The Carousel for Missoula sits in Caras Park on the Clark Fork River and is the most distinctive thing in Missoula that you would not expect to find in a city of 75,000 people. It is fully hand-carved — every horse, panel, and ornamental detail was carved from wood by community volunteers over more than 100,000 hours of labour between 1991 and 1995. It was the first completely hand-carved carousel built in the United States since the Great Depression.
The carousel operates year-round (closed major holidays), costs $1.50 per ride, and plays traditional carousel band organ music. The horses are each individually designed; some have been privately sponsored, with custom carving.
Dragon Hollow, the playground adjacent to the carousel, was built by the same community volunteer ethos — 6,000 people contributed 18,000 hours of labour to build the dragon-themed play structure.