U.S. Highway 12 (US 12) is an east–west

United States Numbered Highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...

in the state of

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

. It extends approximately from the

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

state line east to the

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

state line, the greatest distance that US 12 traverses through any state. US 12 in Montana has been defined as the Lewis and Clark Highway despite not being the route followed by Lewis and Clark across the state.

Route description

US 12 enters Montana at Lolo Pass, southwest of Lolo Hot Springs in

Lolo National Forest __NOTOC__ Lolo National Forest is a national forest located in western Montana, United States with the western boundary being the state of Idaho. The forest spans 2 million acres (8,000 km2) and includes four wilderness areas; the Scapegoat a ...

. After passing

Lolo Peak Lolo Peak () is a mountain in the western United States, in the northern Rocky Mountains. It is located in the Bitterroot Range of western Montana in Missoula County, southwest of Missoula. East of Lolo Pass at the Idaho border, the peak is v ...

to the south and traveling east for , it meets with US 93 at Lolo and continues running concurrently northeast for , where US 93 heads due north on Reserve Street, toward Kalispell and Glacier National Park. US 12 continues northeasterly through

Missoula Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

's downtown, eventually meeting Interstate 90 (I-90). It then overlaps I-90 for , until Garrison, where it heads eastward toward Helena for . This two-lane section of the trip passes through Avon and Elliston winding through Helena National Forest, over the Continental Divide at MacDonald Pass, and then through Montana's capital city, Helena. On the east end of Helena, US 12 passes over I-15 at which point it joins US 287 south. US 12 overlaps US 287 and heads southeasterly, toward

Townsend Townsend (pronounced tounʹ-zənd) or Townshend may refer to: Places United States *Camp Townsend, National Guard training base in Peekskill, New York *Townsend, Delaware *Townsend, Georgia *Townsend, Massachusetts, a New England town ** Townsend ...

for , where it splits from US 287, which heads south toward the intersection of I-90 near the town of Three Forks. US 12 heads eastward toward White Sulphur Springs for ; the route joins US 89 (which heads south toward

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

and

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowst ...

) for before entering White Sulphur Springs and for another east of town. US 12 continues east for to

Harlowton Harlowton is a city in and the county seat of Wheatland County, Montana, United States. The population was 955 at the 2020 census. Description The city was once the eastern terminus of electric operations (1914–74) for the "Pacific Extension ...

where it joins US 191 and share a concurrency through town. On the east end of Harlowton, the routes meet with

Montana Highway 3 Montana Highway 3 (MT 3) is a highway in central Montana extending north from Billings to Great Falls. Route description At its southern end, MT 3 begins at I-90 in Billings and travels northwest to US 12 near Lavina – this ...

(MT 3), where US 191 and MT 3 share a common alignment and continue north to Lewistown and MT 3 joins US 12. US 12 and MT 3 continue east for before MT 3 heads south near Lavina and continues to

Billings Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

. US 12 continues east until the junction of US 87 and the two routes continue as a concurrency through Roundup. US 87 splits north and US 12 continues east on its own for , until the junction with I-94 at

Forsyth Forsyth may refer to: Places Oceania * Forsyth Island, Queensland, Australia, one of the West Wellesley Islands (aka Forsyth Islands) * Forsyth Island, Tasmania, Australia * Forsyth Island (New Zealand), in the outer Marlborough Sounds of South I ...

as a concurrency northeast for to Miles City. At the east exit for Miles City, US 12 splits again from I-94 and heads almost directly east to the North Dakota border at a distance of .

History

US 12 had a proposal to be routed southwestward from Miles City through

, Hysham,

Laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

, Rockvale, Red Lodge, and Cooke City, partially on the path of US 212. This path would have also taken the highway into Wyoming, with a second piece in Montana.
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Major intersections

References

External links

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links