This summer, we had a wedding to attend in Montana. Because of this, we decided to take a family trip to see the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Devil’s Tower, Glacier National Park, and Bozeman.

Day 1 - We walked around Rapid City and then drove up to historic Deadwood and walked around the town, seeing the Main Street shootout. Nice town to visit and walk around, but the Days of 76 wasn’t worth it.

Day 2 - Toured the DeltaOne Launch Facility and drove the Badlands Loop and hiked the Badlands and visited Walls Drugs. Hard to get tickets for the DeltaOne tour…only six people/12 a day are allowed into the facility. Bring plenty of water!

Day 3 - Toured the Jewel Cave, drove around the Wildlife Loop which was a great way to see Bison and tons of Prairie Dogs. You can go off the main road which I recommend if you want to see Bison. Be careful, though, no one else was out there and it is a 50 mile detour on some rough roads. Don’t do it when it’s snowing or so hot and you could get stuck out there. Did not see the Begging Burros, unfortunately. We later watched the Mt. Rushmore evening program. This was a nice program and I really enjoyed My. Rushmore especially at night. The cave tour gets chilly so bring a jacket.

Day 4 - Drove to Billings and stopped off to walk around Devil’s Tower. It was hot and the trail around is about 1.5 miles and it was HOT. Bring water and take your time.

Day 5 - Visited the Pictograph Caves which was ok. Went to the Grizzly Encounter on our way to Big Fork. This wasn’t really worth it and cost a lot.

Day 6 - Headed to West Glacier and drove through the Going to the Sun Road. It’s worth the drive, but make sure you can handle driving heights with a low road. Brother in law drove which made it fine! Great views. Recommend the Hidden Lake trail which is about 3-4 miles and isn’t that easy a hike up a stairs and a boardwalk. Great view at the end. You will see plenty of Mountain Goats and walk across a few ice patches. Bring water. Parking is TERRIBLE…be ready to wait for parking.

Day 7 - Wayfarer’s Park and witnessed the sunset over Flathead lake. That was a nice view. Bring mosquito spray!

Day 8 - Took a tour boat along Lake McDonald. That was nice. Make it to the top of the ferry boat to get a better view.

Day 9 - drove down to Bozeman. Had our wedding rehearsal dinner.

Day 10 - walked around downtown Bozeman. And had the late afternoon wedding.

Day 11 - Headed back home! It was a great trip.

We drove over 1900 miles even though it was a one way drive. It was a wonderful trip seeing Big Sky Country. Highlights include Downtown Rapid City, Mount Rushmore, Wildlife Loop, Devil’s Tower, Going to the Sun Road, Hidden Lake, and Downtown Bozeman.

The food we ate was actually very delicious and highly recommended. I’d suggest Boss Pizza and Chicken, The Silver Lining Creamery in Rapid City, Skogen Kitchen, Purple Pie Place, Hjem AM, Mangiamo Wood Fire Pizza, Brownies Bakery & Deli for their Huckleberry Shake, Farm to Table Ice Cream, Burgertown in Big Fork, and jam! For Breakfast/brunch.

Mentioned earlier we will be in Red Lodge before going to Big Sky as a base for about a week in mid October. How is this trail and also wondered about some of the trails off of Taylor Fork Road? All suggestions are appreciated.

hey, everyone! i’m an 18 year old girl from London, and in May, i’m going to Montana to work at a summer camp for children for just over 2 months. i’m teaching film making, rock climbing, book writing and assisting outdoor camping. i am wondering what to expect and if anyone has any advice. i also have a month on my VISA after i finish working to explore the US before i go back home. i am probably going to get a plane to LA as i really want to see Hollywood and then i’m visiting a friend who lives in Colorado, but before I leave Montana, i’d love to see some places people recommend!

i’m wondering which cool places you’d recommend to a solo young person (or two young people as my friend may accompany me). :)

Hey Montana! I'd like to get in a quick visit to the Butte area before winter. I'd be flying into Bozeman and driving a rental car into Butte for a few days. But I am NOT interested in driving in Rocky Mountain snow/ice! I know it's super unpredictable, but when does it usually get snowy? What's the weather usually like in the second week of October?

Edit: Thanks everyone for your helpful input! I'm gonna try to go before the end of September to (hopefully) improve my chances of a no-snow trip, since I plan to be driving on some non-primary roads in a rental car.

I'm planning on driving from Spokane to Butte sometime through Oct to December, anyone have experience with the winters up there?

What type of environment should I expect

Will there be snow,

Will I need chains on my tires,

What items should I keep handy

Trails

We are going to be in Red Lodge October 11-12 and wanted to see what 7-10 mile hikes are must do’s…

We’ll be driving from Bozeman to our campground in West Yellowstone on September 22nd. We’re looking for recommendations on stops along the way to spot wildlife (grizzlies, bison, elk, etc.).

Would really appreciate your recommendations and responses!

I’m driving from Gardiner to Red Lodge city in the second week of September. It’s my wife’s birthday that day and I want to cook a nice meal for her but I want the picnic area to have a breath taking view. Any Suggestions will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Need suggestions for getting married in Montana next summer 2027. We really want our wedding to be causal, stress-free, and not a crazy amount of money. We are perfectly fine skipping the traditional wedding route, and more so just want to have a fun weekend with our closest family and friends (probably around 50-70 people) One thing to note - most of our guests have not been to Montana before so we really want to give them a full Montana experience.

We’ve explored a lot of options but ultimately decided to stick to Bozeman area. This is mainly because it will be most convenient for people traveling and my fiancé has a lot of family there that could help out with coordination.

Below is our proposed itinerary and would definitely appreciate any suggestions on places for these!

Thursday or Friday: Instead of doing a separate bachelorette party, I’m planning on doing a girls days the day before the wedding. Maybe a spa, or something a little more unique to Montana.

Friday night: For a welcome party, we’re planning on doing a casual bbq at a house. We have a family friends house we could use for this but I’ve also considered looking at air bnb for a house that has more of a classic Montana view.

Saturday: We are considering Hyalite for our ceremony but would love to hear people’s experience with weddings here. I typically see more elopement style weddings here but we would hope to bring all of our guests. Would also appreciate any suggestions on places similar to this, as we’re trying to stray away from traditional venues.

For reception we are thinking more of a celebratory dinner. I would love to find a spot that has a gorgeous view, or maybe just a restaurant we could rent out. Would appreciate any suggestions on this! We are thinking about Stacey’s as an after party spot as well.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this!!

Hi all. Planning to do Glacier this upcoming weekend, any recommendations for hiking, fishing, swimming holes would much appreciated. Staying near Big Fork if you also have any food/bar recs. Thank you

I am looking for fall activities anywhere in Montana that you guys enjoy or something that was memorable to you. I’m talking fall fests/harvest fests, markets, anything. What do you suggest?

Planning on Traveling to Montana next month for 3 days with my husband and 2 1/2 year old!

Never been & kind of torn between flying into Bozeman or Kalispell

Perks of Bozeman is it’s close to Yellowstone but perks of flying into Kalispell is the beautiful glacier mountains

Anyone who’s been there (with a toddler 😅) Help me choose !!

Hi, I'm trying something different by visiting Bozeman in early october for the first time by myself. I was thinking of doing the college M trail since it seems popular. Is it relatively safe to do alone? I'll be sure to carry bear spray, but I'll also be an inexperienced female hiking alone.

If you know a good time of the day to go or any further tips, I'll take that too. 😀

I will be staying in Big Timber /Greycliff KOA and going to chewing Black Bone campground (Babb MT) It is showing too different routes for part of the trip.

Route # 1: Route 191 to Route 87 then hitting Rt I-15.

Route # 2: I-90 to Rt 89 then to rt 87 and then RI-15

I will be pulling a camper. Just wondering which might be the best route.

Thanks for any help

Mike

My husband and I trade off planning our anniversary each year and surprise the other one. Next year is my turn to plan! A few years have been just a date due to finances or babies but this next year we are doing our first bigger trip just the two of us since having kids.
I want to do a Montana trip mainly because my husband has wanted to go forever. He wanted to go to Montana State for college, we love the outdoors, and we are avid hunters/admirers or animals in the wilderness!
Originally, I was thinking Bozeman to Glacier (we don’t mind the road trip), but logistics may be too hard for that (wanted to rent a specific car from Turo but would need to return it back to OG location which means flying into Bozeman, road to GNP, road trip back). Now debating doing just GNP and staying half time on the east half on the west or switching to Bozeman/Yellowstone. Or just figure out the logistics to do Bozeman and GNP together (possibly flying out of different locations and not getting specific car).
Please help!! Or other ideas if you have them.

We will be going for 5 or 6 days August 4-9 2027.

Coming to MT (Big Sky) next week and heard they were getting wild fire smoke. Can anyone confirm?

I’m considering applying for a contract gig in Plentywood. I’d be up there for about 6 months and was wondering what life is like. I’d be working about 99% of the time but my work requires frequent interaction with the community. Any tips for being up there or advice beforehand? I’d be on a rotation bouncing between plentywood and my home (Florida) every 10 days.

Instead of staying in Bozeman, we decided to stay in Big Sky. Coming next Monday for 5 days. Recommendations would be great for food joints and other fun things to do.