05-26-2026 Tuesday, Pictograph Cave State Park, Billings, Montana

- June 03, 2026

One of the volunteers at the KOA office recommended the Pictograph Cave State Park yesterday. We decided to make the drive since it was only eight minutes from the RV park.

The entry fee is free for residents and $8.00 per car for non-residents. The visitor center has its own version of a passport stamp, so I stamped all three of my books... always excited to get a stamp. I also bought stickers and a keychain. The store did not have Christmas ornaments, so I bought the keychain and will add a ribbon to hang it on our Travel Christmas tree.

The small museum in the visitor center is very informative. The displays have items recovered from the caves and surrounding areas. There are really only pictographs in one cave, Pictograph Cave. The others only have red paint lines on the walls. Pictographs are painted on rock and Petroglyphs are carved into the rock. Once these Pictographs are washed and worn away, that is it for this park. So sad....

There are some 30,000 artifacts found, some thought to be 9,000 years old, according to the museum's displays. Most of the pictographs have either fallen off the walls or been washed away by water. The hike is only about .5 mile, and you see all three caves. Plan on spending an hour to an hour and a half. As I was coming down from Ghost Cave, a deer appeared about fifty feet in front of me and froze. I was able to get a photo, and he had forked antlers with velvet still on them. He was a handsome fellow.

This park is monitored by the state fish and game wardens. The warden in the visitor center grew up around this area and was very familiar with the surroundings. She told me the main animals in the area are: porcupines, deer, mountain lion, and a few black bears. We ended up spending about two hours at the park.

We needed to get back because I needed to shower. I had a pedi/mani appointment at 3:00 PM. While I was at my appointment, Barry went grocery shopping and tried to figure out what was going on with our Starlink. The connection has been unstable for the past few days. We pay too much for it not to work!!

I went to Precious Nails for a mani/pedi and was very pleased with it. It was a very quiet salon and I enjoyed that. From there, we went to Bullman's Wood-Fired Pizza for dinner. The pizza was flavorful and I loved their crispy crust.

Nice day, and tomorrow we head for Miles City KOA Journey in Miles City, Montana.