Ross Creek Cedars Scenic Area — Attraction in Montana

Otherworldly in a weirdly creepy way! In 2018 we were enjoying the wilds of Montana. There was a fire right at Lake McDonald so there was no getting into Glacier NP at all and the valley was filled with smoke!! In my search for other places to go I found a small article about Ross Creek Cedars at it sounded amazing. It was a beautiful drive, the last four miles is very winding and narrow so take it easy!! There was one other car in the parking lot at 1pm on a Wed. The minute I got out of the truck I started to feel uncomfortable and couldn't understand why. Then I realized that there was absolutely no sound at all! There was no breeze, no birds chirping, no flies, no mosquitoes, NOTHING!! It was incredibly creepy and I got an urgent urge to leave. My husband thought I was insane and he wanted to do the short hike so he started down the trail. At the parking lot I noticed a message posted on the board by the Rangers. There had been a momma bear/baby bears sighting a couple of times over the past few days and just that very morning about 9am. Now I knew why it was so quiet, the bear was close by. I know why the forest goes silent, danger is near! We did not see the bear but we did not do the hike and only hung around the start of the trail about 20 min. It was absolutely beautiful but the silence was just not natural and it totally creeped me out! We're going back in 2022 and I hope to hear the birds...

With family visiting, we decided to go see the Cedars after hearing good things about the location. We drove the hour and a half to the turnoff on Highway 56 in Montana from Highway 2 outside of Troy, Montana. While marked pretty well on the Highway keep your eyes open or you might miss the sign. NO RVs, trailers, or long vehicles can get to the parking area of the Ross Cedars. It is a down a slow, mostly single lane road from the Highway. We were very surprised to find the parking area full when we got there. We waited a while for someone to leave then parked. After our visit, the parking was mostly empty so it must come and go. Really, think the Redwoods of California, just smaller trees. It was a nice walk and cool with the shade of the trees as we all walked the marked dirt paths through the grove. There were two areas near a creek that were loaded with mosquitoes but it was mostly bug-free. Our visit was during the early afternoon on a weekday. The most impressive sight to me was how many people have been stacking rocks in a dry creek bed and have created a "rock city" of sorts. A hidden gem? Maybe, but I would say visit if, in the area, it isn't worth going out of the way very much to see them. During our visit in July 2018, there was no cost to park and see the grove. There are two pit toilets in the parking area but no other services at...

This was a very nice walk through some very nice old cedar trees. Peaceful (if kids aren’t flying around). I thought we had a short drive, then we were at the grove but…narrow 4-mile road leading up to the groves. Had to get way off to one side to let the cars pass coming from the other direction. SMALL parking lot. Not sure how they handle the traffic on the weekends. At least the road was nicely paved and not gravel. The lines for the restrooms, all two of them, were long. Now, the trees and groves were wonderful. The creek flowing through made for nice sounds. One thing that I think would be very helpful and that is some signage right as the walk starts. We were only guessing as to what trees where cedar, hemlock, etc. But, as soon as we got a quarter of the way into the grove, at the start of the Nature Loop, we finally got a sign describing the cedar trees, their history and how to spot them. This would’ve been nice to have at the beginning. The amazing cedar trees reminded us of the California Redwoods…so tall and...