Need help planning a road trip (vacation) through Montana (Billings: hotel, rent)

[UB50]

We are having to move out of our house in the next couple of months and are planning to put our stuff in storage. I've convinced my 88-year old father that we need to take a "Grand Road Trip" -- meaning I want to go back and visit places we've gone before and see some new places that we've never seen before! We'll have all the time in the world (meaning we can take a few months) and we won't be paying rent (only storage) so it seems like this is a good time to do this.

Montana is one of the states neither of us have ever been to. I'm checking out the map, and it looks like the "scenic" route (route 2) would be a fun one to take. We would be entering Montana from North Dakota and hoping to connect with I-15 South (eventually) to get back to Los Angeles.

Since we aren't extremely wealthy, I'm hoping to sell jewelry along the way -- at swap meets, flea markets, fairs, or whatever. Hopefully this will make enough money to pay for at least part of our trip.

So, here are my questions:

1) What's a good month to do this? June? July? August? I'd really like to explore Montana so I'd like to stay in the state longer than a week or two. (Visiting Glacier National Park has always been a dream of mine.) I'd kind of like to come when every tourist in the world isn't there.

2) Are there any good swap meets or festivals or places to sell in the summer in Montana? Monthly or weekly flea markets are fine. I'm not really picky. I'm planning to bring a nice mix of old and new, costume and fine jewelry since I don't know what will sell best outside of Los Angeles.

3) How is Highway 2? I'm a little reluctant to try to determine how "scary" a road is strictly by the map. I've been on some roads in Nevada and Arizona that looked fine on the map but were in a whole different ballpark once you actually started driving them. I don't like roads with hundreds of 5 mph switchbacks and I don't like roads that are supposed to be two lanes (but aren't because they have no dividing line), have no guardrails, and skirt around sides of mountains almost all the way to the top. Are any of the roads around there scary and roads to avoid? I know Colorado has some but I never see much mention about Montana.

4) What things are "not to be missed" in Montana? I really like good food and unique things. I'm not interested in shopping malls filled with chain stores (though I do like to shop!)

5) I've been looking for cheap places to stay. I've looked at craigslist and found some people trying to rent timeshares -- but are there any good "hole in the wall" towns with a lot of motels? It doesn't have to be anything fancy.

Thanks in advance for any help and information. I have no plans to move to Montana. I just want to visit!

[sdcowgirl]

I will try to address a few of your ??? First hwy 2 is a 2 lane and actually a decent road, passing lanes and wide enough to actually be a 2 lane ---- it is not however an interstate so it goes through lots of small towns along the northern part of MT.
As far as places to stay almost all small towns have a hotel or two -- not expensive or fancy but neat and clean. I live in Glasgow and there are 6 motels here -- one more expensive but all decent and clean. I would suggest you go to the Ft. Peck interpretive center -- lots of Lewis and Clark and dino things to see - all free. Great Falls has a great interpretive center too as well as Charles Russell museum, Chinook has a great museum and Havre has a buffalo jump that is very interesting and underground city to see. Glacier Park is great so is the capitol Helena with lots of history there. Someone else will have to tell you more -- just giving you a few highlights.
I don't know much about flea markets but I'm sure the larger places have them. July and August are usually warm and more tourist come around then.
Hope that gives you some ideas.

[MontanaGuy]

I would not recommend highway 2 at all. Probably two thirds of it goes through some very dreary windswept countryside that is not scenic at all. I've spent alot of time in this part of the state just because I have friends there and my sister was a teacher in Chinook. The truth is that the eastern half of Montana for the most part is not very attractive. There's alot of nice little towns along the way but there are hundreds of miles of nothing as well. I would try to get through that part of the state as fast as I could and that would mean the Interstate highway. Spend your time in the more interesting areas instead. There are some areas that are attractive between Billings and Bozeman and you could stop if you see something interesting. If you don't like what you see you can drive alot faster on a freeway to get past it than you can on highway 2. I'm sorry I don't know about swapmeets and such but I would dig into the internet to see what you can find. Almost everything is one the internet, even small events. Others have listed some places worth seeing and I'd have to agree. The area around Flathead Lake is very scenic as you're driving north to Glacier Park. There is one drawback to the route I've suggested though and that is the fact that it's a much longer drive than the highway 2 route because you've got to zigzag back up north and then come back again to get on I15. There's a few variations you could do but I guess it depends on how much time you have and how many miles you're willing to drive. Montana is a huge state and even the shortest route is a very long drive.

[lorelei2873]

Okay, I'd take highway 2 to Kalispell. You have to get through Montana somehow; it's just not going to be much different than ND. Glasgow is a cute town though.

Do Glacier while you're up in Kalispell; it's a must-see! Then take the Seely-Swan Valley route down to Helena via Hwy 83. You'll get breathtaking views and have the opportunity to see wildlife (just be careful not to hit any). This is a well-signed route; it's the second most popular route from Helena to Kalispell.

Stay in Helena for at least a day or two. The best thing to do here is to go on a guided boat tour of the Gates of the Mountains. It costs about $12 for adults and less for seniors, last I checked. You'll get spectacular views of the Missouri River and these staggering rock walls; a lot of it is surrounded by wilderness. You probably also have about a 50% chance of getting to see big horn sheep! The tour guides are great; you learn a little history, a little ecology, and a little geology.

The other good things to do around Helena are to go on the Last Chance Tour Train (great for seniors). It's a motorized choo-choo looking thing (open air) that you ride in. It's also less than $10. They take you around and show you all the old mansions in Helena and talk about Helena history. Very fun! You'll get some ghost stories, some state history, etc. It meets outside the historical society, so you should stop there while you're in town, too. They have great exhibits about Montana's Indian history and pioneer heritage. Also, you can visit the Holter Museum of Art for free! It's a great contemporary museum in the heart of Helena, right next to the spectacular cathedral. The Holter gift shop is a real treasure. Then, eat lunch or dinner at Benny's next door (they have jazz on the weekends). Take a tour of the walking mall if your senior can handle it, and visit all of Helena's downtown area shops. Stop at the Parrot! It's a Helena landmark. It's a family owned soda fountain where they make candy that's shipped all over the world. It's a step back in time. The Parrot is not tourist-y. It's just something that rarely exists anymore.

You can stay at Motel 6 or Super 8. I know that eating with a senior can mean needing curbside access or being a little less adventorous. So, the best places to eat in Helena are the Brewhouse (although more college & middle aged folks than seniors), On Broadway (you have to walk about half a block), Mediterranan Grill, and the Windbag. The Silver Star gets a lot of rave reviews, but it's just an overpriced any-city type of restaurant. If you really need to be parked close by the door and want pretty good, safe food with kind of a western feel, then you can eat at the Overland Express right next to the Super 8.


If you do a trip from Butte to Philipsburg, you'll get some great scenery. It's seriously a tiny, cute town kind of a hour or so away from anywhere else. But, it has a great feel to it and there a couple of options to go to sapphire mining establishments like the Sapphire Gallery. You sift through sand looking for sapphires (you do this outside). It's super fun and not something you get to do everyday. They also have a great old fashioned candy store, soda fountain, gift shops, etc. It's kind of like a trip back in time, and the surrounding scenery is great. There's non-chain places to stay, but you should splurge there and stay at the Broadway Hotel for about $100-$125. Here's a link to more info on Philipsburg:http://philipsburgmt.com/
Make sure you click on some of the links from the home page to see some cute pics of this little town.

Another great place to visit in the SW Montana area is the Virginia City/Nevada City areas. You will be able to see exactly what Montana was like in the old west. As the web site says, it's truly a ghost town frozen in time (but it's still a real working town):http://www.virginiacitychamber.com/. I loved this place as a kid! It's not a re-creation of a town; it's the actual former capital of the Montana territory.

I'd say the best time to visit is late June. Less chance of rain but not so hot that you'll be uncomfortable. There's usually also still some snow on the hills in June and the grass is really green. The rest of June is also great, but you have a greater chance of rain in the early part of the month. It really only rains here in May and early June with any regularity. Come when the grass is green! Also, it's a real concern that if you wait until late July or August, we'll be in forest fire season and we'll have much hazier days in western Montana (if not downright smoke!). By August, everything is brown.

Another tip, if you have a while to stay in Montana, plan a rodeo while you're here. It's really truly the event of the year for many small Montana towns. They have a good rodeo in East Helena the weekend after fourth of July. There's also a rodeo in Lincoln (a very scenic town near Helena) pretty early in the year--usually the weekend that falls before the Fourth of July.

[UB50]

I should have mentioned that I have an antiques business and I actually like going through a lot of small towns so I can hit all the antiques stores! We plan to do a LOT of shopping on this trip!

I also should have mentioned that my father is in good health and walks several MILES a day! He's liable to tire me out! I have to do all the driving however, and I hate to drive more than a couple of hours without stopping. We plan to really poke along on this vacation.

[SandyCo]

UB50, have you seen the Big Sky Fishing website? If you go to the "Explore Montana" portion, there are lots of of pictures and blurbs on many of the towns and cities. I was on there for a couple of hours the other night, just looking around. GiftShoppeGuy posted it first, I think, but here it is again: http://www.bigskyfishing.com/

I hope you have a wonderful trip!

[MontanaGuy]

After really going over the map again I think from a practical standpoint that Lorelei2873 is giving you a better option than what I suggested which was to follow the interstate through Billings. I started adding up the mileage and it would just be too much to do that so the highway 2 really does make more sense. I used to also go to Virginia City growing up and agree that it would be an interesting thing to see. If you want to see something really strange you can also visit the Berkely Pit in my home town of Butte which is that huge hole in the ground in uptown Butte. The body of water in that pit is some of the most polluted water in the nation and they've been trying to figure out what to do with it for years. That's not anything we like to brag about but if you're driving through Butte you might check out uptown Butte and also take a look at our polluted Berkely Pit.

[UB50]

Originally Posted by SandyCo

UB50, have you seen the Big Sky Fishing website? If you go to the "Explore Montana" portion, there are lots of of pictures and blurbs on many of the towns and cities. I was on there for a couple of hours the other night, just looking around. GiftShoppeGuy posted it first, I think, but here it is again: http://www.bigskyfishing.com/

I hope you have a wonderful trip!

Wow! Thanks for the link to the website! That's got the kind of information I was looking for -- plus I love looking at the photo section.

[rambrush]

I would suggest heading through Oppurtunity over to Anaconda and check out the Antiques there, (the best shop just closed this summer and they are recreating a brewery there) I would then head on down towards Wisdom check out the sights and circle up through the Bitteroot valley into Missoula.
Just be cautous in this area as they call it Moose Alley along the road. Also the critters have been down on the road lately licking the salt from the deicer soulution.
Course by time you get around should not be a problem.

[YOU-CANT-EAT-SCENERY]

Great thread. This will also give me some ideas for my trip come July.