August 12-18, 2019
Billings, Red Lodge, Beartooth Pass, Pray to Big Sky
Monday, August 12
Flights were perfect coming into Billings, the largest city in Montana. Unfortunately that was not the case on the ground when a massive hail storm the night before left no cars at any car rental place. Hm. Let’s think about our options over lunch at local brewery called Uberbrew as recommended from our local transplants sending advice from France. We rented a car from a local rental/used car dealer in town and headed to Red Lodge and our same local family’s vacation cottage on Hauser St. Got the last car at AA&A Car rental in town and set off to Red Lodge. TIp: if in a pinch, look at the app Turo, an Air BNB for cars type thing.
Red Lodge - Cute little town with everything to do such as skiing in the winter, mtn biking, hiking, etc. Fav hike is the Glacier Lake hike. Our pals home is a super cute old clapboard historical home complete with pot belly stove with Broadway, the main drag of Red Lodge, an easy walk. Because of our travel woes, our time to do anything active was consumed, so it left little time for anything except to actually consume at shops, bars and restaurants. Darn. Here is the scoop from our fav local:
Hey Aurelia!
Bear spray is a must if you go hiking. The Beartooth Market is down the street towards town if you need anything. There is also a nice little gourmet food and wine shop, Babcock and Miles, 105 12th Street West, that also makes good coffee, but not open until 9. That is also a fun place to pick up picnic items if you need lunch for a drive up the Pass. For breakfast, we like Regis Cafe at 501 South Word, open at 7 am. It’s nice to sit outside in the back if it’s good weather. The Cattail Bakery, 203 Broadway, is good for picking up baked goods. They are open early and close when they run out of croissants.
Mas Taco is a short walk from the house, on the other side of the main street, Broadway. It is great for a quick lunch or dinner, closes at 7 pm. Our other favorite is Prerogative Kitchen at 104 Broadway, fun atmosphere and serves small plates that you order at the counter. (Our choice and it was excellent!) There is a pop-up Sicilian restaurant at Ox Pasture (7 Broadway). The atmosphere is wonderful, and the staff is mostly Italian (they come for just the summer)...It’s good, but not fabulous. It is a fun experience, though. We think the Sicilian specials at the top of the menu are the best choices. You might need a reservation. Carbon County steakhouse on Broadway is good if you want a steak. They also own Natali’s Front Bar next door, good for a drink on the patio. (Yep, we did.) The Pollard Hotel is a historical landmark, Calamity Jane and such hung out there back in the day. I do not recommend the restaurant, but their pub is pretty decent and sometimes has live music. Best ice cream is Jubilee, close to Prerogative Kitchen and the Roman movie theater on Broadway.
If you want an interesting something to take back to your daughter, Paris Montana on Broadway has unique, funky “western” clothes and accessories. The owner designs and makes a lot of the items herself.
Tuesday, August 13
The Beartooth Pass Drive is incredible. It takes about an hour to drive up to the Pass at 10,497 ft. You can make a loop out of it by coming back to Red Lodge (or Billings) as was the case for our hail storm dictated journey) through Wyoming on the Chief Joseph drive through the Sunlight Basin. All together this was about a 5 hr jaunt with minimal stops. Probably 4 if you go back to Red Lodge. We got picnic supplies at the Beartooth Market and left at 8am after breakfast at the Honey Cafe.
The Beartooth is fantastic with incredible 360 degree views of the jagged Beartooth Mtns, and the other ranges in the distance. Alpine lakes are everywhere at the top and you level out onto grassy plateaus. There are hikes along the way, lots of scenic pull offs, Beartooth Lake rec area and the Top of the World stop for snacks, gas and outhouse. Really gorgeous.
The terrain on the Chief Joseph scenic drive is not as dramatic as the Beartooth Highway, but full of vast valleys, grassy plains, igneous dikes and rocky plateaus. The highlight is the Clark Fork Yellowstone river and canyon that runs through most of the Basin.
Would have liked to have gone on to Cooke City, but we had return to Billings to return our local yocal car rental. Luckily, Enterprise had a car for us so off we went to Pray, Montana and the Sage Lodge in the Paradise Valley below the Paradise Range.
The Sage Lodge, which clearly is geared around fishing as it is a partnership of Sage fishing gear along with other fishing brands, sits high on a grassy plain and is quite nice with spa, gourmet restaurant, casual restaurant, hot tub area, mtn biking trails, and lots of fishing stuff. We hopped on two bikes and took a 5 mile ride around the property before having dinner in the grill.
Wednesday, August 14
Fly fishing on the Yellowstone. A beautiful day starting in the 50’s and up to the low 80’s quickly. Craig Boyd was a spectacular guide with lots of fish tales while being a good instructor and oarsman. It was an A+ day as we snagged probably 30 fish. Mend, strip out and strip in, set that hook were all terms of the day on a 12 mile float from to Side ?? to Livingston. The Yellowstone River is a gorgeous, wide river, which interestingly flows north to the Missouri River, with some nice small rapids, but generally a swift current, but gentle feeling river going through the Paradise Valley.
After our float, we explored the area visiting the famed Chico Hot Springs Lodge, which is quaint and historic National Park feeling with the hot springs contained within a swimming pool setting. The bar has lots of character and the food is supposed to be James Beard material. We were glad to see it and glad to be staying at the Sage. Also drove over to the Yellowstone Valley Lodge which could be a good option for staying with cabins overlooking the river and a well known gourmet restaurant. (Book way in advance.) Ended our touring with a cold Rainer beer at The Saloon in Emmigrant, a “suburb” of Pray....Soaked in the scenery in the hot tub and a lovely dinner at the Fireside Room.
Thursday, August 15
It’s a car tour day as we cruised to Ennis, Montana which is a beautiful drive through the Madison Valley and beside a gorgeous Madison River, which is very similar to the Yellowstone. Ennis is a cute little town with typical Main Street full of fly fishing shops and s smattering of restaurants. With some time to kill, we decided to drop in on some friends and their Ruby RIver Ranch near Alder, Mt. A lovely compound of log cabins and main lodge right on the Ruby River which is a large creek known for its fishing and tubing. A bonus is going through Virginia City and Nevada City, which are historic gold mining towns that are still so authentic western looking that I thought I might be on a movie set.
We headed back to Moonlight via the private shortcut on Jack Creek Road and landed just in time for dinner at the Moonlight Golf Club.
Friday, August 16
Enjoyed golf, hiking and the Moonlight Musicfest at Moonlight Basin!
Other good areas
Boulder River Valley and Big Timber area are great for fly fishing. (Red Lodge to Timber is 1.5 hrs) Paradise Valley near Livingston is good as well. (Red Lodge to Livingston is 2 hrs and another hour from Livingston to Pray.)
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