☰Last Chance Gulch

The pedestrian mall running through central Helena follows the original path of the mining ditch where gold was first struck in 1864. The four exhausted prospectors who found the deposit named it Last Chance Gulch — figuring this was their final shot before heading home empty-handed. They struck it rich instead. The street today is lined with Victorian commercial buildings in red brick, some of them well-preserved, others converted into shops and restaurants. It's a pleasant place to walk in the evening, and the historic architecture gives Helena a density and character unusual for a small western city.