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From SMARTER TRAVELS

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In case there are questions you have or if you just want to have a tangible book to hold on to while planning your Montana vacation, you can sign up HERE for a FREE Montana Vacation Planning Kit. Feel free to peruse online what you would receive by clicking HERE. The picture above shows the Family Vacation Planning Kit, but there are others including the Summer Packet and Winter Packet!

Any trip to the Northwest should include at least a couple of days in Montana. It truly is the last, best place!

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Be sure to send your kids to montanakids.com before making your journey to the Big Sky State. It is a great site with lots of information and great activities for the kids to find out just where it is they’re going! A sample from the site is given below. Enjoy!

With lots of open space, crystal fresh air and a landscape that invites you to explore; Montana is an outdoor enthusiast’s paradise. There is camping, hiking, fishing or picnicking in Montana’s National Parks, Indian Reservations, National Forests, State Parks, or National Wildlife Refuges.

Or, if you enjoy the personal challenge of the "extreme" sports you can pit yourself against the rugged terrain while mountain biking, mountain climbing, whitewater rafting, or when the snow flies swooshing off the mountaintops. Maybe your adventure appetite lies in partaking of the "old west".

In Montana, you can watch cowboys in action at the rodeo or if you desire something more extraordinary you can join a cattle drive. Montana is rich in culture and there’s alot of cool places to visit, museums, mansions, and archaeology sites. Check out our cool places in Montana Facts section under Travel and Tourism.

Well, what are you waiting for??? Jump in and have fun!

P.S. See you in Montana!

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“As the first Americans, we (Indian People) created the first tourism bureaus. We love this beautiful earth, in all its mystique and we are honored to share it with others. We have been playing good hosts for the past 500 years, a way of life grounded in the generosity of the Indian spirit. A spirit that can still be experienced when you visit our homelands.”

Henri Mann, Ph.D.

Endowed Chair, NAS Montana State University

Be sure to check out THIS SITE to see all that Montana has to offer for a cultural vacation for the entire family. As I was browsing around (remember, I’m still trying to come up with the June vacation for the kids and I), I also came across vacation homes which are Indian owned and operated.

There are seven reservations in Montana, representing 11 tribes. Reservations are important not only because Native Americans have strong spiritual ties to the land, but also because they have because Indians’ last retreat and last chance to preserve their culture so that it will survive and flourish for future generations. Montana’s Indian reservations invite you to experience the unique customs and traditions of the individual tribes and to share their home by choosing accommodations on tribal lands.

There is a site HERE which lists out many accomodations, but I was mostly drawn to the vacations homes and cabins. One that is not too far from me is the Whispering Pines Guest Cabin. It sleeps up to seven and has a great deck with a hot tub. The kids LOVE to hot tub and could stay in there until they are so pruned that they can’t see straight! Since we add up to five people, it is actually quite economical for us at $150/night (minimum four-night stay). I’m considering!

At any rate, if you do visit Montana, be sure to check out the Indian Nations while you’re here. The website indiannations.visitmt.com has some great ideas!

Happy Travels!

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I love Ghost Towns. I mean they completely fascinate me. The older and the less well-kept the better. The buildings are amazing, the history behind why they are no longer habitated is entirely cool, and the cemetaries are my favorite. Yeah, guess I have a little bit of a morbid streak.

Interstingly, my children aren’t the most “outdoorsy” of kids, but they share my love of Ghost Towns in Montana. We are within an hour’s drive of Garnet Ghost Town and last May tried to take a little day trip up there. One thing to keep in mind: There is too much snow to go much of the year to Garnet. You might want to take this trip during June-August! We nearly got stuck in the snow/slush/mud and never did make it all the way to the town!

Many years since I’ve live in Montana (I moved back here in 1998), my parents have taken the kids to Bannack Days to enjoy a festival type atmosphere in Bannack Ghost Town. They can send and receive telegrams, eat ice cream, play in the river, ride horses, and many other fun activities. From their website:

Bannack Days, with historic displays, activities and events, is held the third weekend in July each year. The visitor center is open from mid-May through September. A group picnic site is available. National Historic Landmark. The park is 5,800 feet in elevation and is 1154 acres in size. There are 28 sites in the campground with vault toilets, grills/firerings, firewood, picnic tables, trash cans, drinking water and access to Grasshopper Creek for fishing. A golf course and three museums are located nearby in Dillon. Day use fees are $4.00 per vehicle and camping fee: all season. Flush toilets are located in the visitors center and escorted and unescorted tours are available.

Yeah…Flushing toilets! We in the big time now, kids! Anyway, my children have always thoroughly enjoyed this trip (as have I because I get to sit home alone!). I have visited Bannack during the off-season and really enjoyed it. The gift shop is cute and there is a lot to see there. Be sure to check it out if you’re ever in that neck of the woods!

Needless to say, there are many MANY ghost towns to see in Montana if you’re into that sort of thing. There is a partial listing HERE if you are looking for a town in a specific part of the state.

Have fun! and.. BOO!

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Have you ever known a kid who wasn’t at least a little bit fascinated with dinosaurs? I mean even with all of the great cartoons and fantasy movies they have, the reality of these awesome creatures actually walking at one time where they walk now is pretty danged cool.

I have taken my kids to The Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana and they found it amazing. Watching people dusting off actual dinosaur bones, having real-life moving replicas for a reality check as to the hugeness of the animals, being able to watch amazing shows in the planetarium all added up to a great weekend in my kids’ eyes.

Of course there are many other significant dino-finds in Montana, most of which are described in great detail on mtdinotrail.org. The Museum of the Rockies is the only one I’ve visited personally, but there are links to MANY others on this site. Be sure to check it out. No matter what age your children, this is a fascinating journey to take!

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I may be a little bit biased, but I think Montana is a great place to take the kids for a family vacation, so I’m going to dedicate this week to things you can do with the here this spring, summer, and fall. Heck, I might even touch on winter so you can plan waaaaaaaay ahead!

On the site visitmt.com, Governor Brian Schweitzer welcomes potential visitors with this words:

Montana is a rare and special place. Our Big Sky, open land, majestic mountains and friendly people combine to make Montana the “Treasure State�. I invite you to explore Big Sky country and discover all the treasures we have to offer.

There are few places where you can see all that you can see in Montana. With a population under a million and with the state being one of the largest in the Union, there is plenty of room to roam and enjoy life as it was many years ago. I wonder what those first settlers must have thought when they first encountered Yellowstone National Park’s geysers and hot pots, or the pink stone and grizzly bears in what is now Glacier National Park.

Even if you don’t like to get out of the car to hike and explore, Montana has some gorgeous drives to take. As stated on visitmt.com:

In Montana you’ll find 147,000 square miles of terrain and about 69,000 miles of public highways and roads!

We invite you to explore some or all on your visit to Big Sky country. Follow the Lewis and Clark Trail, the Trail of the Great Bear or try one of the regional scenic loop drives. Find out why Lewis and Clark described Montana as, “scenes of visionary enchantment,” and among the prairies, mountain ranges, and ghost towns expect to see a variety of two and four legged creatures.

Be sure to visit their site HERE to click on the various parts of the states for scenic drives throughout the entire state.

If you want a specific drive or vacation to take, there is a wonderful site called Montana Scenic Loop which describes a 400 mile loop at the heart of which is the Bob Marshall Wilderness flanked by the Great Bear Wilderness on the north and the Scapegoat Wilderness to the south. Surrounding this wild gem are four National Forests and a host of Wildlife Management Areas and National Wildlife Refuges. Beyond the forests are striking vistas—the Rocky Mountain Front, Glacier National Park, the Flathead and Blackfoot River Basins. Adding another layer to the beautifully wrapped package are the communities, each with their own distinct personality.

If this sounds appealing to you, it is described in detail at their website HERE. I just might do all or part of that this summer as I’m still looking for a June vacation with the kids.

Stay tuned for more great ideas tomorrow! Enjoy the last best place!

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