Montana holds the north half of Yellowstone’s edges and the best approach to the park’s wildlife. A loop from Bozeman through the park’s north entrances and up to Missoula shows the state at its widest and gives kids elk, bison, hot springs and a highway that climbs into the sky.
Gardiner and Mammoth
The north entrance at Gardiner is the only one open to cars year round and the Roosevelt Arch is the photo. Mammoth Hot Springs is five miles in with its terraces of white stone and elk lying on the lawns of the old fort. Boiling River, when open, is where the hot water meets the cold and everyone soaks. Gardiner has rafting on the Yellowstone for kids over about six.
Chico Hot Springs
In the Paradise Valley north of Gardiner, an old hot springs resort with two big outdoor pools, a saloon and cabins. It is the family stop between Yellowstone and Bozeman and the kids will not want to leave the water.
Cooke City and the Lamar Valley
The northeast entrance road runs through the Lamar Valley, the best place in North America to see wolves, and bison, pronghorn and grizzlies are on the way. Silver Gate and Cooke City are tiny towns at the far end with cabins and a fishing lake. From there the Beartooth Highway climbs to 11,000 feet on switchbacks over the pass to Red Lodge, with snowbanks in July and marmots on the rocks. It is one of the great drives in America and it is open from late May to October.
Big Sky
An hour south of Bozeman, the ski resort runs a summer gondola and lift to hikes, a zipline course, mountain biking for older kids and a mountain top ropes course. In winter it is one of the biggest ski areas in the country with excellent kids’ programs. The Gallatin River alongside the road has rafting and the film river from A River Runs Through It.
Missoula
A college town on a river with a hand carved carousel and a dragon playground in Caras Park, surfers on the Brennan’s Wave in the river downtown, a Smokejumper visitor center where kids see the parachutes, and the mountain trail to the M. The Clark Fork river float in tubes on a hot afternoon. The National Bison Range north of town is a drive through the herd in a hilly refuge.
The loop
Bozeman, Big Sky, Yellowstone via West Yellowstone or Gardiner, Chico, Lamar Valley, Beartooth to Red Lodge, back through Bozeman to Missoula. Ten days with the park in the middle.
Planning Montana with kids? Start with the full Montana family travel guide, or send me the ages and the dates and I will come back with what is really available.
Share this:
Discover more from Adventures We Seek
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.