The One Montana Cave That’s Filled With Ancient Mysteries

If there's one state that's all about preserving its history, it's Montana. From our excellent museums to our famous Dinosaur Trail, you'll find pieces of our past all over the state. But one Eastern Montana cave remains a bit of a prehistoric mystery.

Pictograph Cave State Park is located out on Coburn Road in Billings.

The Pictograph Cave site was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1964 because of its archaeological significance. It's a place to go to get up close and personal with the ancient past.

The Pictograph, Middle, and Ghost caves (pictured here) were once home to generations of prehistoric hunters.

The park has a small loop trail that allows you to view the pictographs inside.

The pictographs are rock paintings, some of which date back 2,000 years.

There are over 100 pictographs in the park.

The interpretation of the pictographs is still being debated.

The images of animals, warriors, tools and rifles tell a story that has lasted thousands of years.

About 30,000 artifacts, ranging from stone tools, weapons, paintings and the instruments used to paint, have been excavated from the site.

Those artifacts have allowed researchers to pinpoint which native peoples used the caves and when they inhabited the area.

It's pretty great to be able to see this up-close-and-personal look at ancient history, even though it hasn't been fully explained.

We wonder what Montanans will be looking at 2,000 years from now.

Pictograph State Park is pretty impressive. And if you're not afraid of delving deep into a cavern, check out Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park.