Twin Bridges to Ennis was completed when the route from Virginia City to the summit was reconstructed and paved in 1956. The Montana State Highway Commission first assigned the MT 287 designation in 1958 to a cross-state route from Yellowstone National Park at West Yellowstone to the Canada–United States border at the Piegan–Carway Border Crossing between Babb and Cardston, Alberta. MT 287 ran concurrently with US 191 for north from West Yellowstone and replaced MT 1 from US 191 to US 10S near Sappington. The route joined US 10S—along the modern Interstate 90 (I-90) corridor—to its junction with US 10 and US 10N near Three Forks. MT 287 continued with US 10N north and west to Helena, then the route ran concurrently with US 91 (along the modern I-15 corridor) to Wolf Creek. MT 287 replaced MT 33 between Wolf Creek and Choteau, then the highway ran concurrently with US 89 through Browning to Canada. After the Hebgen Lake earthquake in 1959, which destroyed part of the highway along that lake and created Quake Lake, MT 287 was temporarily rerouted to the highway north from Raynolds Pass. In 1961, MT 287 was rerouted again. The highway replaced MT 34 from Ennis to Twin Bridges, ran concurrently with MT 41 to north of Silver Star, and replaced S-401 north to US 10 at Whitehall. MT 287 continued east with US 10 to rejoin its previous route west of Three Forks. The portion of the highway between Ennis and the US 10 junction became MT 287A. The next major change came in 1965, when US 287 was placed on its present course from West Yellowstone to Choteau. The Raynolds Pass road became MT 50 (now MT 87), and MT 287 was removed from its 1961 course south of Ennis and north of Whitehall. The highway's final extension was north from US 10 to I-90 in Whitehall in 1966 when the Interstate Highway was completed through the area. MT 287 attained its current length when it was truncated at Twin Bridges in 1977. The portion of the highway from Silver Star to Whitehall became MT 55. MT 287 was resurfaced from Twin Bridges to Sheridan in 2000, near Ennis in 2007, from west of Ennis through Virginia City to Alder in 2008, and from Alder to Sheridan in 2009. Major intersections See also List of state highways in Montana References External links 287