This small but busy town is full of history and incredible natural wonders. Suppose you want to discover and get to know this beautiful city. In that case, you can stroll around ZooMontana to meet the different species they have, Bike on the Rimrocks to watch the spectacular views, or visit historical places like Pictograph Cave State Park to learn about Montana’s ancestors or other museums available. 

On this list, you’ll find some of the best museums scattered around Billings, Montana, so you’ll know where to visit the next time you’re in town.

 

Wise Wonder’s Children’s Museum

This Museum started as a project of the Junior League of Billings in 2009. With only a $3000 budget and a handful of exhibits, they created a “museum without walls,” bringing mobile exhibits to events all over Billings. In 2015, Wise Wonder’s received a donated space, but it wasn’t until 2019 -as the Museum expanded- that they relocated to where they currently are.

Wise Wonders specializes in hands-on interactive learning. So most of their activities include climbing, building, playing with sand, splashing water, getting messy, and more. This Museum values inclusion, creativity, fun, innovation, and safety, so they strive to bring families together and encourage children to explore science, technology, engineering, math, and more.

 

Yellow Stone County Museum

This Museum was founded by the Yellowstone Historical Society, the City of Billings, the Pioneers of Eastern Montana, and Parmly Billings Library, Yellowstone County, in 1953. It has been open to the public since 1956. 

Their mission is to collect, preserve, and share the history of the Yellowstone River Basin through a range of storytelling exhibitions and educational programs. Being this their mission, they have been installing historical markers at sites since the 50s. These include the nation’s past battlefields and traveled trails by ancestors as they discovered the West and other points.

 

Western Heritage Center

This Center began displaying a private collection of western artifacts in 1971 in a historic building. Walking tours, different programs, interactive exhibits, 400 original oral history collections, and over 40,000 original historical items and photographs have been added ever since.

You can find many interactive exhibits all year long. Some exhibits at the Museum include permanent and regularly changing galleries, allowing hours of educational fun for all ages. This Museum received the Mountain Plains Museums Association Leadership & Innovation Award and the Mountain plains Museums Association EdCom Award for Excellence for Mid-size museums for the Billings Youth Volunteer Program in 2021.

 

Yellowstone Art Museum 

The Yellowstone Art Museum opened its doors in 1964; during this time, regional museums focused mainly on western genre and nostalgia. These museum founders concentrate on contemporary, avant-garde work originating in the northern Rockies region.

YAM collects art from all historical periods, but it emphasizes Montana and American Northwest artists who were a part of the artistic vanguard of their time. Part of their collection also includes contemporary and historical work that interprets regional art-making practices and is influential for regional artists and audiences.

 

Museum of Women’s History

The Museum of Women’s History was founded in May 1995, and its purpose is to establish a place to preserve women’s history. It also facilitates understanding historical events from the perspective of women and displays artifacts that illustrate the evolution of women’s history. 

You can also find a research library and Museum office. The Museum is open for everyone to visit, and the exhibits proudly reflect women’s lives everywhere, not just in Montana. All the exhibits feature women from all professions, ages, and ethnic groups. Admission is free, and donations are gratefully accepted.