouri as that is where he planned to rejoin Meriwether Lewis on their return trip east in 1806. We were very surprised and pleased to discover this wonderful museum as we followed road maps to as close to the confluence as possible. Given the width of the two rivers it is hard to visually see the spot where they join so having great exhibits explaining the area is very helpful. They have reproductions of both the wooden canoes and the buffalo skinned bull boats made by Clark's men and used to float down the rivers. Also covered is the geology of the area and how the rivers have changed their course over millions of years. In short, for a small museum an excellent presentation of a broad range of history.
There are two galleries. The one tells about local history and the other is an art gallery from a local artist. Neither one takes a lot of time to go through but worth it. Make sure you step outside to see the two rivers and birds. The gift shop is nice and reasonably priced.
I usually do not like history theme sites however as my colleagues were going fishing I decided to join them. I found the Interpretive Center to have lots of great displays and very interesting history of the area.
If your a history buff then visit. I would suggest some research on Lewis and Clark and a quick fly over when leaving the Williston ND area would be enough for most. The confluence of the rivers is nice but best viewed from an instagram photo.
If you're from outside the area, this is a well designed and attractive center that offers a wealth of information about the local flora and fauna. If you have just moved to the area or are passing through at just the right moment, they also offer concerts and a host of other entertaining activities. The people working there are very friendly and helpful and are more than happy to help answer any questions you might have, Makes a nice afternoon trip.