What are the Longest Rivers in Montana?

Montana's rivers are some of the best reasons to live here. Some of our rivers cover an incredible number of miles and continue on to neighboring states. Which of our rivers are the 'longest'?

We checked with the State of Montana, the Montana Department of Transportation, National Geographic and the World Atlas to compile the list of Montana's longest rivers.

1. MISSOURI RIVER - Starting in Montana, this important and gorgeous river flows for 2,340 miles all the way to St. Louis and the Mississippi River. It's the longest river in North America, by the way. (It's the 15th longest river in the world!)
2. MILK RIVER - Named because it's often milky colored with silt and clay. It's a tributary of the Missouri River and is 729 miles long. Anyone traveling through Fort Peck, Malta, Glasgow, Havre or Browning are familiar with this unique river. Traveling through Alberta and Montana, it drains into a watershed just east of Fort Peck, MT.
3. YELLOWSTONE RIVER - Another tributary of the Missouri, the Yellowstone is the 3rd longest river in Montana and runs for nearly 700 miles. It flows through Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming and obviously one of our favorites.
4. KOOTENAI RIVER - This river eventually drains into the Pacific Ocean and runs for 485 miles. It starts in British Columbia and also runs through northern Idaho and Montana. It's one of the major tributaries of the Columbia River. Montana only has 23% of this river within our borders.
5. BIGHORN RIVER - This is a river with three sections and runs about 460 miles through Montana and Wyoming (the Wind River section is located exclusively in Wyoming).