Things to Do in Philipsburg, Montana

Sapphires were first mined near Philipsburg in the 1890s, and washing a bucket of gravel is the town’s signature activity. Gem Mountain, at 201 W. Broadway, sells gravel from its mine and lets you wash it in the store, with staff showing you what to look for. Montana Gems of Philipsburg, at 204 W. Broadway, has a running-water flume outside with covered tables, open year-round.

★ Good to know Gem Mountain’s staff can grade what you find. Its mine up the Skalkaho Pass Road opens only in summer, so check dates before you drive out.

Dale and Shirley opened this candy store at 109 E. Broadway in 1998, and it’s still family-owned. It stocks more than 1,000 candies in a room with late-1800s furnishings, and you can watch saltwater taffy pulled and wrapped on an antique machine. Its own confectionery kitchen, the Copper Cauldron, is two doors up the street.

★ Good to know It’s open all year, but hours vary, so check before you go.

Granite was one of the richest silver mines in the world until the silver panic of 1893. The state park preserves the mine superintendent’s house and the ruins of the Miners’ Union Hall. The road up from Philipsburg climbs 1,280 feet and is narrow, steep and winding.

★ Good to know The park is open from Memorial Day through September 30, daylight hours only, and the road isn’t suitable for RVs or buses.

The brewery opened in 2012 in the Sayrs Building, an 1888 bank building at 101 W. Broadway that it calls The Vault. A second taproom, The Springs, sits at the site of the old Kroger Brewery on Brewery Road. The Springs hosts live music on summer weekend nights.

★ Good to know The Vault is open seven days a week, so it works as a stop on any day of the trip.

The McDonald Opera House opened in 1891 to entertain the mining towns of Philipsburg and Granite. It showed movies as The Granada for most of the 20th century, and it’s the oldest operating theatre in Montana. Since 2019 a nonprofit has run it, with movies, live music, plays and community events through the year.

★ Good to know Check the theatre’s calendar before your trip; shows change through the year.

The museum fills the first floor of the old Courtney Hotel on South Sansome Street and opened in 1992. It has the Ghost Town Hall of Fame and a 4,000-square-foot Granite Mountain Mining exhibit with an underground mine tour. A pioneer-life exhibit sits on the lower level.

★ Good to know It’s a summer museum, open from Memorial Day through September; hours can change, so check before you go.

This volunteer museum at 212 E. Broadway covers the history of law enforcement across Montana. It opens each spring on May 15, Law Enforcement Memorial Day, and closes for the winter.

★ Good to know It keeps Wednesday-through-Sunday hours in season, so plan around Mondays and Tuesdays.

Georgetown Lake is a 2,818-acre reservoir about 10 miles from town, dammed in 1885 to power Philipsburg’s mines. It’s a blue-ribbon fishery for rainbow and brook trout. Discovery Ski Area sits near the lake, with 2,200 acres, 67 trails and about 215 inches of snow a year.

★ Good to know Discovery’s lifts usually run from early December into April, and its mountain bike park runs on summer weekends from mid-May to mid-October.