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w w w. d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m
breathtaking parts of the Shonkin Sag, called Lost Lake. Imagine
walking across the flat open prairie and then suddenly, out of no-
where, stepping onto the precipice of a cliff and a huge hole in the
earth. The lake below is surrounded by horseshoe-shaped walls of
rock and stone, which rise 200 to 300 feet. These walls of shonki-
nite rock are known as Dry Falls, and they guard the perimeter of
this lost and hidden place.
Lost Lake was formed 15,000 years ago with the rest the Shonkin
Sag during the Pleistocene period when the largest glaciation
reached the Highwoods. Paleo Indians, mammoths and mastodons
would have roamed these parts. Huge amounts of water once
flowed over the edge of these walls into the hole below. Some have
even said this waterfall would have looked like Niagara Falls.
Though multiple ice ages probably had a hand in creating
Looking south at Square Butte from the fertile fields near Geraldine, Montana.
An early morning view of Geraldine, Montana near the Shonkin Sag. The green southern walls of Lost Lake in Chouteau County, Montana.
