Places to Be Downtown

Feel like tasting a bit of Missoula’s fresh air? All within walking distance of each other, these attractions show off some of Missoula’s best.

Farmer’s Market
Missoula Farmer’s Market includes fresh local produce, baked goods and coffee provided by over 100 vendors in an outdoor setting. A cultural treat! Open from April 30th to October 22nd every Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon and on Tuesday evenings on July 5th to August 30th from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (406) 777-2636 www.missoulafarmersmarket.com

Missoula Art Museum
Founded in 1975 and accredited by the American Association of Museums since 1987, MAM has always been a flagship institution in culturally savvy Missoula, Montana. MAM offers a spectacular attraction in the heart of the historic downtown: a fully accessible, free, public museum that boasts six exhibition spaces, a library, education center, and an inviting information lounge. They are committed to educating the community through contemporary art and to developing and conserving the Art Museum Collection in order to preserve and make accessible our cultural heritage. 335 N. Pattee, Missoula, MT 59802; (406) 728-0447; www.missoulaartmuseum.org

Missoula Children’s Theatre
The MCT Center for the Performing Arts has bustled with activity since its Grand Opening in October of 1998. It is home to the Internationally-renowned Missoula Children’s Theatre, which takes original, musical theatre productions on the road to nearly 1,300 communities around the world every year!
200 North Adams Street, Missoula, MT 59802. (406) 728-1911; www.missoulaartmuseum.org

Missoula County Courthouse
The Missoula County Courthouse boasts eight murals by Edgar Samuel Paxson, best known for his painting, Custer’s Last Stand, finished in 1899. In 1906, he began the group of murals depicting early Montana history, which he finished in 1914. The paintings can be viewed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Courthouse. 200 West Broadway, Missoula, MT 59802. (406) 721-5700. http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/

Missoula Historic Tours
Allan J. Mathews, ‘Preservationist of the Decade,’ noted lecturer, and author of the National award winning book, ‘A Guide to Historic Missoula,’ leads walking tours of downtown Missoula and Historic Districts. The tours run from 45 minutes to 3 hours depending on your schedule, Allan also can be booked as a step-on guide for bus tours of Missoula, the Flathead Valley(including the National Bison Range, Flathead Lake and Glacier Park) and other areas of western Montana. (406) 728-2351

Missoula Saturday Market
At Missoula Saturday Market, each summer, the city of Missoula closes a downtown street for a Saturday craft and food market run by local artisans. Enjoy traffic-free socializing, morning coffee and treats, local crafts, and interesting imports in historic downtown Missoula (within walking distance of the river, the Missoula Museum of the Arts, and other downtown events). (406) 830-3216. http://www.missoulasaturdaymarket.org/

Montana Museum of Art & Culture at the University of Montana
Montana Museum of Art & Culture is home to one of the oldest and most prominent fine art collections in the Rocky Mountain Northwest. A year after The University of Montana was established in Missoula in 1893, the Montana Museum of Art & Culture (MMAC) Permanent Collection was begun. Today, MMAC has an international reputation and its staff maintains (in seven locations) more than 10,000 objects, including significant historic and contemporary artworks. University of Montana
Main Hall, Room 006, Missoula, MT 59812; (406) 243-2019; www.umt.edu/montanamuseum

The Clark Fork River Market
Located under the Higgins Bridge, in the Riverside Parking Lot, just east of Caras Park and the Wilma Building in downtown Missoula. The Clark Fork River Market provides a lively and scenic setting for buying locally-produced fruits and vegetables, meats, poultry, fish, organic dairy products, plants, flowers, fresh handcrafted pastas, baked goods, honey, salsa, jams and jellies, wool goods and other wares. Hours: Saturdays, 8am until 1pm from the first Saturday in May through the fourth Saturday in October. (406) 396-0593; www.clarkforkrivermarket.com