Camp Three Forks

As well as views of the mighty four-way river confluence, the Headwaters State Park (10 minutes' drive) is full of short trails, ideal for half-day hikes and family treks. Madison Buffalo Jump (20 minutes) makes for another moderate and memorable trek, up to the limestone cliffs where Native Americans once drove buffalo herds to the valley floor below. For bigger jaunts, the old mining town of Pony (half an hour) is the start of trails through the Tobacco Root mountains, where clear lakes with names like Lost Cabin and Hollow Top sit among the peaks with only bald eagles, grizzly bears and rare Canada lynx for company. Surrounded by trails and a park of their own, the Lewis and Clark Caverns (25 minutes) are a network of vast underground caves, full of peculiar rock formations; call in at Norris (half an hour from the site) on your way back for another geological experience, soothing tired limbs in the hot springs. If you’re travelling onwards, the western entrance to Yellowstone National Park is two hours’ drive away.