Visiting Bozeman Montana

“JUST BEEN TO”

BOZEMAN MONTANA

Introduction

I recently traveled to Bozeman Montana from New York. When I was planning the trip, I found it very hard to get information directly relating to Bozeman. I found travel books on Montana, but I was trying to find an itinerary for a few days in or close to Bozeman. Now that I have visited, I hope to help someone else plan their trip especially if they are traveling in the summer because I am including events that happened while we were there.

Chapter 1

Flights:

When I was looking for a direct flight to Bozeman from the NYC area, I was disappointed. I could only find one direct flight to Bozeman, which was on United Airlines that left from Newark Airport. I really only travel on direct flights, so that is what I booked. We had delays on both flights but even with those delays, I felt the direct flight was best.

Chapter 2

Airport Parking:

I found a great parking lot at Newark Airport - New Airport Long Term Parking located at 422 Frelinghuysen Ave in Newark. The rate was just $25 a day and their vans to and from the airport ran on a fairly quick schedule. The drivers of the vans helped with my luggage and were very pleasant.

Chapter 3

Hotels:

There were so many choices of hotels, but I believe I lucked out and ended up in a great hotel for a very good price. It was the Residence Inn by Marriott in downtown Bozeman on East Main Street. This turned out to be a recently updated hotel within walking distance of everything in Bozeman. It has a small pool and whirlpool, and a gym. The staff was wonderful, and a full breakfast was included every day. Breakfast included everything from freshly made waffles, oatmeal, eggs, granola, bagels and yogurt. (There was a small outdoor seating area if you wanted to eat breakfast outside.) You did have to request when you wanted your room cleaned, and I advise you to be very specific about what you want to get cleaned because they did exactly what you asked for and nothing else. But I do recommend this hotel for its location, helpful staff, ample parking, and great breakfast.

Chapter 4

Rental Cars

When looking for rental cars, I was amazed at the high prices. I looked around for the best price, first at all the regulars like Hertz and Enterprise – and even at Costco, and then turned to the apps like Expedia and Priceline – and found a deal on Expedia for a mystery car thru Hertz. It was a deal that saved me over $150 so I took it. Being a gold member to Hertz, when I got to the Bozeman Airport I waited on the gold members line, but since this was booked through Expedia, they would not help me. They sent me to their regular line and I had to wait again on line for my car. So, if you book a manager’s special through an outside source like Expedia, you will have to wait on the regular Hertz line. I did get a great car, a 2-door sedan, but much bigger than what I expected. It was perfect for my husband and me.

Chapter 5

Restaurants and Bars

Bozeman is filled with great restaurants and bars. Having no one to ask, I relied on Google reviews for help in this area. The following is a list of all the places I found.

First, we went to Sky Shed. It is a bar at the top of the Kimpton Armory Hotel and promised great views of the mountains and beautiful sunsets. I thought it would be a great place to get a perspective of the scenery around Bozeman. You will need to make reservations or you may not get in. Second, which I did not know, is that there are different types of reservations – standard seating and high top. There is also outside seating. I booked standard seating and was directed to sit at a couch off the bar with absolutely no view of anything. I was very disappointed and asked to change seats. The hostess took us outside and showed us seats in the sun with a view of buildings on the back side of East Main Street. It was also very hot (5:30pm) and in the direct sun. I asked to sit at the indoor high tops (all high tops are inside) and was told they were totally booked. The reason for this is that those high tops are really the only place to see the mountains in the background. There was one couch mixed in with the high tops with a view of the mountains so we ended up sitting there. We had dinner reservations elsewhere, so we ordered drinks (which were great) and ordered their Smoked Trout Dip (since trout fishing is a thing in Bozeman) and their Roasted Garlic Fries. The Dip was very good but the Fries were amazing. It was only while at the restaurant when we realized sunset would be around 9:30pm, so it would have been better to come after dinner for drinks. The best advice I can offer for this place is to make reservations for high top seating so you can actually see the mountains (which are amazing!)

First dinner was at the Squire House in the Element Hotel. It has a beautiful old bar and the owner was on hand to speak to every customer. We apparently were seated at “Rip’s” table where members of the show Yellowstone have gathered a few times. We did not see any of the cast but it was fun to hear stories about them. The Elk Bolognese had a wonderful robust taste.

The second place that I will absolutely recommend is the Montana Ale Works. It is a huge place, and it was packed. Luckily, I had made reservations so we were seated immediately, but I did over hear people being told the wait was at least 30 minutes. They have a sampler of beers is you don’t know what to try and the Bison New York strip was great. The fish and chips were good – the fish was great; the fries were OK – so the meal together was pretty good. The drinks are reasonably priced. The staff was so friendly and happy to provide suggestions. It just has a great vibe!

Another cool different kind of place to try for lunch is Roost Chicken. It is on West Main Street, but you need to look for it, as it is a little hidden. They have a bunch of chicken sandwiches and I can tell you that their Carolina Gold sandwich was worth the wait. The place did have a line that moved very slowly. We sat outside and watched small birds in their nest in the eaves of the building. The red and white checkered paper that lined your tray was so cute! The food is excellent, although, even though it is listed as a cheap place, a sandwich was around $15.

Another great place for dinner is the Copper Whiskey Bar and Grill. It is in a basement with a long beautiful bar and a nice menu. The trout was amazing. They were sold out of their famous half roasted chicken but I imagine that would be great too. You can do a double shot of anything they have. It is a cool tavern with great plank and stone décor. Definitely the place to try some whiskey if you like whiskey.

The best place we found for lunch is a small place call the Western Café on East Main Street. It always seems to have a line but it moves pretty fast. We sat the counter and felt like we lived there. The French dip roast beef sandwich was amazing. The cattle brands above the counters along with the rest of the super cool décor (you have to see it for yourself) – and with the fantastic food - just makes you want to come back every day!

The last restaurant I can recommend is in Livingston. (We spent half a day there – will describe what we did later). It is a big place and the locals seem to love it. It is called Montana’s Rib Chop House and has a ton of parking. The service was just ok – although we were told they were swamped with a large party when we were there. Their filet mignon was delicious and the sandwiches were good too. Only thing I will mention is that they over pepper their fries – to the point I could not eat them and had to request more water. Yet, I do think this place is great – just request no pepper on your fries!

We did go to the Bozeman Spirits Distillery just to taste the Huckleberry Vodka (Bozeman is all about huckleberry) – my husband loved while I did not like it at all.

Chapter 6

Events

There was a five-day County Fair in Bozeman when we were there (and there is a discount if you are over 62.) It was at the Gallatin Country Fairgrounds and was called Big Sky Country State Fair (open from 11 am to 11pm). Because I did not know about this before I booked my trip – I was limited to visiting their opening night. There was a concert that evening but it was sold out. We also missed the dog show, as well as a few other shows we would have loved to see. We did see a pig race, which was adorable, watched sea lions take pictures with children, watched young people show their goats for ribbons, walked thru stables filled with prize cows and pigs, watched a 14-year-old girl ride a motorcycle inside an iron globe cage and watched dirt bikes races. It was very different from any country fair I had been to in the Eastern portion of the US. I was a little disappointed in the food options as everything was deep fried. I also saw my first 4H showmanship competition ribbons for everything from photos to quilts. It was just a cool thing to experience.

There was also the Livingston Classic PBR in Livingston – a small town under 30 minutes from Bozeman. We had bought tickets for that Saturday but due to delays, we never made the event. General admission was $25 a person and I think it would have been worth it to see a rodeo (bull riding) in Montana. I am sorry I missed it. It would have been so cool to see!

Chapter 7

Day Trips

Fly Fishing

We highly recommend fly fishing. Neither my husband or I had ever fly fished before, although we do fish, and had a wonderful day. We did a full day trip with Montana Angler. In July you would do a Float Trip (drift boat/rowboat). A full day trip starts at 7am. You meet at the Montana Angler Shop in Bozeman and are driven to the Yellowstone River. When you arrive, you will receive instructions on how to fly fish and given a chance to try it on dry land. They provide all the rods, flies and tackle. The price is for two people in one boat. The guide does all the rowing (and there is a lot of that) and provides constant instructions to help you fish. He also untangles the lines and resets your line if you need it. I never had fly fished before and I caught two fish within two hours and then took a break to take pictures of the scenery and of the bald and golden eagles who were fishing with us. My husband caught too many fish to count and had one of his best days on the water. Our guide was wonderful and worked so hard to make sure we caught a ton of fish. He also provided us with a really good lunch. The day cost about $700 for the both of us and we happily gave him a nice tip (average tip is $150). Don’t forget your sunglasses, hat, sunscreen, raingear and camera (or cell phone). The trip happens no matter what the weather is. (If you stay at the Residence Inn it is a very short walk to the Angler Shop and the guide did drop us at our hotel on the way back.)

Safari Trip

We had an amazing time on the Yellowstone Wildlife Safari. We booked it through Trip Advisor, but it is with the Yellowstone Safari Company. There is a private version of this trip for $100 more per person but we did the group tour ($350 a person). As it turned out, there were only two other people on the tour which was great. It is a very early morning pickup in Bozeman (6am) but they do give you muffins and breakfast bars in the van with a bottle of water. If you need coffee, make it in your hotel room and bring it with you. You meet at Café M on East Main Street. (This is also a very short walk from the Residence Inn) Our guide was the most knowledgeable tour guide we have ever had and communicated with fellow guides to share locations of where to see the animals. We saw elk, bison, black bear, grizzly bear, mountain goats, pronghorns, birds, and small mammals. We heard the coyotes but just missed them. The wolves remained hidden. Our guide took pictures with special lenses and then when the tour was over air dropped all the pictures to all of us. The pictures were so much better than any you could have taken yourself. This guide work extremely hard to find the animals and then tell you all about them. Half way through the day we stopped at a lovely spot by the river and had another really good lunch – this one even included a brownie for dessert! Since the pickup spot and our hotel was so close, we were dropped back at our hotel. I highly recommend the Yellow Safari.

Homemade Day Trip

We highly recommend visiting the Montana Grizzly Encounter and combining it with visiting Livingston. The Grizzly Bear Encounter is basically half way between Bozeman and Livingston. The Grizzly Encounter lets you get up close to a Grizzly Bear. Max is the youngest and favorite. He is out most of the time and very active and very playful. The other two bears are older and not as happy to be viewed. Max is out most of the morning and then one of the other bears (either Maggie or Bella) comes out, and then the remaining bear comes out, and then Max comes out again in the late afternoon. There is no real schedule, it depends on how the bear is feeling so even though the tickets ($12.50 a person) are good for two days – we only got to see Max, but he certainly knows how to put on a show. The only remaining thing to mention is that you can rent Bear Spray here. Every other place makes you buy a can of Bear Spray for around $65. If you do't use it, you cannot take in on a plane so you basically either throw it out or hope to find someone you can give it to. At the Grizzly Bear Encounter you can rent a can for about $15 a day. If you end up using it, you do have to pay for it, but if you are only hiking a day or two, you would end up saving by renting it - as long as you don't actually run into a bear.

After the encounter we did go to Livingston. You can find an amazing view of the Yellowstone River there. People sit alongside the river to relax, while others swim in the water or go rafting on the water. It was a beautiful stop. I also found some very unique gifts in some of the shops on the main street. I believe adding Livingston to your list will enhance you appreciation of Montana.

Chapter 8

Tips on things to do

My husband and I are older but still in pretty good shape. We decided to hike the M Trail. The trail is at the mouth of Bridger Canyon and has amazing views of the Gallatin Valley. There is an easy and a steep trail to reached the M which was created by Montana State students in 1915. We took the easy trail. The mornings are cool which was good but we forgot about the altitude. It was much higher than we realized so our hearts were racing and we had to slow down a bit until we got used to the atmosphere. Definitely bring water and maybe a snack. There are amazing views from various parts of the trail and there are two benches on the side of the giant M. We did the harder trail on the way down, so I would warn you about the rock scramble which was a little hard.

We also decided to see Palisade Falls in the Hyalite Recreation Area of the Gallatin Range. We were disappointed to find out it is not open during the week due to construction! The information center in town recommended it because it was a relatively short and easy hike (1.2 miles), but we were never told it was only open on the weekends. We drove all the way there (about an hour) so we ended up parking at the lake and hiked a trail that wasn’t too long. The Gallatin Mountain Range is beautiful and driving through it, stopping at multiple places for pictures, was amazing. A little humming bird was actually attracted to my red cell phone case and I caught it in the picture I was taking – probably the best photo of any animal I took. There were other birds around (ducks) and a random squirrel but we did not see any animals – which is probably for the best.

We did visit the Museum of the Rockies which is largely dedicated to dinosaurs. They also have a living farm with very informative staff to describe living in the past. It happened to have a Da Vinci Exhibition which was a hands-on examination of his life research and art. It is definitely worth a visit.

One night we decided to go see a sunset. Sunsets are very late in Bozeman in the summer (9:30pm) and we did not want to get stranded at the top of a mountain, so we went to Burke Park, climbed up to the hilltop and looked for a bench. Apparently, a lot of locals know about this spot and we had to walk a little to find a bench. In retrospect, I would recommend bringing a blanket or towels at sit on. It was a little cloudy that night, but we still had a beautiful sunset.

The Farmer Market was at the park across the street from our hotel. There was live music and a ton of vendors. Definitely worth a visit.

Chapter 9

Things we did not get to do

We horseback ride, so we did not book a trail ride. That said, we did end up with some spare time and decided to try to book a ride, but every ranch we called had no availability. Lesson learned - book horseback riding in advance. I would recommend Medicine Lake Outfitters. They returned my call and tried so hard to fit us in but the timing just would not work for us. I got a sense that it would be the best place to book. Some of the other places did not respond to me at all.

The Bozeman Sculpture Park would be a great place to be outdoors for a walk and see some art.

I would have liked to try the Bozeman Hot Springs – it is only half an hour away from the hotel.

The following turned up in my research but I cannot offer any advice on them:

White Water Rafting

Tubing

Zip Line

Farms Alpaca

Big Sky (definitely a day trip)

Naya Nuki Peak

Gallatin History Museum

Computer and Robotics Museum

I hope this helps with the planning of your Bozeman Montana Mid-Summer Trip. Enjoy!