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Places We Protect

Dancing Prairie Preserve

Montana

A hillside with brown grass and some scattered trees.
Whitefish Range Glaciers helped form the landscape of the Preserve and region. © Steve Kloetzel

Dancing Prairie is home to a robust prairie—and a rare native wildflower.

Viewing

Overview

Description

Just north of Eureka, Montana lie the Tobacco Plains, a rolling sea of grass surrounded by forests of Ponderosa pine and Douglas fir. Within this sea is a remnant grassy “island” known as Dancing Prairie Preserve. This island contains a complex mosaic of native prairie grasses growing in gravelly soils deposited by receding glaciers. This is one of the last refuges for the rare Spalding’s catchfly.

The Tobacco Valley is sandwiched between the Purcell Mountains and Kootenai River (Lake Koocanusa) to the west, and the Whitefish Range to the east. This valley is part of a larger geologic feature known as the Rocky Mountain Trench, that extends from northern British Columbia south into Montana.

The Tobacco Valley was historically home to the Ksanka band of the Kootenai Tribe.  Kootenai traditional territory includes much of northwestern Montana, northern Idaho and southern British Columbia.  The Ksanka band now resides on the Flathead Indian Reservation to the south and are members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.  As such, they hold significant 1855 Hellgate Treaty rights over their traditional territory in the United States. The Kootenai retell many creation stories from this valley and continue to visit and use the valley and surrounding mountains for traditional uses.

Access

Limited Access

No access March 15 - June 15. Dogs and livestock prohibited. No fires or camping.

Electric Vehicle Charging

Resources

Explore our work in this region

Landscape shot showing features like depressions formed by glaciers at Dancing Prairie.
Dancing Prairie Preserve The landscape of Dancing Prairie was sculpted by glaciers. © Steve Kloetzel

A snapshot of geologic action

Dancing Prairie is an excellent place to witness the results of the glaciers that helped form the landscape. The mountains on either side of this valley consist almost entirely of Precambrian sedimentary formations, the Belt rocks.  During the last glaciation period, the great Rocky Mountain Trench glacier covered this area as far south as the southern Swan Valley.  Here, at the Preserve, the ice was deep enough to bury the majority of the mountains as an almost continuous ice cap.  To this day, one can see many remnants of this glacial time, including drumlins, kettles and moraines. 

Drumlins appear as long, streamlined hills covering vast stretches of the valley floor. They formed from deposits of glacial till – the deposits varying in size from silt and sand to gravel and boulders – mounded by a very large glacier. These drumlin fields in the Tobacco Valley are the only large fields of drumlins in Montana. 

Kettles are depressions in the ground surface that are formed by a large block of ice melting after it has been covered and surrounded by glacial drift (rock and dirt deposited by glaciers). The depression that remains often contains a lake or pond. Several examples of these kettles can be found on the Preserve.

Moraines are deposits of glacial till, which is sediment dumped directly from glacial ice movement.

This great geological churn helped form the terrain and soils that support this special island within the prairie.

Close up small plant with one stem, multiple leaves up it and multiple flower heads at the top.
Spaulding's Catchfly Flower The Dancing Prairie Preserve is home to one of the world’s largest populations of the rare Spalding's catchfly (Silene spaldingii). © Dave Hanna/The Nature Conservancy

A refuge for disappearing species

The preserve is home to one of the world’s largest populations of the rare Spalding's catchfly flower. Native to the Palouse prairie, this wildflower is critically endangered throughout its range due to loss of habitat. While in other places these plants number in the hundreds, Dancing Prairie Preserve may host as many as 10,000. Found in the presence of rough fescue and needle-and-thread grasses, this perennial plant grows up to a foot tall, bears white flowers in June and July, and has lime green foliage that is sticky to the touch. While the plants are long-lived perennials, in some years they remain completely dormant and never appear above ground. Since most of the suitable habitat for Spalding’s catchfly has been lost, the intact grasslands of Dancing Prairie Preserve serve as a haven for this fascinating plant.

Elk calf Wildlife on the Preserve include herds of elk, some of which migrate into the valley from Canada and winter in the area. © Dave McMillan
Sharp-tailed grouse The preserve is named after the annual mating ritual of these unique birds. © Agnieszka Bacal
Mule Deer Both white-tailed and mule deer can be spotted on the Preserve. © Richard Barry
Long-billed Curlew A great variety of grassland birds like the long-billed curlew call the Preserve home for part of the year. © Kenton Rowe

Wildlife on the Preserve includes herds of elk, some of which migrate into the valley from Canada and winter in the area.  As more people settle in the valley, the elk range shrinks, even as the herds grow. Hunting is one way to help manage the elk population, so that the animals don’t overgraze the native prairie while still maintaining healthy numbers.  In earlier times, grizzly bears roamed the valley freely. Mule and white-tailed deer, as well as moose, also occupy the area along with a great variety of grassland birds, including grasshopper sparrows and long-billed curlews.

TNC began acquiring land for the Preserve in 1987 as a means of protecting one of the last sites in western Montana where sharp-tailed grouse came to perform their elaborate mating dance. The preserve was named after that annual ritual. The arrival of the birds was a true herald of spring in this area.

Sadly, our efforts weren't enough, and the bird disappeared in the Tobacco Valley. This decline of the sharp-tails in the Tobacco Plains was most likely due to a combination of factors, mainly development that destroyed their habitat. However, scientists are capturing and reintroducing the birds to sites in western Montana, some being relocated from TNC’s Matador Ranch. 

Visiting Dancing Prairie Preserve

The preserve is closed during bird nesting season from March 15 thru June 15.  The preserve is open to foot traffic only, from June 16 thru March 14.  To avoid disturbing vulnerable wildlife, the preserve does not allow dogs, horses, bicycles or livestock at any time. Limited hunting is not allowed on the preserve. Fires and camping are also prohibited.

For more information, contact us at (406) 443-0303.