10 ULTIMATE ROAD TRIPS THE BEST OF BIG SKY COUNTRY PLANNING YOUR TRIP TRAVEL GUIDE FROM THE MONTANA OFFICE OF TOURISM AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Montana Drives_REPRINT_FINAL.indd 1 1/22/16 2:44 PM photo credit Hike to the top of Lower Yellowstone Falls. Cover: Peer into majestic Bighorn Canyon. Montana Drives_REPRINT_FINAL.indd 2 1/22/16 2:44 PM WELCOME TO BIG SKY COUNTRY The sky’s the limit in Montana. To help you explore the state, National Geographic and CONTENTS the Montana Oce of Tourism have teamed up to chart 10 Ultimate Montana Road 10 ULTIMATE ROAD TRIPS Trips showcasing top sights and activities. The routes were published in National Geo- graphic Traveler magazine and are available online—with expanded content including 1. Yellowstone Country Page 4 interactive maps and additional photos—at nationalgeographic.com/montana/roadtrips. 2. Great Plains Adventures Page 5 3. Small Towns & Ghost Towns Page 6 ONTANA IS LIKE NO PLACE ELSE ON EARTH. Dinosaurs once 4. Backbone of the Rockies Page 6 roamed here, and majestic bison, elk, and grizzly bears still do. 5. Flathead to Philipsburg Page 7 Page 9 Montana is a gateway to Glacier and Yellowstone—two crown 6. Main Street Adventures 7. On the Loose in Big Sky Page 10 jewels of the national park system—and is home to glistening 8. Bighorn and Beyond Page 11 glacial lakes, snowcapped mountain peaks, blue-ribbon trout streams, and the 9. Footsteps of Lewis & Clark Page 11 M 10. Bitterroot Parkway Page 12 mighty Missouri, Yellowstone, and Flathead Rivers. Vast, unspoiled, and wild, “Big Sky Country” represents the very best of the TRAVEL GUIDE American West. Rugged cowboys still saddle up to ride at ranches and wow crowds at rodeos. Ghost towns, state parks, and a one-of-a-kind Dinosaur Trail History & Heritage Page 15 Page 16 preserve a dazzling array of historical treasures—and oer opportunities to hunt State & National Parks Winter Wonderland Page 19 for fossils and gems. Seven Indian Nations celebrate the state’s rich American Food & Drink Page 20 Indian heritage and traditions. Scenic train, float, and driving trips retrace Can’t Miss Events Page 22 the routes forged by explorers Lewis and Clark. And backcountry trails lead to Planning Your Trip Page 23 ALAMY WATERFALLS, MARTIN WALZ MAP, KEITH LADZINSKI COVER LADZINSKI KEITH MAP, WALZ MARTIN WATERFALLS, ALAMY wild, secluded spaces where it is still possible to be utterly alone. 3 Montana Drives_REPRINT_FINAL.indd 3 1/22/16 2:44 PM 1. Yellowstone Country The Route: Livingston > I-90 to Columbus > MT-78 to Red Lodge > U.S. 212 to Yellowstone National Park entrance > Exit Montana to Wyoming > U.S. 212 > Grand Loop Road > U.S. 89 to Gardiner > Exit Wyoming to Montana > U.S. 89 > MT-540 through Paradise Valley > U.S. 89 to Livingston Total Distance: approximately 360 miles Gateway Airport: Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, Bozeman UTDOOR ADVENTURE and spectac- ular scenery abound on this five-day Oscenic loop through southern Montana and into Yellowstone National Park. Hike on a wilderness plateau. Raft the Stillwater River. Horseback ride in Paradise Valley. Along the way, make a stop to soak in a hot springs-fed pool. ON THE FLY Begin in Livingston with a pil- grimage to Dan Bailey’s, the all-things- angler shop founded in 1938 by the father of Montana fly-fishing. Buy hand-tied flies, hire a local fishing guide, or get tips on where the trout are biting that day. Eat & Stay: Livingston Bar and Grille and Yellow- stone Valley Lodge, Livingston. RIDE OR RAFT Trade your car for a horse and hit the trail. Paintbrush Adventures in Absarokee leads rides into Montana’s highest mountains. Bear Paw Outfitters in Paradise Valley oers trips to places like Yellowstone and Absaroka-Beartooth Wil- derness. Or, take a pulse-pounding rafting trip down the Stillwater River with Absaro- ka River Adventures. Eat & Stay: Café Regis and The Pollard, Red Lodge. PEAK PERFORMANCE Soak in the scenery on the Beartooth Highway (U.S. 212), an All-American Road connecting Red Lodge to the northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The highway (late May to mid-October) leads past 20 peaks of more than 12,000 feet and over the 10,900-plus- foot Beartooth Plateau. Eat & Stay: Beartooth Café, Cooke City (late May to late September), and Silver Gate Lodging, Silver Gate. WIDEEYED WONDERS Prepare to be amazed as you follow the Grand Loop Road south through Yellowstone National Park. High- lights include the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone; the bubbling Mud Volca- no area; and the Mammoth Hot Springs, a hotbed of geothermal formations. Eat & Stay: Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and Cabins (late April to early October and mid-December to March), Yellowstone Na- tional Park. HIKING METCALFE TYLER BEAR, LICHTNEKER/ALAMY DAVID Montana Drives_REPRINT_FINAL.indd 4 1/22/16 2:44 PM ROAD LESS TRAVELED Turn onto scenic U.S. 89 in Livingston to take the Paradise Valley Scenic Drive. Paralleling the Upper Yel- lowstone River between the Absaroka and Gallatin mountain ranges, the drive passes through pasturelands of the lower valley, and delivers pure Montana mountain and river vistas. Eat & Stay: K-Bar Pizza, Gar- diner, and Chico Hot Springs Resort and Day Spa, Pray. 2. Great Plains Adventures The Route: Fort Benton > U.S. 87 > Havre > U.S. 2 > Malta > U.S. 191 > Lewistown > MT-3 > MT-80 > Fort Benton. Total Distance: approximately 400 miles Gateway Airport: Great Falls International Airport Great Falls OR MONTANA’S American Indian peo- ple, bison, or bualo, are revered sym- Fbols of strength and unity. Celebrate the bison, see them roam, and discover how the mighty bison helped create the state on this six-day drive across Big Sky badlands and prairies. BIRTHPLACE OF MONTANA Start where the state began in Fort Benton, once the world’s largest inland port. At the Upper Missouri Above: Go fly-fishing on the Madison River. Below: Ride the Charlie Russell River Breaks National Monument, buy a Chew Choo to see the wide-open spaces that inspired his famous Western art. two-day admission to the Interpretive Cen- Top left: See wildlife up close at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone. Bottom left: Enjoy top-of-the-world views from Beartooth Pass. ter, Old Fort Benton, the Museum of the Upper Missouri, and the Museum of the Northern Great Plains. Eat & Stay: Union Grille and Grand Union Hotel, Fort Benton. SADDLE UP The next day, go antiquing at the Virgelle Mercantile. Try horseback riding at Sky View Guest Ranch (reservations re- quired), and see the “bualo rock” used as a bison scratching post. Eat & Stay: Navlivka’s Original Pizza Kitchen and Best Western Plus Havre Inn and Suites, Havre. ALL ABOUT THE BISON Stop at Wahkpa Chu’gn Archaeological Site (June to Labor Day) to see a bualo jump with an excavated wall of archaeological deposits, including com- pacted bualo bones and skulls. See wild bison on a guided tour of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation’s bualo reserve. (Call 406 353 4350 or 406 945 0014 for reserva- tions.) Eat & Stay: (Detour east to Malta on U.S. 2) Great Northern Hotel and Steak- house, Malta. DINOSAURS & DETOURS Play paleontologist at the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum and Phillips County Museum in Malta. Take a side trip to either Bowdoin National Wild- life Refuge (follow Old U.S. 2 east) or Sleep- DONNIE SEXTON FISHING, TYLER METCALFE TRAIN METCALFE TYLER FISHING, SEXTON DONNIE ing Bualo Hot Springs Resort (via U.S. 2 Montana Drives_REPRINT_FINAL.indd 5 1/22/16 2:44 PM east). Eat & Stay: Great Northern Hotel and Orphan Girl silver and zinc mine. Contin- Steakhouse, Malta. ue this theme at Headframe Spirits, makers of Orphan Girl Bourbon Cream Liqueur. 4. Backbone of RAILROAD & REFUGE Return to the route by In the distillery’s tasting room, try an Or- taking U.S. 191 about 74 miles south to MT- phan Girl Chocolate Drift (mixed with vod- the Rockies 66. Next is the self-guided Charles M. Rus- ka and chocolate syrup). Eat & Stay: Joe’s The Route: Kalispell > U.S. 93 > sell National Wildlife Refuge auto tour Pasty Shop and Finlen Hotel and Motor Whitefish > MT-40 > U.S. 2E > Glacier Route 1 through the badlands. Northwest of Lew- Inn, Butte. Going-to-the-Sun Road > St. Mary > istown, ride the Charlie Russell Chew Choo U.S. 89 toward Babb > Many Glacier Road to Many Glacier > backtrack on Many Glacier Road Montana dinner train (select weekend days FIELD TRIP Consider detouring at Wise River to U.S. 89 and back to St. Mary > MT-49 > in summer and early fall). Eat & Stay: Dash (west on MT-43 past Wisdom) to Big Hole Two Medicine Road to Two Medicine Lake Inn and Historic Calvert Hotel, Lewistown. National Battlefield. This sacred site of the > backtrack to MT-49 > East Glacier > Nez Perce people is part of the multistate U.S. 2W > MT-206 > MT-35 > Kalispell Total Distance: approximately 265 miles BACK IN TIME On the drive back to Fort Ben- Nez Perce National Historical Park. At Gateway Airport: Glacier Park International ton pull o at Bear Gulch Pictographs, a Wise River, slow down and enjoy the scen- Airport, Kalispell 313-million-year-old limestone inland sea ery along the 49-mile-long Pioneer Moun- formation with more than 3,000 drawings tains Scenic Byway. In summer, visit the UGGED, WILD, and incredibly sce- by ancient peoples. Eat & Stay: Wake Cup ghost town of Coolidge. Eat & Stay: Jackson nic, this five-day trip is filled with Coee House and Bakery and The Lark and Hot Springs Lodge, Jackson.