Oh beautiful, for Big Blue skies, for forests, hills and Plains.

For sparkling rivers’ majesty, winding through the fruited plains.

Montana, Montana, glory of the West...of all the states from coast to coast, on the Fourth of July you’re the best.

With apologies to the writers of such songs of praise, it was another great day to be in northwest Montana celebrating Independence Day.

From the pancakes on the grill at the firehouse in Plains, to the smiling people lining the streets of Noxon, to the fireworks bouquets over the celebrants in Paradise and beyond, this corner of Big Sky Country threw a party.

Celebrations dominated towns across the area, much to the delight of locals and tourists alike, with the latter boosting the populations of small towns throughout the area.

In Noxon, a town of 250 people according to the 2020 census, the head count was swollen way beyond the official statistic. Tourists from throughout the Northwest and Canada lined the streets to witness the spectacle that is the Fourth of July in rural Montana.

“This is our third year here,” said Betty Rowland, who along with her husband Arthur and three children journeyed from Kootenia, British Columbia to attend this year’s parade. “We are definitely in love with this area, which is much like the mountainous areas of Canada. The people are awesome and the whole thing is a must see event for us”.

The Rowlands make the day on their calendar with “Noxon, MT” written in big red letters, she said.

“We make a weekend or long week out of it and get time in our camper along the way. These are two great countries we have here and Montana is a favorite place to visit for us.”

The Noxon parade begins at the local high school, travels through the main part of town, then turns around and does the whole thing in reverse, giving parade goers a double parade experience. Food booths and vendors packed the city park throughout the day.

Noxon featured a long, fan delighting fireworks show at sundown, capping a day where the highway across the Clark Fork River as well as mountain roads with a view of the show watched the 45-minute pyrotechnics display.

Plains got in on the act earlier in the day with its traditional firehouse pancake feed, followed by a VFW sponsored picnic in Fred Young Park, which featured hamburgers, hot dogs and live music provided by a country band from Great Falls.

Fireworks lit the night sky throughout the area.

Just down the road in Paradise, Fourth of July activities began with a pot-luck picnic dinner at the town park across from the American Legion club along Highway 200. The free picnic included some of the most traditional summer games such as a sack race and three-legged race for kids.

When the sun went down, a large, well presented fireworks show capped off a well-attended day of activities.

Pyrotechnics were also the feature of a day-long celebration in Hot Springs.