Madison Limestone and the Garnet Mountains

Bearmouth, the place this rest area is named for, was a trading stop rather than a mining camp. John Lannen, an Irish immigrant, settled here in 1865; by family stories he traded a Helena mining claim for a cow, then ran a ferry across the Clark Fork for travelers on the Mullan Road, exchanged currency for gold and supplied the camps at Beartown and Garnet. The family added a saloon, sawmill, hotel and post office, and their home became a hotel when the Northern Pacific depot came in 1883. Interstate 90 was later built through the Lannen homestead.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Southern Flint Creek Valley — 11 mi
• Souvenirs of the Ice Ages — 21 mi
• Big Blackfoot Railroad — 21 mi
• The Bob Marshall Wilderness Country — 25 mi