We had read about Hamilton in a website called “Only In Your State – Montana” (https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/states/montana/). I guess each State has one. But it sounded like a good spot to spend a few days on our route to Boise. It was about a 4 hour ride for us from Polson, and we drove through some pretty country. Along the way we passed by the National Buffalo Refuge, and it seems all the herd was on the very east side of the Refuge – right alongside our road. Awesome sight to see over 250 buffalo at one time.
Hamilton is a small town along Highway 93 (same as Polson). Downtown was a cute area with shops, restaurants, etc, but less touristy and more small town America. Had our first Pasty here (beef, potato & onion pie with a brown gravy on it). Seems to come from Cornwall, England. Apparently it was a lunch that miners could take with them underground. We both found them to be quite tasty. Their other pastry items weren’t bad either.
The Daly Mansion was the big item on Trip Advisor’s list of things to do. We went and thoroughly enjoyed our tour. Our docent knew the history of the family and land very well. Mr. Daly made his money from copper mines. After he died in 1900 his wife took over. By all accounts she was a well liked, caring person and did much to help the people and community. The mansion has undergone 3 major renovations, and now looks like a Georgian Mansion.
Lake Como is also a well mentioned “Thing to Do” in this area. The above picture is what we drove up to see. Not sure what we were expecting on a beautiful Sunday afternoon with 80 degree weather, but evidently everyone else also had the same idea. Tons of people and boats all over the Lake. Still a beautiful area but too crowded for us.
The Campground we were in was nice – gravel parking lot. I think we had the only tree in the campground, but right across from us was a park like setting with a creek. That was our morning coffee place. Very peaceful.
Before we leave this page, here are more pictures from pour Daly Mansion tour.
Well our time seemed to quickly run out, and now we’re ready to head south.