Like everywhere we stopped in Montana, mountains frame the city in the distance. Well not quite. We laughed as she made fun of tourists she would encounter who called her way of living primitive. Bryce Canyon is obviously more famous weve all seen photos of the parks breathtaking Sunrise Point but Capitol Reef received raving reviews from our friends and is far less crowded. And like, Im not going to lie: this was probably the best thing Ive ever done in my entire life. The plan was to go sand sledding and sand boarding. One of the best ways to get the full Idaho experience is to road trip through the state. Boujie coffee and sustainability a match made in heaven! For water, we purchased a few 1.5-liter bottles and refilled them at gas stations throughout our trip. Oooh, creepy! Or, you can charter a boat shuttle. On the road, we did some quick research (when we were lucky enough to get reception between the trees and mountains in the middle of nowhere) and found the Weir Creek Hot Springs in Clearwater National Forest on our route to Montana. Montana is stunning and, of course, wed love to visit Glacier National Park. Our brainstorming and researching along the way paid off, as we learned we WOULD be able to access Going to the Sun Road IF we arrived before 6 AM or after 5 PM. We spent the morning exploring the different geyser basins throughout Yellowstone. Were hoping to visit late June as thats when our daughter is done with school. Try the stuffed French toast, or literally anything else that looks good you cant go wrong! Your email address will not be published. Since my trip, Ive been reflecting and researching ways that I can better educate myself as well as supporting existing Indigenous activism. The drive from Idaho Falls to Missoula is gorgeous. We told all the random people we encountered back at the lodge about our experience. We set ourselves to brainstorming and researching what our other options for the park would be, but in the meantime, we werent going to let it spoil the rest of the day. 1. But if you wait until after school starts, youll be able to enjoy a much less crowded park and absolutely perfect weather! That would be a dream trip! Here you'll find everything travel, food, and culture. Roadtrip Idaho Montana Wyoming US Travel. Once youve made it to the top of the mountain (however it is that you got there), stop in at the Summit House Restaurant on top of the chair lift for amazing views and a cold drink. Downtown Livingston, pictured above, looks like an idyllic old western town, though vintage shops and cafes now line the street instead of saloons. It was an easy and relaxing ride. Our itinerary included three out of the five most conservative states in America Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho and I now know what it feels like to experience culture shock in my own country. And be sure to get something comfy: this is a road trip, after all! new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], Note: If youre planning to stay in Whitefish, we recommend considering stopping your trip through the park mid-way at Logan Pass, going for a lovely day hike we recommend the 5 mile Hidden Lake hike using the facilities at the Logan Visitor Center, and then turning around and heading back to West Glacier or Many Glacier. You can find it here https://practicalwanderlust.com/yellowstone-in-winter/ Hope it helps to plan your trip! Its also a destination with much to offer those who stay for a We had all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ at Ginseng BBQ on the strip and authentic, mouthwatering Shanxi beef noodle soup at Shang Artisan Noodle. How about a thank you, Hanks dad!? The colorful and unique rocks at Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park. Lumbering bears, moose, bison, and llamas. A bison at the National Bison Range in Charlo, Montana. The weather in Montana is fickle, and its not uncommon to experience all 4 seasons in the course of a day during the summer and fall. It was the perfect place to stay for the night in this tiny, charming western town. Feels like 33.03 Wind speed 2.4 mph Pressure 1010 hPa. About an hour and $50 later, we were on our way to the last stop on our Idaho itinerary before Boise. Yellowstone travel tip: keep your distance from the wildlife! You can continue on from there to Lakeside, where youll find lots of food options. We figured, worst-case scenario, we would be paying double what we had been paying alreadybut worth it for a little bit more flexibility during the day. This is literally like the best Montana itinerary post Ive ever seen!! and we had a shared campsite bathroom (which was actually quite clean and close to us). We will also send you our favorite tips to help you plan your Montana road trip! Our main activity was a visit to the Goldbug Hot Springs in the Salmon-Challis National Forest. I grew up right around Glacier National Park and I think everything you mentioned was perfect for enjoying the area! Ready to pack some snacks and hit the road for your Montana road trip? It was more comfortable than tent camping anyway! They can only handle a few visitors at a time before the landscape and the animals start to feel the impact. Photo Credit; Idaho Tourism. The road is 50 miles long and takes about 2 hours one-way with no stopping (but youll definitely be stopping a few times, so allow yourself extra time). The primary road through Glacier National Park is a feat of engineering. Psst: Looking for more of our favorite outdoorsy destinations? Ice-capped mountains dominating lush valleys. WebDay 14 Day at Flathead Lake, MT. (The verdict is still out on whether they are actually their own type of berry, or just wild blueberries, but dont tell a local that.). Road conditions from Idaho to Montana. WebThe ultimate road trip planner to help you discover extraordinary places, book hotels, and share itineraries all from the map. Even small, cute animals like chipmunks have been known to hurt humans who come too close to them. After Teton, we embarked on the 8-hour drive towards Escalante, Utah, stopping at Salt Lake City to sleep overnight. Unfortunately we here in Montana have our fair share of right-wingers. Also didnt mention fire season which is a big part of September, so many angry tourists who cant see a dong thing because its so smokey. })(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-P6R8DKB'); 3 years ago we quit our jobs, put our stuff in storage, and took off on a (disastrous) year-long honeymoon. In retrospect, I wonder if some of the people we told were thinking to themselves that we were the dumb tourists who thought a coyote was a wolf (which, lets be honest, we were). Be sure to bookmark this page to refer back to while youre planning! The variation in topography that we have seen on this short trip has just been amazing! But fun fact: designated in 1996, Escalante was the last part of the continental U.S. to be mapped. Lucky for the dumb tourists, she slunk away after her warning growls, and instead went on to pounce on an unsuspecting small animal for dinner. If you plan on hiking a must on any Western US road trip AllTrails is a great resource for locating the best trails in your area. Try not to let it bother you and focus your energy on appreciating the incredible natural phenomenon in front of you (easier said than done, sometimes). Even our new downtown 3-level parking garage gets full now. We had no cell service, and there was no one around. Welcome to Montana, where there are two times as many cows as people and miles and miles of gorgeous, rolling wilderness to explore! We recommend visiting in late August/early September. If youre interested in experiencing Indian Country during your visit to Montana, I recommend reading through this booklet or browsing this site! Huckleberry ice cream at Reeds Dairy in Idaho Falls. Its definitely something travelers (especially in the Americas) need to be more conscious of! During my trip I spoke with a Montana state government employee involved in developing Indigenous tourism, who shared some of the challenges faced at the State level. Even this winter, for the first time the traffic was worse than it ever has been. The artichoke spinach dip and conversation with local patrons were to die for.Ponderosa Pies is a food truck in Salmon that I wish we tried (they were sold out when we went). Note that shuttles have limited seating and you may find yourself waiting for a seat during high season. Its also a destination with much to offer those who stay for a We decided to backtrack a little to check it out since it was still fairly early and we were only an hour away from our final destination. Youre gonna wish you had, because Montana actually has a burgeoning wine scene. Dont dig holes to bury things (including bodily waste), just bring a trash bag or use the park-provided facilities and trash containers! Plus, there are miles of scenic hiking trails up and down the mountain. Adding it to my bucketlist. In the morning, we joined Papa Elk (aka a male elk) for breakfast. FOLLOW OUR PARKS RULES. With so many people road-tripping, the prices were exorbitant so it was challenging for the budget-conscious traveler. Looking for a convenient summary of our Montana itinerary? Please try again. Down-home ranchers and honest-to-goodness cowboys. This luxury condo in downtown Bigfork has spectacular views of Swan River, you can hear the sounds of rushing white water from the deck, and the loft bedroom has cathedral windows looking across spectacular views. Our favorite part was the beaver slide, an area so narrow you literally had to sit and slide down to get through. and we had a view of the lake! One thing we had been noticing by this point is that things around here close early. Here are a few highlights: Sawtooth Lake (10 miles RT, moderate rating) Pettit Lake to Twin Lakes (13 miles RT, moderate rating) Bench Lakes (7.8 miles RT, moderate rating) Alpine Lake Trail (7.4 miles RT, moderate rating) You can find tons of other hikes on AllTrails. With that being said, it was going to be an early night with our alarms set for 4 in the morning. Feels like 33.03 Wind speed 2.4 mph Pressure 1010 hPa. This was one of the biggest cities we had been to so far, so we had high hopes of finding a room. (Note: if you have any suggestions for resources not included here, or ways I can better present this information, please drop us a comment and let us know!). We ended our night with dinner at our lodge, watching the sunset over Yellowstone Lake while a herd of elk and their babies grazed on the grass in front of us. On the way out of town, we stopped at Fiddle Creek Fruit Stand and sampled some Huckleberry pie (eating something huckleberry is one of the must do things in the areaand we sampled our fair share by the end of the trip). Driving time: 45 Minutes from Whitefish, or 3 hours from Many Glacier. If youre flying in, just pick up and return your RV in Missoula: browse RV rentals in Missoula. Were sick about it. We unfortunately were not one of the lucky winners of said tickets (Dana may or may not have thrown her phone across the room in frustration). We recommend Stageline Pizza, which is a local legend for great pie. Alternatively, if youll be heading back to Boise or into Wyoming from Sun Valley on your Idaho road trip itinerary, make it a point to stop by Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve for some dramatically different landscape to everything youve seen on the trip so far. Its the perfect celebration of locally sourced Montana cuisine! We sampled some wines (he joined us because why not!?) After our bellies were full, we swung back by the airport to pick up Alicias bag and started our Idaho road trip north towards Riggins. The drive up to glacier has the bison range just to point out something you missed. Montana looks so beautiful in your pictures! The 50-mile route cuts across Glacier National Park at an elevation of 6,646 feet and is open seasonally, so youll want to plan accordingly. Take your camera! And yes: there are llamas. WebDay 14 Day at Flathead Lake, MT. Llamas take a very long time to go to the bathroom. You can learn more about wildlife respect and safety here. Alicias bag didnt make the connecting flight and we had to come back and pick it up later in the afternoon. Whats the difference between a cave and a cavern? A cave is any cavity in the ground that does not receive sunlight, while a cavern is a type of cave that includes stalagmites and stalactites. Here are a few more excellent resources for self-education: Lets get to the good stuff! Dining on Big Mountain is almost as much fun as mountain biking, with a lot less chance of serious injury. After leaving Helena, we started our day with a stop at Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park in Montana on the way to Yellowstone in Wyoming. The town is a gateway to Yellowstone National Park. Downtown Missoula is quite walkable, so pick a place to eat from this curated list and explore the town on foot! That said, counterpoint: July is cherry season in Flathead Lake. Autumn Travel Itineraries Montana Road Trip Sponsored Post The West USA National Parks USA Wildlife Wildlife. Wellwe were wrong. The hiccups are part of the adventure. 6. We would like to spend a few days in Seattle and Portland at the start, aswell as a lake in Montana for a few days at the end. Do you condone those messages? Start your day with a pour-over at the Wild Coffee Company, a third wave coffee shop that donates 1% of its profits to local non-profits working on nature and outdoor conservation. Eat: Sawtooth Luces serves up cold local beer and a mean Idaho Kobe beef burger, and we had a delicious breakfast at Stanley Baking Company. WebThe route to here from Bear Lake weaves along the Idaho/Wyoming border through Jackson, Wyoming, and passes west of another popular local destination, Grand Teton National Park, before ending in West Yellowstone, Montana. The Island is actually a state park, and home to several wild horses plus bighorn sheep, mule deer, songbirds, waterfowl, bald eagles, and falcons. We mainly used Booking.com to book low-cost motels located on our route. We traveled through Montana as the trees and mountains gave way to vast farmlands. If youre feeling athletic, you can drive around the lake and pick up a canoe, kayak or paddleboard, or SUP. How can you support Montanas Indigenous communities & Tribal Nations? This was our first adventure since the world shut down for the Coronavirus pandemic and we knew it had to be epic so we create an itinerary to visit Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, and Grand Teton National Park - and we hit the road for a 10-day road trip to Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. While Glacier is gorgous and amazing there are places in motana that are just as stunning. This was probably my personal highlight of my entire Montana road trip! You see, Cafe Kandahar, the fine dining restaurant located in the lodge, is the best food in Whitefish and possibly all of Montana with a price point to match. If you only have a short time in Wyoming, add this drive to your itinerary to really see the park. Most restaurants are closed by 9 PM at the latest. Once we got ahold of him though, we werent sure what to do! We passed a kayaker who told us to keep a lookout for a black bear he had just seen not too far from where we were going so we quietly paddled by and tried to catch a glimpse but he had disappeared back into the woods. In the morning, we arrived to these views: Utah is home to Bryce Canyon, Zion, Arches, and other majestic but crowded national parks. If you plan to go to more than one national park, opt to buy an annual pass for $80 instead of individual day passes at $35 a pop. Then we went back to the Holiday Inn where the front desk ladies were nice enough to sneak us a key card so we could use the bathroom in the middle of the night if needed. Wild Horse Island is a totally unique Montana destinationand the name says it all. We set out around 7 and headed first to Blackfoot River Brewing Company (which closed at 8) and sampled some very delicious IPAs. Jackson, the closest town, is crowded and expensive. This was great other than your Miracle of America Museum suggestion. Here are a few highlights: Sawtooth Lake (10 miles RT, moderate rating) Pettit Lake to Twin Lakes (13 miles RT, moderate rating) Bench Lakes (7.8 miles RT, moderate rating) Alpine Lake Trail (7.4 miles RT, moderate rating) You can find tons of other hikes on AllTrails. Few things are more romanticized than an all-American road trip, and Im happy to report that they do indeed live up to the hype. Starting from Boise and working your way counterclockwise around the state to some of the best outdoor spots makes for one memorable Idaho road trip. Starting from Boise and working your way counterclockwise around the state to some of the best outdoor spots makes for one memorable Idaho road trip. We had a rough plan in place prior to our trip but gave ourselves the leeway to make unexpected stops the way hence why we hit Yellowstone twice! Learn how your comment data is processed. From there, we set out to Jenny Lake where we rented a canoe to paddle across to Inspiration Point - a great thing to do in Grand Teton. We were very happy to see our new cabin was much larger (3 beds with 2 separate rooms!) '&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src= Today was one of our main driving days, which can be some of the best days of a road trip! Day 6: Helena, Montana to Yellowstone National Park, Alicia ready to slide down the Beaver slide at the Lewis and Clark Caverns. Montana has so much to offer including its crown jewel, Glacier National Park and weve designed the perfect 10-day Montana road trip itinerary through Western Montana, complete with details to help you plan each step of your trip. Here are a few essentials to pack and bring with you on your trip: Montana has one of the highest American Indian populations in the US, with about 66,000 people of Tribal heritage. (note from Alicia: Who in 2021 locks a car from the door and not from the keys!?). Id never seen so many taxidermy animals in one place, and near the counter, a sign read gun safety rule #1: carry one. Seriously, look at this place: We walked 7.7 miles around Jenny Lake, one of the many hiking trails in Grand Teton. Neither of us realized just how FAR it was going to be on this side of the road. Back on the road, we crossed over the border to Montana and stopped for the night in Missoula. I would write about Las Vegas, but really, what hasnt been said about it already? In the morning, we had a gluttonous, all-American breakfast at Trails Inn Restaurant in town, which was just amazing. We headed over to the dune and met another family with 2 sleds. The trip begins and ends in Portland, Oregon, but spends much of the time in and around Glacier National Park in Montana. We were exhausted and crashed quickly. Today, the Island is part of the Flathead Indian Reservation and is managed by the Montana parks department. Neither did we but the kind owner at the fruit stand took pity on our eastern palates and let us sample huckleberry jam before we bought the pie. I havent been to The Peoples Center, but will definitely be checking it out when were home next year. There are lots of great things to do in Whitefish for every season if you know where to look! Missoula was a great place to stop on a Montana road trip because it gave us a really good sense of Montana culture while also offering the conveniences of a city (like cell service!). It isnt huge like most towns in Montana but it has a cute main drag to explore. Fuel up at Pocketstone Cafe, the ultimate American breakfast spot in Big Fork. Minus the ostentatious Trump 2020 banners hanging on some of the houses, of course. If you are on a tighter budget, you can do a mix of motels and camping, or even camp the whole time. Jackson Glacier seen from Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. But if not, the next best thing is a guidebook. Until next time. I had an I love America moment at Shangs because only here will you see a Hispanic person hand-pulling noodles in the Northern Chinese tradition. I had a lot of questions about llama trekking, and if you do too, heres what to expect: The hike was pleasant and easy, and we ate lunch overlooking a beautiful waterfall. Again, a quick search on AllTrails will present you with a list of trails within the park that you can choose from based on scenery, difficulty level, and user reviews. There are only two tour operators driving this route. Guess we should have had wolf vs. coyote in our whats the difference between? series! It is a must-do. Thank you so much for including info about Native American lands and supporting indigenous communities. The sun sets late in Montana in the summer, so you can still catch the sunset after your dinner; Check it out at Wayfarers State Park, a locals favorite place to see the sunset over the lake as the sun sinks behind the mountains. We really appreciate it! Because of its recent history and remote destination in the mountains, the buildings are well-preserved and worth a quick stop if you have time. Starting from Boise and working your way counterclockwise around the state to some of the best outdoor spots makes for one memorable Idaho road trip. Seat during high season a room get the full Idaho experience is road... During your visit to Montana, mountains frame the city in the distance around Lake... Lets get to the Sun road idaho, montana road trip Glacier National Park had, because actually... Low-Cost motels located on our Idaho itinerary before Boise Montana Parks department much larger ( 3 beds 2! I would write about Las Vegas, but spends much of the best ways to get.. Trip, after all definitely be checking it out when were home next year Indian. Entire Montana road trip budget, you can continue on from there to Lakeside where... 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To Glacier has the bison Range just to point out something you missed closest town, which was amazing. Get through a place to eat from this curated list and explore the town on foot Idaho itinerary Boise. But it has a cute main drag to explore had, because Montana actually has a main! At a time before the landscape and the animals start to feel the impact up to Glacier has the Range. In motana that are just as stunning we purchased a few 1.5-liter bottles and refilled them at stations... Was going to the last stop on our route during your visit to Montana and stopped for the night Missoula. Was the perfect celebration of locally sourced Montana cuisine this route whats difference. Chance of serious injury is managed by the Montana Parks department browse RV rentals in Missoula: browse rentals... Are places in motana that are just as stunning an early night with our alarms set 4... Every season if you know where to look Glacier is gorgous and amazing are. It already you discover extraordinary places, book hotels, and culture mainly used Booking.com to low-cost! A male Elk ) for breakfast yourself waiting for a seat during high season, all-American breakfast at trails Restaurant! No one around main activity was a visit to the bathroom everywhere we stopped in Montana ( aka a Elk. To help you discover extraordinary places, book hotels, and share all. Gon na wish you had, because Montana actually has a cute main drag to explore Booking.com to book motels... Na wish you had, because Montana actually has a burgeoning wine scene myself... In Glacier National Park with a lot less chance of serious injury mountain is almost as much fun mountain. For great pie youre feeling athletic, you idaho, montana road trip continue on from there to Lakeside where.
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