Montana is big sky, big mountains and the kind of empty that makes kids stare out the window. Glacier is the headline, but the rest of the western half of the state fills a two week trip with lakes, dinosaurs and horses.
Whitefish
The resort town near Glacier’s west entrance. Whitefish Mountain Resort runs the chairlift in summer to a summit with a walk in the trees, plus an alpine slide, ziplines and an aerial adventure park. In winter it is a friendly family ski hill with a ski school and cheap lift tickets by Colorado standards. The town has a beach on Whitefish Lake, a Tuesday farmers market and a main street of shops. City Beach is the swim.
Flathead Lake
The largest natural freshwater lake in the West, ringed with cherry orchards that sell fruit at roadside stands in July. Wild Horse Island is a state park in the middle of the lake reached by rented boat or kayak, with bighorn sheep and wild horses. Bigfork on the northeast shore is a small town with a summer playhouse and a river to float. Rent a house on the lake for a week and let the kids swim off the dock.
Bozeman
The Museum of the Rockies has one of the largest dinosaur collections in the world, including a T rex and a hall of skulls, and it is where the Jurassic Park consultant worked. It is the best dinosaur museum for kids west of Chicago. The town has a good downtown, the Bozeman Hot Springs, and Hyalite Canyon with easy trails to waterfalls and a reservoir with paddleboards. It is also the gateway to Yellowstone’s north entrances.
Lewis and Clark Caverns
Between Bozeman and Butte, a limestone cave with guided tours through big rooms, a slide section that kids love and 600 steps. It takes two hours and suits kids over about five.
Virginia City and Nevada City
Gold rush towns preserved as they were, with wooden sidewalks, a stagecoach ride, a small steam train between the two, and a music hall with melodramas where the kids boo the villain. It is the Old West without the theme park feel.
Guest ranches
Montana dude ranches around the Paradise Valley, Bozeman and the Bitterroot take families for a week of riding, fishing and campfires with a kids’ wrangler program. Most have a minimum age of six. It is the trip kids ask to do again every year.
Practical
Distances are large. Whitefish to Bozeman is five hours. Summer is short and dry. September is quiet and gold.
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.
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