There are a couple of interesting attractions in the town of White Sulphur Springs (population around 1,000). One of course is the hot springs themselves that are part of a small motel complex. You don't have to be a guest to use the springs... they cost $7 USD for a soak.
The other interesting attraction is "the castle".
The castle is a large house built by a cattle baron back between 1890 and 1892. He only lived in it for a couple of years before moving to California! After that, it had several owners and it was even used as an apartment building for a while. It fell into a state of disrepair and was donated to the local historical society to be used as a museum.
The artifacts have all been donated or are on loan from local residents... and there is a lot of stuff to see.
We don't normally do these kinds of tourist attractions, but decided to spend the $7 USD ($9.50 CAD) just for something different to do for a change.
Outside the house is the carriage house... you see this first before going on your guided tour of the castle itself.
Ruth, playing bank teller.
One of the original RV's!
Unfortunately, they have very strict rules about photography, so there are not many pictures to show you from inside the house itself.
One of the best displays is of Indian artifacts from the area dating back into the 1800's. Really detailed bead work and clothing. Wish we could have shown you some photos.
Nice views from the upper floor windows.
Ruth at the entrance staircase.
Thanks to our guide Carrie for the informative tour! They only opened for the season the other day and it was only her second tour... she kept apologizing for being a little rusty, but she did fine. We spent a total of about 2 hours on the property... interesting history of the area.
After lunch, we headed into Lewis and Clark National Forest. There is actually a ski hill located in the forest, so we drove up there and thought about parking in the parking lot for the night. But we decided that there was Forest Road camping just a little further on so we ended up there.
Sherman, camping at 7200'.
GPS 46.856634, -110.704719
We had a totally peaceful night's sleep, and this morning we are headed to the city of Great Falls where they have some nice bike paths along the river.
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And in Canada...
That "RV" is a sheepherders caravan, I suppose?
ReplyDeleteYes, that is exactly what it was! It looked pretty comfy but we would want to live in it. :-)
DeleteWhat a fabulous free camping spot. Good to play tourist from time to time too.
ReplyDeleteIt was a nice spot but we have definitely had better spots.
DeleteIt was the first time that we played tourist since crossing back into the US from Mexico at the end of March. Most things have been closed or there are just too many people around so this worked out well. The whole county has had only one person that has had the virus and the museum was so quiet we didn't mind going in for the visit.