Billings, United States: Self-Guided Walking Tour

Looking for things to do in Billings? Montana’s largest city brings together historic houses, distinctive churches, museums, art and theatre, with the Rimrocks providing a dramatic setting above the Yellowstone River Valley. A Neywo free audio guide for Billings tells the stories of nine narrated places as you explore.

What to See in Billings

Moss Mansion

The Moss Mansion is a red-stone house built in 1903 by Preston Boyd Moss and his wife, Mattie. The couple had moved west from Paris, Missouri, and created the Division Street residence as their home. Today, the preserved building is a historic house museum offering a glimpse into early 20th-century life in Montana.

St. Patrick’s Co-Cathedral

St. Patrick’s Co-Cathedral is a neo-Gothic landmark with pointed arches, soaring lines and detailed stonework. Billings’ first parish was founded in 1887 under the patronage of Saint Joachim, but the growing community soon needed a larger church. The present building was completed in 1904.

The church became a co-cathedral in 1980, when the Diocese of Great Falls was renamed the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings. It shares the bishop’s seat with St. Ann’s Cathedral in Great Falls.

Alberta Bair Theater

The Alberta Bair Theater began as the Fox Theater before being renamed in 1987 in honor of Alberta Bair, daughter of businessman Charles M. Bair. It is the only fully equipped performing arts center between Spokane, Washington, and Denver, Colorado, capable of hosting major professional touring companies.

The auditorium seats 1,394 people and presents both local productions and nationally touring performances.

Billings First Congregational Church

Founded in 1882, Billings First Congregational Church is the oldest church of any Christian denomination in the city. The current building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also an Open and Affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ and serves as the historic cathedral church of the Montana–Northern Wyoming Conference.

Yellowstone Art Museum

The Yellowstone Art Museum, known locally as YAM, is downtown Billings’ major contemporary art institution. It is the largest contemporary art museum in Montana, bringing together work from the region and beyond. For visitors interested in the city’s cultural life, it provides an important counterpoint to Billings’ historic buildings and Western heritage.

Western Heritage Center

The Western Heritage Center occupies a Richardsonian Romanesque building constructed in 1901 as the Parmly Billings Memorial Library. Its rough-cut stone arches and rounded windows make it one of the city’s distinctive historic structures, and the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

After facing demolition in the late 1960s, the former library was saved by local citizens and reopened in 1971 as an interpretive museum. Its changing exhibits explore the history of the Yellowstone River Valley. The center cares for 40,000 artifacts and presents six to seven original exhibits each year, most based on new research.

Billings Montana Temple

The Billings Montana Temple stands on the Rimrocks, the sandstone cliffs rising 300 feet above the Yellowstone River Valley. It was the first temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built in Montana and the 66th operating temple worldwide.

Designed by CTA Architects Engineers, the building is distinguished by a single spire rising from a tiered tower. Its exterior is clad in Wyoming white dolomite, set within a ten-acre site on the Rimrocks.

Billings Studio Theatre

Billings Studio Theatre has presented live performance in Montana for more than 70 years. The company began in 1953 with There’s Always Juliet, performing in temporary spaces before moving into its own theatre on Rimrock Road in 1971.

The independent nonprofit presents four plays and four musicals each season, along with a children’s production. Its history includes becoming the first community theatre in Montana to stage the full version of Les Misérables, in 2013. Its children’s programme is known as The Growing Stage.

Explore Billings with a Free Audio Guide

A Billings self-guided walking tour is an easy way to connect several of the city’s central landmarks without joining a group or following a fixed schedule. Neywo offers one walking tour covering 2.13 km in about 60 minutes, with six narrated stops: Moss Mansion, St. Patrick’s Co-Cathedral, Alberta Bair Theater, Billings First Congregational Church, Yellowstone Art Museum and Western Heritage Center.

There is also one bike route covering 0.7 km in about three minutes, with three narrated stops: Moss Mansion, St. Patrick’s Co-Cathedral and Alberta Bair Theater. Neywo has nine narrated places in Billings in total, with narration available in 11 languages.

Download Neywo and explore Billings at your own pace. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, so you can walk or cycle independently, with no group and no schedule. Billings is part of Montana, in the United States.