Darby is a town in Ravalli County, Montana, United States. The population was 783 at the 2020 census. Darby is located near the southwestern border of Montana and Idaho, along the Continental Divide.
Officially established in 1889, the town was named after James W. Darby who signed the post office application.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.
Darby is located at the southern end of the Bitterroot Valley. The valley is formed between the Bitterroot Range on the west and the smaller Sapphire Mountains on the east.
Climate
This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Darby has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.
Visitors to Darby may wish to seek shelter during thunderstorms. In July 2012, "A cowboy and two spectators were taken by ambulance to a Hamilton hospital [...] after lightning hit a power pole at the Elite Bull Connection, sending an electric shock through the grandstands, rodeo chutes and bull pens." On July 14, 2014, 45 cattle on a ranch near Darby were killed in a single lightning strike.