Moonlight Basin is a ski resort in southwestern Montana, located in the Madison Range of the Rocky Mountains near the resort village of Big Sky. Today, it is connected through a chairlift to the ski resort of Big Sky.

The resort’s land was purchased from Plum Creek Timber in 1992 and began as Moonlight Basin Ranch, a real estate development on the north edge of the adjacent Big Sky Resort. Moonlight Basin progressed slowly; it opened as an independent ski area in December 2003, on the north face of Lone Mountain. The 11,166 foot (3403 m) summit is accessed by the Lone Peak Tram, part of Big Sky. The resort, completely on private land, is adjacent to the Lee Metcalf Wilderness Area in the Madison River drainage in Madison County. (The Big Sky Resort, also on private land, is in the Gallatin River drainage in Gallatin County.)

Moonlight Basin features the extreme terrain of The Headwaters.  These steep chutes and gullies on the north face of Lone Mountain, once known as the “Nashville Bowl,” can be hiked to from the Headwaters lift (opened in December 2005) or Big Sky’s Challenger lift, both of which unload at just under 10,000 feet (3048 m) above sea level. The resort also features terrain consisting of open bowls, tree skiing, moguls, long groomers, beginner runs, and a freestyle terrain park. A full day adult lift ticket for the first season was $39, for the 2008-2009 ski season the price is $55. The Lone Peak Pass combines Big Sky and Moonlight Basin resorts and is $93 for the 2008-09 season. The combined pass was first offered during the 2005-06 season.

The primary lift at Moonlight Basin is the Six Shooter, a high speed six pack chairlift that climbs 1850 vertical feet (564 m) from the base and is nicknamed “the flying couch.” The Headwaters chairlift connects at the top of Six Shooter, rising another 685 feet (209 m), for a total lift-served vertical rise of 2535 feet (772 m) from the 7000 foot (2134 m) base.  The other upper lift is the Lone Tree quad, installed in 2004 for the second season, which allows access to the gladed terrain northwest of the Headwaters.  Additional lift-served vertical is attained at Moonlight Basin by purchasing the Lone Peak Pass and taking Big Sky’s tram to the summit of Lone Mountain.

The two original chairlifts at Moonlight Basin, Iron Horse & Pony Express, were installed by Moonlight Basin Ranch in the mid-1990s before it was a stand-alone ski area; the lifts were operated by the Big Sky Resort.  Moonlight Basin will also offer a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course (The Reserve at Moonlight Basin) in 2009, coincidentally in the Jack Creek drainage. The par 72 layout will be 7800 yards (7132 m), at an average elevation of 7500 feet (2286 m); the clubhouse is scheduled for completion in 2010. The resort also offers fine dining, spa, and lodging.

The parent company of the ski resort, Moonlight Basin Ranch, has committed a significant percentage of its land holdings to conservation.

Opened in 1906 the Matthews Opera House was the setting for stage productions and traveling shows through the 1930’s. Built by local Wyoming rancher, Thomas Matthews at a cost of $50,000, the Opera House opened on December 3, 1906 with a political farce-comedy called “The Lion and the Mouse”. Throughout the next 10 years the popularity of the Opera House remained unquestioned. Many traveling repertory companies paid repeated visits to the Matthews during that time. However, as the decade drew to a close in 1919, competition from “moving pictures” developed in Spearfish and fewer live performances were scheduled. Renamed “The Princess Theater” in 1920, the Matthews was run primarily as a movie house over the next 10 years with occasional live shows still playing on the stage. However, the “golden age” at the Opera House came to a halt in 1930 when the owner of the Princess Theater moved out and opened a new building down the street.

Over the next 25 years the Opera House was used for varied events from a practice basketball court, to a shooting gallery and occasional dance hall. But the elegance of the interior faded as the building fell into general disuse by the mid 1950’s. Broken windows provided easy access to pigeons that roosted among the stage hangings. An effort by local college students in 1956 and ‘57 was attempted to revive the Opera House. The students brought a series of melodramas to the stage during the two summers, but while community support was high, graduation of cast members and financial concerns brought a quick end to the venture. Once more the Opera House went dark and continued to deteriorate.

By 1966, the Opera House had been little used for nearly a decade, when another band of intrepid students from Black Hills State College formed a theater company for the summer months and began a small scale renovation of the interior. Known as “Stagecoach Theater”, the student’s efforts were longer lasting than 10 years earlier. What soon became a summer favorite, “The Phantom of the Matthews Opera House”, written by Paul Higbee, opened in 1976. Summer audiences continued to grow through the 80’s, but the conditions of the Opera House were anything but comfortable. The building wasn’t air-conditioned and there was only one single public toilet. By the mid 1980’s it was determined that serious restoration work would be needed to preserve and protect the Opera House if it were to reach its centennial year. The Spearfish Downtown Association took the first step and formed the non-profit Matthews Opera House Society. The building was leased from current owner Mike Kelly with a 95 year, rent free agreement that the restoration would proceed on a timely basis. The first restoration phase was completed by 1989. Work continued into the 90’s and was completed by the end of 2006, the official centennial date of the opening of the Matthews Opera House.

Today, the Matthews Opera House is the centerpiece of the Spearfish Arts Center and the home to an active community theater. It is once more an ongoing scene of live theater, concerts and art events throughout the year.

Fort Laramie was a significant 19th century trading post and diplomatic site located in the U.S. state of Wyoming. During the middle 19th century, it was a primary stopping point on the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail and was, along with Bent’s Fort on the Arkansas River, the most significant economic hub of commerce in the region. In the 1840s it was taken over by the United States Army to protect travelers on the Oregon, California and Mormon trails.

Today, the remaining structures are preserved as the Fort Laramie National Historic Site by the National Park Service.

All aboard for a twenty mile trip on a vintage steam train like the ones that helped settle the great american west. The trip takes 1 hour to Keystone, where there is a 15 minute break and then a 1 hour trip back to Hill City. Train is handicap accessible. In Hill City they have a chair lift to raise the wheelchair in the train. The 7:30am trip utilizes a vintage diesel engine.

Booking Instructions: This attraction requires a date and time specific reservation. Please select the number of adults and your date from the drop down box for your preferred tour time. “Add” to your itinerary. Then select the number of children, if applicable, for the same date and tour time. “Add” to your itinerary.

Surveyed and staked out in 1876 and officially incorporated in 1888, Spearfish is ideally situated in the scenic valley of Spearfish Creek and at the mouth of Spearfish Canyon.

Known as the Queen City, Spearfish is surrounded by three prominent mountain peaks – Lookout Mountain, Spearfish Mountain, and Crow Peak which form a “crown” circling the City. Spearfish derived its name from Native Americans and fur traders or trappers in the early 1800’s who considered the clear and tumbling stream through the canyon a good place to spear fish.

In 1877, the first store was opened along with a United States Post Office. The Spearfish Normal School, now known as Black Hills State University was established in 1883. In 1893, a railroad was built through Spearfish Canyon. This route soon became an outstanding scenic attraction of the Black Hills and a roadway replaced the railroad through Spearfish Canyon.

The Federal Fish Hatchery, established in 1898, is known as the D.C. Booth Historic Fish Hatchery. In 1906, Matthew’s Opera House opened as the center of entertainment in Spearfish. After extensive renovation, Matthew’s Opera House still provides an historic setting for the visual and dramatic arts. The Black Hills Passion Play, a portrayal of the last seven days in the life of Christ, has been performed on a hillside in Spearfish for over 60 years.

Spearfish continues to grow and prosper. The community is a focal point for tourism, is rich in history, arts and entertainment and is a retail trade center. With Spearfish’s resort like natural setting, its business, educational, and cultural opportunities, it is a wonderful place to visit and to live.

Deadwood is a city in South Dakota, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It is named for the dead trees found in its gulch.[4] The population was 2,071 as of the 2000 census. The city includes the Deadwood Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District, whose borders may be the city limits.

Located at the foot of the Black Hills’ ski resorts and along the miles of groomed snowmobile trails, Deadwood offers winter recreation, Old West gaming and plenty of opportunities to release your inner outlaw. Plan your winter getaway with a Deadwood vacation package.

Located in southwestern South Dakota, Badlands National Park consists of nearly 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires blended with the largest, protected mixed grass prairie in the United States. Sixty-four thousand acres are designated official wilderness. Sage Creek Wilderness is the site of the reintroduction of the black-footed ferret, the most endangered land mammal in North America. The Stronghold Unit is co-managed with the Oglala Sioux Tribe and includes the sites of 1890’s Ghost Dances.

Established as Badlands National Monument in 1939, the area was redesignated as a National Park in 1978. Over 11,000 years of human history pales to the eons old paleontological resources. Badlands National Park contains the world’s richest Oligocene epoch fossil beds, dating 23 to 35 million years old.
The evolution of mammal species such as the horse, sheep, rhinoceros and pig can be studied in the Badlands formations.

Wall Drug Store, often referred to simply as “Wall Drug”, is a tourist attraction located in the town of Wall, South Dakota. It is a sprawling shopping mall consisting of a drug store, gift shop, restaurants and various other stores. Unlike a traditional shopping mall, all the stores at Wall Drug operate under a single entity instead of being individually run stores.

History

The small town drugstore made its first step towards fame when it was purchased by Ted Hustead in 1931. Hustead was a Nebraska native and pharmacist who was looking for a small town with a Catholic church in which to establish his business. He bought Wall Drug, located in a 231-person town in what he referred to as “the middle of nowhere”, and strove to make a living. Business was very slow until his wife, Dorothy, got the idea to advertise free ice water to parched travellers heading to the newly-opened Mount Rushmore monument sixty miles to the west. From that time on business was brisk. Wall Drug grew into a cowboy-themed shopping mall/department store. Wall Drug includes a western art museum, a chapel based on the one found at New Melleray Abbey near Dubuque, Iowa, and an 80-foot (24 m) Apatosaurus that can be seen right off Interstate 90. It was designed by Emmet Sullivan who also created the dinosaurs at Dinosaur Park and Dinosaur World.

The marketing campaign

Wall Drug earns much of its fame from its self-promotion. Billboards advertising the establishment can be seen for hundreds of miles throughout South Dakota and the neighboring states. In addition, many visitors of Wall Drug have erected signs throughout the world announcing the miles to Wall Drug from famous locations, treating it as a geodesic datum. By 1981 Wall Drug was claiming it was giving away 20,000 cups of water per day during the peak tourist season, lasting from Memorial Day until Labor Day, and during the hottest days of the summer.

Wall Drug Today

To date, Wall Drug still offers free ice water, but as they have become more popular, they have started to offer free bumper stickers, signs to aid in promotion, and coffee for 5 cents. One popular free bumper sticker reads “Where the heck is Wall Drug?”, “How many miles to Wall Drug?”, and “Where in the world is Wall Drug?”.

Back when the U.S. Air Force was still operating Minuteman Missile silos in the Western South Dakota plains, Wall Drug used to offer free coffee and donuts to the service men/women if they stopped in on their way to/from Ellsworth AFB (50 miles West on Interstate 90). Wall Drug continues to offer free coffee and a donut to honeymooners, veterans, priests, hunters, truck drivers, and other travelers.
[edit] Media references

Wall Drug has been featured in Time magazine as one of the largest tourist attractions in the north. They have over 500 miles (800 km) of billboards on Interstate 90, stretching from Minnesota to Billings, Montana. Wall Drug spends an estimated $400,000 on billboard signs every year. The history of Wall Drug was told in a two episode story arc of the podcast The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd.

Wall Drug was also referenced in the “Heart of Winter” episode of the post-apocalyptic CBS drama Jericho, when a shopping bag from Wall Drug was found at an abandoned campsite in Kansas.

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