BUTTE, Montana (AP) -- Thousands of people come to Montana for its mountain splendor, world-class fishing and Western flavor. Then there is Butte, the antithesis of the Montana postcard, an old mining town slowly getting off environmental life support.

Sprawled along Interstate 90 against a Rocky Mountain backdrop, Butte pulls in tourists traveling between Glacier and Yellowstone national parks. For those who take the bait -- "Recreation! Berkeley Pit! Living History!" -- the city delivers on its promise of lots to see.

Berkeley Pit?

It's a former open-pit copper mine that became a toxic lake. One of America's largest bodies of contaminated water, the pit began filling in 1982 with the drainage from closed mines. The observation deck offers an unobstructed view of the placid water and the nude, scarred slopes a mile away on the other side.

"It's a big hole in the ground, that's for sure," said tourist George Curtiss of Clarkston, Washington.

More info on this dazzling destination here