The top 628 acres of Mount Helena are a city park criss-crossed with hiking and biking trails. Deer and other wildlife are common. Helena became the territorial capital in 1875 and the state capital in 1894. The capital lies midway between Yellowstone and Glacier national parks, at the junction of Interstate 15 and U.S. 12 and 278, on the east face of the Rocky Mountains. At 4,090 feet elevation, Helena is just 15 miles east of the Continental Divide, and the climate is semiarid high desert, with an average of only 12 inches of rainfall a year.
Winters are long but less severe than their reputation, and summers are generally mild.
Summer visitors will appreciate a sweater or light jacket after sundown. Snowfall averages 46 inches a year, and about 20 days a year drop to zero or colder. Hunting and fishing are nearby. Holter and Hauser dams form major lakes on the Missouri River near the city, and the river itself is trophy trout water here, near its headwaters. Wild game thrives in the Helena National Forest.