Show of hands—how many of you have ever stopped at the Greycliff-area prairie dog town on Interstate 90? Anyone? Anyone?
Well, one reporter made the stop, finally, after a whole lot of years of living around here, on a road trip east a few months ago.
The prairie dog town’s official name is Greycliff Prairie Dog State Park. Google Maps says it is 45 miles east of Livingston, conveniently located a very short distance off Interstate 90 at Montana exit 377 at Greycliff, in Sweet Grass County. And on a summer day, prairie dogs are readily visible, from inside your vehicle or out.
The park comprises 98 acres, according to the park’s website, and was founded around 1974 through a partnership with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Montana Department of Transportation and the Nature Conservancy, a recreation manager with FWP, Sean Flynn explained. A vehicle counter was installed in 2023, Flynn said, and about 20,000 vehicles stop at the park annually.
But information on how, exactly, the park came into existence in the first place is sparse. But there’s one clue — an interpretive sign at the park gives the credit to Livingston wildlife photographer Edward Boehm.
Turns out Boehm was the father of local developer and co-owner of the Yellowstone Film Ranch, Carter Boehm. Boehm could not be reached for comment, but the Yellowstone FIlm Ranch website says Edward made wildlife documentaries for Disney and TIME, and later started the Livingston drive-in theater, the Twilight Drive In
The park sign says, of Edward, “He first expressed concern for preserving the site and spearheaded efforts to save it.”
Edward passed away in 2009, according to his daughter, Carina Russell, a Livingston resident who owns Rocky Mountain Design — Interiors on West Park St. But during his lifetime, he made a career as a wildlife photographer and videographer.
“He made nature documentaries and films sold them to libraries and school districts,” she said.
Boehm’s stepson, Paul Boehm, also a Livingston resident, recalls his Edward's interest in creating the prairie dog park.
The interstate was under construction through the Greybull area, and there wasn’t much to see back then for a long stretch of highway.
“He thought it would be nice for people to see something between Livingston and Billings,” Paul said. “Something educational and family oriented.”
And that’s exactly how the park is used today, Flynn said. For example, vacationing families stop to show the kids a prairie dog and take a break from driving. (Tip: there are no restrooms nearby, but there is a highway rest area, westbound, at mile marker 381.)
Paul remembered his stepfather making numerous trips to Helena to attend meetings and advocate for creating the park. Edward made his pitch in what was probably the early 1970s, as the deal was done by 1974, when the acreage was handed over to the state by the Nature Conservancy.
And the deed was very specific about the property remaining a state park.
“It's actually in the deed that if we develop it for camping or anything else, the deed automatically goes back to the Nature Conservancy,” Flynn said. "So, it is strictly there to be a wildlife viewing opportunity for the public and to showcase these critters and how they're important to the ecosystem.”
The park is small and relatively flat and undeveloped but has scenic views of the surrounding prairie. There is an information kiosk at the entrance to the short drive through the park. There are a few interpretive signs, benches and picnic tables. It’s a day-use only area, and the road into the park is closed in winter, mostly because it’s not plowed, Flynn said. But visitors are welcome to walk in.
Prairie dogs don’t hibernate, but they tend to stay underground more when it’s cold. They eat the roots and shoots of plants that poke through the “ceilings” of their burrows, Flynn explained.
The prairie dog population at the park, which inhabits three distinct compounds, is about 300-500, Flynn said.
Prairie dogs, of course, are not actual dogs, but part of the Rodentia family, which includes rats and mice, squirrels, beavers, porcupines, hamsters and guinea pigs. They typically are about 174-17 inches long and weigh between two and three pounds, says an prairie dog section on the website of the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
Prairie dogs dig underground, networking burrows that are called “towns.” They play an important role in the ecosystem, Flynn said. They are food for birds of prey and black-footed ferrets, and an abandoned burrow can provide a home for a burrowing owl or a mountain plover.
Although no burrowing owls or mountain plover have ever been seen at the park, Flynn said, possibly because the burrows are not frequently abandoned. And black-footed ferrets have not been seen there, either, to Flynn’s knowledge.
The park is free to Montana residents, but an $8 fee is requested of out-of-state visitors. It’s a very short detour off the interstate and offers anyone a chance to stop and take in the view.
“It’s nice and peaceful, and you can take five to 10 minutes from a long drive,” Flynn said.