Since moving to Great Falls in July 2025, one question has followed me almost everywhere I go: what's the deal with the log in the Missouri River with three bikes lodged in it?
If you've traveled along the river, you've probably seen it: a large log sitting in the water with three bicycles wedged on top. It's eye-catching, perplexing, and somehow iconic. And, despite years of discussion, no one appears to know how or by whom it was placed there.
Quentin Shores reports - watch the video here:
My search for answers began where most mysteries do: with the police. No leads. Next stop, Facebook. Still nothing. From there, I started asking around town.
Some folks quickly admitted they had no notion.
Others proposed various explanations, including elaborate pranks, urban art, and an extraterrestrial origin.
Businesses and organizations in Great Falls are frequently asked about the bikes, especially by visitors.
"I don’t know who put them out there, how they did it,” said Natalie Carr. “I feel like somebody had to have swum them out there, but like—why? How?”
Even Great Falls, Montana Tourism, a go-to source for local information, does not have a definitive answer.
“I know nothing about who’s responsible for putting the bikes on the log,” said Rebecca Engum, executive director of Great Falls, Montana Tourism. “I recall seeing them driving by one day and thought it was just this beautiful kind of impromptu urban art feature.”
What is known is that the bikes arrived around the fall of 2020. The region where they were placed was not particularly risky at the time, but tying many bicycles to a log in the river still required preparation and effort.
"For people to still be carrying bikes out to the log and somehow securing them is a unique thing that is happening," Engum told me.
According to nearby businesses, the bikes are a popular topic of talk.
"A lot of our guests come in—especially tourists—and they're like, 'What are those bikes up there?'" Krystal Pfleger, general manager of Mackenzie River Pizza Co. "Honestly, I don't have a good answer for them, but I think it's really cool."
For others, the mystery is part of the appeal.
“I feel like the Great Falls Voyagers might have something to do with this—Orbit? It’s a conspiracy,” joked Tyler Warnick of Sports City Cyclery, referencing the Great Falls Voyagers alien mascot. “But aliens, man, I don’t know.”
Is it an artistic installation? A prank that went overboard—or just far enough? Commentary about society? A forgotten inner joke?
Getting closer to the log is not necessarily safe. Kayaking out to it would be hazardous. Waiting for the river to freeze. Also, not a good idea. So instead, we took to the skies.
We used drone footage to get a closer look at the log and the bikes, revealing features that most people never see. Still no signatures. No marks. No clear clues.
Despite all of the searching, the mystery remains unresolved.
But perhaps it was never truly about the bikes.
Perhaps it's the talks they start. Tourists ask queries. Locals tell their stories. The common fascination that transforms an unusual sight into a piece of Great Falls culture.
If you have a lead on the bikes (or any other story ideas) please contact me at Quentin.Shores@krtv.com.
Until then, the log with three bicycles remains one of Great Falls' most intriguing mysteries. But I WILL solve it, you can bet on that!
