Absolutely beautiful hike. Took me just under an hour and a half. The views were stunning and even…read moresaw some fun wildlife.

The prompt: "Amazing! What went well?"…read more Nothing. I'm trying to recount the amount of bad times in my life that I've had that could compare to this one, and I'm grasping at straws. First of all, I didn't park in the parking lot because I guess I'm stupid. I plugged the mountain into the GPS and it took me to the nearest trailhead (not the parking lot associated with it). GIS data am I right? It's brilliant, but not intuitive.... Typically engineer stuff. It's like having Spock as your right hand man. Anyway, I park by these beautiful houses, I take my beasts out to roam.. with the intent of throwing rocks into the, "H" that overlooks our town as a gesture of solidarity. Meanwhile, Jacksie (my little baby girl) she's hormonal because she's about to start... SHE DISAPPEARED. I guess you could say I got, gone girl'd. Me and Djinn submitted, and did our civic duty, and then we hoofed it looking for, Jacksnthebox. Didn't find her. Where is she? I got a text shortly thereafter saying, "hey is your white dog missing?". Yes. "She's at XYZ address, you should scoop her." Me and Djinnyrd Skynyrd went grab the original beast; got there, picked her up, and started looking for my car... which at this point I realized, I had lost. Finally found the car, and quickly learned that I had lost my keys during the hike. (Fell out of my pocket.). Happy 4th of July, Marcus. "May Zeus strike you with lightning, and your tears fall on the feet of Aphrodite." Anyway... a 2 day ordeal, 30 miles worth of walking, blisters on my feet, AAA, and a locksmith turned it out alright. Happy 4th, Holmes. :) ..but truly though... can your worst day be that bad with these views? It's so beautiful here.

We were wanting to explore and hike the Helena area after visiting downtown…read more Quick search of best things to see and do, and Spring Meadow Lake state park came up. I think it was overrated. Only a few miles from downtown, and I think it was $8 fee for daily use. We expected to be there for quite a while but quickly realized when we got there it was probably going to be an hour or less. We walked around the lake 2x and I took some pictures and it was probably about an hour. There definitely was not much to do or see. There is a lake and there was a paddleboard class, there are ducks and birds, and there were some people eating lunch. I would not say this is a hidden gem or a gem, but if you want a park in the area it serves that purpose. I was expecting more based on the glowing recommendation for a top thing to see and do in Helena.

Spring meadow State park is a gem within the City of Helena. I often go there to paddle board and…read moreswim. It's small enough to paddle board around the entire lake, but deep enough to swim. I love it!

Beautiful park with a pool,amphitheater,playground,armed forces memorial and lots of parking. The…read moregrounds are well kept it's a great place to hang out with the family for a day or listen to a concert. Lots of shade too

This small park along the Last Chance Gulch shopping district is a neat spot to rest for a bit,…read moretake in the scenery and maybe play a game of chess or checkers on one of the tables. There is some good shade here and a number of benches. A large posting board features the latest upcoming events and some advertising for various personal services like tutoring.

They don't make it easy to visit and photograph the historic Fire Tower of Helena. We circled it…read moretwice before we found a parking lot for a closed business and were safe leaving the car there for the 20 minutes it took to climb up to the tower and get some pictures. It is a historic monument and icon for the city of Helena. Allegedly, there are only five of its kind still standing in all of the United States. The tower stands 25 feet tall and was built in 1876 after a huge fire destroyed much of the downtown Helena area. Called "The Guardian of the Gulch", it was manned around the clock to keep watch over the city. If a fire was spotted, the alarm was sounded to alert the town to begin fighting a fire. The Guardian is the last remaining tower of the many that once existed in Helena. It was last used in 1931. Certainly worth the effort to get close to it and see the history. The best trail is just off Cruse Avenue across from Broadway. There is a small hillside park with picnic tables.

The Montana State Capitol building is lovely as most of these very old buildings are. The…read morearchitecture is standard and it looks stately from the outside. The grounds are fairly well manicured and look okay as well. What I did not appreciate was the ten commandments slab at a government building. I was here for a historic tour of the town but I know enough about the founding of this country to know about separation of church and state. How disappointing. The inside of the building was also well built and very old. Unfortunately, when you approach the state police stationed at the information desk, it only takes a moment to realize why they may have been put there. I'll give you a hint, it is not their wealth of knowledge or sunny disposition. Parking is very difficult as almost everything is permit parking and street parking fills up quickly. There was also no security at all from what I could see, with the exception of the aforementioned misanthropes sipping their coffee at the information desk. As state capitals go, I believe there is plenty of room for improvement here.

Leia was a wonderful tour guide. Her presentation was fact filled, but very interactive and FUN!…read more She is a great ambassador for the Capitol complex!