New Glacial Lake Missoula Exhibit
A large scale relief map of Glacial Lake Missoula is finished and will be open to the public this summer at the renovated school, now a community center in Paradise, Montana. The display was previewed by several members of the Glacial Lake Missoula chapter in March. Jim Shelden, president of the chapter, commented that the map and related exhibits not only help visitors understand the impact of the Purcell Trench Lobe and creation of the lake on the topography of the area but may create new insights for those with more experience.
The display has interactive features that illuminate the lake and other points of interest. Several panels around the exhibit provide further details about the lake and ice age floods in general. The Center also has a model railroad display and other historic items of interest.
Paradise is located close to the Camas Prairie Ripples, Eddy Narrows, Money Creek Gulch Fill, and other features significant in unraveling the mystery of the ice age floods by J.T. Pardee and J Harlan Bretz. It is on the proposed Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail and convenient to travelers on the Interstate and the road to Glacier National Park.
The map was created by Geoffrey Wyatt under a grant and matching funds from the Montana Office of Tourism through the efforts of John and Karen Thorson and a committee formed to preserve the school.