Discover the Beauty and Adventures of Montana
Montana is a HUGE state with a ton to offer. While we’ve only really seen 3 areas in Montana, we know we need to go back to see more!
- We made one small stop at Medicine Rocks State Park on the way up to North Dakota (if you’re ever out in the middle of nowhere, stop there!)
- A full day in Big Sky Montana
- 3 nights in West Yellowstone
I’ll cover the last two in this post.
This trip was taken in June 2020
Check out full vlog here:
West Yellowstone
West Yellowstone was our home base for 3 nights of our adventure at Yellowstone National Park. (want to learn more about Yellowstone – check out the Wyoming Page!)
We stayed at the Holiday Inn West Yellowstone, which we actually booked with points — and we were very glad we did. West Yellowstone is definitely not cheap, so this was a great way to make the trip a bit more manageable. The location was perfect though — we could walk everywhere in town and were only minutes from the park entrance.
After long, full days in the park, our evenings were pretty simple. We walked to dinner each night and kept things easy.
We tried a couple of local spots, including Canyon Street Grill and La Jungla Tacos (tacos out of a bus — always a win). One night we also grabbed ice cream from Espresso West, which was a fun little stop after dinner.
There are also plenty of souvenir shops around town, so we spent a bit of time wandering those in the evenings. Nothing too over-the-top, but enough to fill a relaxed hour or two.
We usually grabbed breakfast to go before heading into the park. One morning we picked up food from Ernie’s Bakery and Deli, which was a really easy and solid option for early mornings.
There’s actually more to do in West Yellowstone than we ended up taking advantage of. After full days in the park, we didn’t have much extra energy, but there are some great-looking options in town like:
- Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center
- Gemstone “mining” activities
- A nice visitor center and small museums
If you have more downtime than we did, it seems like a good way to round out the experience.
One of the biggest lessons from this stop: groceries in West Yellowstone are expensive.
Most people bring picnic lunches into Yellowstone, which we did — but we made the mistake of buying most of our food after we arrived in town. For a 3–4 day stay, that adds up quickly.
If you’re planning a similar trip, it’s definitely worth stopping at a larger grocery store before you get close to West Yellowstone, stocking up, and bringing a cooler. The small stores in town are fine for forgotten items, but not ideal for full trip supplies.
Final Thoughts: West Yellowstone worked perfectly as a base for exploring the park — mainly because of how close it is to the entrance. That convenience alone made early mornings much easier (even if there was still a line by 7:30am).
It’s not necessarily a destination town on its own, but as a home base for Yellowstone, it was practical, walkable, and exactly what we needed after long days in one of the most incredible national parks in the country.
Big Sky
Our adventure in Montana was a day trip from West Yellowstone, and we’re really glad we tacked it onto an already packed itinerary — it ended up being one of the most peaceful, beautiful parts of the whole trip.
We did this on our second full day based in West Yellowstone.
We left the hotel around 9am, which felt like a luxury on a two-week trip where most days started before sunrise.
The drive is usually about 50 minutes into Big Sky, but it ended up taking closer to 1.5 hours because of road construction and alternating traffic. We were stopped frequently while a lead car guided groups through the construction zone.
Our main stop was the hike to Ousel Falls Park, and it ended up being one of our favorite hikes of the entire trip.
The trail is easy and very approachable (about 1.5 miles round trip), which made it perfect after a lot of bigger park days. It follows a river most of the way, with spots where the kids could stop, throw rocks, and explore right by the water.
Eventually, the trail opens up to a beautiful waterfall surrounded by trees, with a wooden viewing bridge overlooking the gorge. It felt incredibly peaceful — one of those places where you immediately slow down without really trying.
There were also picnic tables scattered throughout the area with amazing views, which we completely missed the opportunity to use because we left our packed lunch in the car. A small but classic travel planning miss. We made up for it by stopping for snacks along the trail, and later found a picnic table near the parking lot with another nice view to sit and regroup.
We then drove to Big Sky resort, which was beautiful. We just sat in some Adirondack chairs and relaxed for a while. There are things to do there but it was a little later in the day and they were pricey so we passed.
After that we just drove back to West Yellowstone for some more takeout!
This Montana detour was one of those “extra” days that ended up feeling like a highlight instead of just a filler.
It didn’t require much planning, it wasn’t crowded or complicated, and it gave us a completely different kind of scenery compared to Yellowstone — quieter, greener, and more relaxed.
Sometimes the best parts of a big trip are the small side trips you almost don’t plan for — and this was definitely one of those.
Wrap – Up
Montana is a state with so much to offer. After visiting the Big Sky area and West Yellowstone, we can’t wait to go back and see more.
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