Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, near Crow Agency in south-east Montana, preserves the ground where on 25 and 26 June 1876 Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors defeated the US 7th Cavalry under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. Custer and every soldier in the five companies with him were killed. The monument also serves as a memorial to those who fought on both sides, and 2026 marked the battle's 150th anniversary, with a commemoration at the park from 25 to 27 June.

The main area centres on Last Stand Hill, where a granite memorial stands over the mass grave of the soldiers, and markers on the slopes show where men fell. Nearby, the Indian Memorial honours the Native people who fought here. Custer National Cemetery, part of the monument, holds burials from later wars as well as this one. From the entrance a 4.5-mile tour road runs south along the ridges to the Reno-Benteen Entrenchment, about 3 miles from the main site, where Major Marcus Reno's and Captain Frederick Benteen's companies held out for two days. The Deep Ravine Trail is a short walk from Last Stand Hill.

The site was first protected as a national cemetery in 1879, was called Custer Battlefield National Monument from 1946, and took its present name, Little Bighorn Battlefield, in December 1991.

What's different now. The old visitor centre has been demolished and a new one is under construction; the park hopes to finish the building by the end of 2026, with new exhibits expected before summer 2027. Until then a temporary contact station and the bookstore handle questions, and parking is limited. From 25 November the lot near the contact station is partly closed, and RVs and vehicles towing trailers must use the oversized parking on the main park road; they can turn around only at the end of the tour road. Some interpretive signage was changed in 2026, so a ranger talk or a good guidebook is worth having.

Winter hours run from the day after Labor Day to Memorial Day: the gate, contact station and cemetery are open 8 am to 4 pm, and the tour road, Last Stand Hill and Reno-Benteen 8 am to 3:30 pm. Arrive by early afternoon to drive the full road. The park is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.