Giant Springs State Park Loop

Giant Springs is a Historic Site on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. On June 18, 1805, Clark described Giant Springs as “the largest fountain or Spring I ever Saw, and doubt if it is not the largest in America Known, this water boils up from under the rocks near the edge of the river and falls immediately into the river 8 feet and keeps its Colour for ½ a mile which is immensely Clear and of a bluish Cast.” On June 29, Lewis and Drouillard hiked six miles from their upper portage camp to visit the spring after hearing Clark’s description. He found it “much as Capt. Clark had described & think it may well be retained on the list of prodegies of this neighbourhood towards which, nature seems to have dealt with a liberal hand.” Giant Springs is a first magnitude freshwater spring considered to be among the largest in the United States. It is the headwaters for the Roe River, which flows for only 200 feet before emptying into the Missouri River. The nearby City of Great Falls was founded in 1883, and Giant Springs soon developed into a popular place for recreation.