Fairfield, Montana is a small, friendly, town less than an hour northwest of Great Falls, Montana on Hwy 89 going to Glacier National Park. Fairfield is the "Barley Capital of the World" with miles of farm fields devoted to growing barley. It is picturesque because the farm fields are surrounded on one side by the breathtaking Rocky Mountain Front Range to the west, the Little Belt and Big Belt range to the south, and the Highwood Range to the east. The town sports a population of approximately 700 people. Services in Fairfield include good casual dining and drinking, two gas stations, one convenience store, a fine medical clinic, pharmacy, art gallery, espresso cafe and a Ford dealership. Lodging includes one Fairfield Bed and Breakfast in town next to the town's small park. There is a second Fairfield Bed and Breakfast 17 miles west of Fairfield and the cozy 2 bedroom Rusty Spur Guest House and Gallery 12 miles west of Fairfield.
One of the most spectacular sights that Fairfield has to offer is the spring and fall migration of Snow Geese, Tundra Swans, Canada Geese, and many other waterfoul. Freezeout Lake, just a short distance north of Fairfield, is a stopping place for these migrating birds during the last weeks of March and first weeks of April. At it's peak, there will be upwards of 500,000 Snow Geese and Tundra Swans here. They rise off the lake in the morning by the tens and hundreds of thousands to spend the days foraging in the barley fields, returning to the lake around 5:00 in the evening. People come from all over the world to see and photograph this enormous gathering. The fall migration isn't quite as spectacular as not all the birds take the same route back, but there are still many to see in the fall, which draws a lot of hunting activity during that time.