Montana Rest Stop

Where you can enjoy the outdoor air and panoramic views

Bannack State Park

Bannack is one of the best preserved of all of Montana's ghost towns. Over 50 buildings remain today... from tumble-down, one-room bachelor cabins to the once-stately Hotel Meade.

The infamous sheriff of Bannack, Henry Plummer, was secretly the leader of a gang of thieves, murderers and robbers called "The Innocents". This gang is said to have murdered over 102 men and robbed countless others. A group of Vigilantes hanged Henry Plummer and many of his gang on the very gallows that he built to hang horse thieves. Click on photos to enlarge.

West Glacier National Park

From West Glacier the Going-to-the-Sun Road winds along Lake McDonald and then up river through a forest of old growth, moss covered trees. There are lots of hiking and bike trails that will take you off the beaten path. Today, the road was closed to motor vehicles at the Avalanche campground.

East Glacier National Park

Glacier is one of those parks where you need to pack extra socks because it's going to knock the ones you are wearing right off. A "must do" is the Going-to-the-Sun Road (I rode it on a motorcycle in 2001). This engineering marvel spans 50 miles through the park's wild interior, winding around mountainsides and treating visitors to some of the best sights in northwest Montana. Unfortunately, it is not yet completely open (click here to get the current road status) so I took U.S. 2 to East Glacier to see the Glacier Park Lodge, Two Medicine, Many Glacier, and the eastern portion of the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Glacier Park Lodge & Red Bus

Lodge interior - those logs are huge

As soon as the weather permits, I will tour West Glacier.

National Bison Range

That unfamiliar, yellow ball reappeared in the sky so I headed up to the National Bison Range. This federal wildlife refuge is home to 350-500 bison and numerous other critters. The Red Sleep Mountain Drive is a 19-mile, one-way, gravel road which gains 2,000 feet. There are many switchbacks and 10% grades along the drive. No trailers or vehicles over 32 feet are allowed.

One benefit of the recent rain is that it turned to snow at the higher elevations which made today's drive very scenic...

Montana - No Sales Tax

You would think the first thing I would write about Montana would be the "big sky" vistas. But no, the first thing I noticed was the fact there is no sales tax. Having spent the winter and spring in Arizona and California where state, county, city, and lodging/resort taxes added 10-15% to my bill, it is a delight to pay only the sticker price. Makes me wonder why the other states cannot do the same.