Milk River Overlook Trail

“the water of this river possesses a peculiar whiteness, being about the colour of a cup of tea with the admixture of a tablespoonfull of milk. from the colour of it’s water we called it Milk river.”
—Meriwether Lewis, May 8, 1805

The Lewis & Clark Observation Point on the Milk River Overlook trail gives a spectacular view of the Milk River’s confluence with the Missouri. To reach the trailhead from the north, cross the Missouri on the Fort Peck Spillway Bridge on Montana State Highway 24, and shortly after, head northeast on Fort Peck Tower Hill Rd.

Lewis and Clark correctly surmised that this was the “River which scolds at all others” or “Ah-mâh-tâh, ru-shush-sher” which the Hidatsa had first told them about during their stay at Fort Mandan. Pvt. Whitehouse noted that:

“We halted at a point above the Mouth of this River to dine, where Some of our party went a short distance up this River […they reported] that the River continued its breadth and depth as high up as where they had been—the Water Clear, and deep; the banks tolerably high, and the land very rich, and the country fertile, being partly Priaries and some Skirts of woodland.”

For more on the Milk River, see at our educational website Discover Lewis and Clark, the Milk River.

The Milk River Overlook is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 406-526-3411.