U.S. Route 12 in Montana
Lewis and Clark Highway | ||||
US 12 highlighted in red | ||||
Route information | ||||
Maintained by MDT | ||||
Length | 597.576 mi[1] (961.705 km) | |||
Existed | 1926–present | |||
Tourist routes | ![]() | |||
Major junctions | ||||
West end | ![]() | |||
East end | ![]() | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Montana | |||
Counties | Missoula, Granite, Powell, Lewis and Clark, Jefferson, Broadwater, Meagher, Wheatland, Golden Valley, Musselshell, Rosebud, Custer, Fallon | |||
Highway system | ||||
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U.S. Highway 12 (US 12) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway in the state of Montana. It extends approximately 597.576 miles (961.705 km) from the Idaho state line east to the North Dakota state line, the greatest distance that US 12 traverses through any state.
US 12 in Montana has been defined as the Lewis and Clark Highway[2] despite not being the route followed by Lewis and Clark across the state.
Route description
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Lolo_Hot_Springs%2C_Lolo%2C_MT%2C_2011_3.jpg/220px-Lolo_Hot_Springs%2C_Lolo%2C_MT%2C_2011_3.jpg)
US 12 enters Montana at Lolo Pass, seven miles (11 km) southwest of Lolo Hot Springs in Lolo National Forest. After passing Lolo Peak to the south and traveling east for 33 miles (53 km), it meets with US 93 at Lolo and continues running concurrently northeast for 7.5 miles (12.1 km), where US 93 heads due north on Reserve Street, toward Kalispell and Glacier National Park. US 12 continues northeasterly through Missoula's downtown, eventually meeting Interstate 90 (I-90). It then overlaps I-90 for 69 miles (111 km), until Garrison, where it heads eastward toward Helena for 48.8 miles (78.5 km). This two-lane section of the trip passes through Avon and Elliston winding through Helena National Forest, over the Continental Divide at MacDonald Pass, and then through Montana's capital city, Helena.
On the east end of Helena, US 12 passes over I-15 at which point it joins US 287 south. US 12 overlaps US 287 and heads southeasterly, toward Townsend for 33.4 miles (53.8 km), where it splits from US 287, which heads south toward the intersection of I-90 near the town of Three Forks. US 12 heads eastward toward White Sulphur Springs for 42.2 miles (67.9 km); the route joins US 89 (which heads south toward Livingston and Yellowstone National Park) for 8.4 miles (13.5 km) before entering White Sulphur Springs and for another three miles (4.8 km) east of town. US 12 continues east for 54.4 miles (87.5 km) to Harlowton where it joins US 191 and share a 1.4-mile (2.3 km) concurrency through town. On the east end of Harlowton, the routes meet with Montana Highway 3 (MT 3), where US 191 and MT 3 share a common alignment and continue north to Lewistown and MT 3 joins US 12. US 12 and MT 3 continue east for 45.2 miles (72.7 km) before MT 3 heads south near Lavina and continues to Billings. US 12 continues east 21.4 miles (34.4 km) until the junction of US 87 and the two routes continue as a 2.1-mile (3.4 km) concurrency through Roundup. US 87 splits north and US 12 continues east on its own for 101 miles (163 km), until the junction with I-94 at Forsyth as a concurrency northeast for 45.8 miles (73.7 km) to Miles City. At the east exit for Miles City, US 12 splits again from I-94 and heads almost directly east to the North Dakota border at a distance of 92.4 miles (148.7 km).[1][3]
History
[edit]![]() | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2023) |
US 12 had a proposal to be routed southwestward from Miles City through Forsyth, Hysham, Billings, Laurel, Rockvale, Red Lodge, and Cooke City, partially on the path of US 212. This path would have also taken the highway into Wyoming, with a second piece in Montana.[4]
Major intersections
[edit]County | Location | mi[1] | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lolo Pass | 0.000 | 0.000 | ![]() ![]() ![]() | Continuation into Idaho | ||
Missoula | Lolo | 32.556 | 52.394 | ![]() ![]() ![]() | Western end of US 93 concurrency | |
Missoula | 40.080 | 64.503 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Eastern end of US 93 concurrency; western terminus of US 93 Bus.; western end of US 93 Bus. concurrency | ||
41.745 | 67.182 | ![]() ![]() ![]() | Eastern end of US 93 Bus. concurrency | |||
43.806 | 70.499 | ![]() ![]() | Western end of I-90 BL concurrency | |||
44.159 | 71.067 | 105 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Eastern end of I-90 BL concurrency; I-90 BL eastern terminus; western end of I-90 / MT 200 concurrency; exit numbers follow I-90 | ||
45.784 | 73.682 | 107 | East Missoula | |||
Bonner | 48.999 | 78.856 | 109 | ![]() ![]() ![]() | Eastern end of MT 200 concurrency | |
Turah | 52.884 | 85.109 | 113 | Turah | ||
Clinton | 59.788 | 96.219 | 120 | Clinton | ||
| 64.840 | 104.350 | 126 | Rock Creek Road | Rock Creek Road Scenic Byway | |
69.228 | 111.412 | 130 | Beavertail Road | |||
Granite | | 76.889 | 123.741 | 138 | Bearmouth Area | |
Drummond | 92.167 | 148.328 | 153 | ![]() | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | |
93.092 | 149.817 | 154 | ![]() ![]() | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
Powell | Jens | 101.002 | 162.547 | 162 | Jens | |
Gold Creek | 104.725 | 168.539 | 166 | Gold Creek | ||
Phosphate | 108.692 | 174.923 | 170 | Phosphate | ||
Garrison | 112.836 | 181.592 | 174 | ![]() ![]() | Eastern end of I-90 concurrency; eastbound exit and westbound entrance; westbound exit and eastbound entrance via exit 175 | |
| 125.743 | 202.364 | ![]() ![]() | |||
Powell–Lewis and Clark county line | | 140.337 | 225.851 | MacDonald Pass (Continental Divide) | ||
Lewis and Clark | Helena | 156.631 | 252.073 | ![]() ![]() | Western end of I-15 Bus. concurrency | |
158.241 | 254.664 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | I-15 exit 192; eastern end of I-15 BL concurrency; southern terminus of I-15 BL; western end of US 287 concurrency | |||
East Helena | 162.562 | 261.618 | ![]() ![]() | |||
Jefferson | Louisville | 169.468 | 272.732 | ![]() ![]() | ||
Broadwater | Townsend | 190.311 | 306.276 | ![]() ![]() ![]() | Eastern end of US 287 concurrency | |
| 192.713 | 310.142 | ![]() ![]() | |||
Meagher | | 223.562 | 359.788 | ![]() ![]() | Western end of US 89 concurrency | |
White Sulphur Springs | 232.418 | 374.041 | ![]() ![]() | |||
| 235.361 | 378.777 | ![]() ![]() | Eastern end of US 89 concurrency | ||
266.380 | 428.697 | ![]() ![]() | ||||
Wheatland | Harlowton | 289.790 | 466.372 | ![]() ![]() | Western end of US 191 concurrency | |
291.176 | 468.602 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Eastern end of US 191 concurrency; western end of MT 3 concurrency | |||
Shawmut | 306.435 | 493.159 | ![]() ![]() | |||
Golden Valley | Ryegate | 320.079 | 515.117 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ||
| 336.354 | 541.309 | ![]() ![]() | Eastern end of MT 3 concurrency | ||
352.938 | 567.999 | ![]() | ||||
Musselshell | | 357.720 | 575.695 | ![]() ![]() | Western end of US 87 concurrency | |
Roundup | 359.788 | 579.023 | ![]() ![]() | Eastern end of US 87 concurrency | ||
| 382.425 | 615.453 | ![]() ![]() | |||
396.097 | 637.456 | ![]() ![]() | ||||
Rosebud | Forsyth | 461.175 | 742.189 | 93 | ![]() ![]() | Western end of I-94 concurrency; exit numbers follow I-94 |
462.803 | 744.809 | 95 | Forsyth | |||
| 471.584 | 758.941 | 103 | ![]() ![]() | ||
474.700 | 763.956 | 106 | Butte Creek Road – Rosebud | |||
485.470 | 781.288 | 117 | Hathaway | |||
Custer | | 493.976 | 794.977 | 126 | Moon Creek Road | |
496.490 | 799.023 | 128 | Local Access | |||
Miles City | 503.235 | 809.878 | 135 | ![]() ![]() | ||
506.013 | 814.349 | 138 | ![]() | |||
| 508.880 | 818.963 | 141 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Eastern end of I-94 concurrency | |
Fallon | | 559.863 | 901.012 | ![]() ![]() | ||
Plevna | 572.578 | 921.475 | ![]() ![]() | |||
Baker | 585.139 | 941.690 | ![]() | |||
| 597.576 | 961.705 | ![]() ![]() | Continuation into North Dakota | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
|
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Road Inventory and Mapping Section (2013). Montana Road Log (PDF). Helena: Montana Department of Transportation. pp. 11–12, 19–20, 59–62, 143–144, 157–159. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 1, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
- ^ Montana Legislature (1947). "60-1-202: Lewis And Clark Highway". Montana Code Annotated. Title 60, Chapter 1, Part 2.
- ^ Montana Department of Transportation (2016). Montana Official Highway Map (Map). 1:633,600. Helena: Montana Department of Transportation.[full citation needed]
- ^ [1]
External links
[edit]Media related to U.S. Route 12 in Montana at Wikimedia Commons
- U.S. Route 12
- U.S. Highways in Montana
- Transportation in Missoula County, Montana
- Transportation in Granite County, Montana
- Transportation in Powell County, Montana
- Transportation in Lewis and Clark County, Montana
- Transportation in Broadwater County, Montana
- Transportation in Meagher County, Montana
- Transportation in Wheatland County, Montana
- Transportation in Golden Valley County, Montana
- Transportation in Musselshell County, Montana
- Transportation in Rosebud County, Montana
- Transportation in Custer County, Montana
- Transportation in Fallon County, Montana