Scout Summer 2025: Sweet Sweet Montana
We had a couple of long drive days leaving CO and heading for Bozeman, but still decided to take the longer scenic route through the Tetons and Yellowstone. Thankfully, Rona doesn’t mind the long drive days one bit.
Our first night was spent in a little town called Lander, WY, which took us by surprise. While new to us, we quickly discovered this place is famous for its climbing. Looking around, it’s no wonder - high desert terrain with red rocks in the foreground paired with snowcapped peaks hinting at their Teton neighbors in the distance. The town is tiny, but somehow manages to have a great brewery and multiple great coffee and bakery spots. Free camping is also available right in the city park. We camped here along with about 100 other vans, trailers, and tents. It was the busiest free campsite we’ve ever stayed at, but somehow it was also super clean and quiet. It just goes to show that it is possible for a large group of nature-loving people to use and respect a place. We only stayed a night, but we hope to be back one day soon.
Our next day on the road took us through Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park, on to Gallatin Canyon, and all the way into Bozeman. We typically avoid the National Parks for two reasons: First, they are crowded (especially Yellowstone). Second, and most importantly, they are not dog-friendly. However, since this was just a pass-through drive day, it was nice to take in the views from the road and stretch our legs on the pavement around Old Faithful.
We made it to Bozeman, where we checked into our little Airbnb and kicked off some early anniversary celebrations. We’ve never stayed right in downtown Bozeman (we usually camp at the campground just East of town), and it was such a treat to be an easy walk or bike to all our favorite spots. We only had 2 nights here, but we managed to get a good bike ride in, enjoy a “kid-less” date night out, and I even checked out a local yoga studio.
From Bozeman, we headed Northwest towards Whitefish and my parents. We planned to camp along Seeley Lake, but we hit our first "hard” camping day of the trip. It caught us by surprise on a Tuesday, but plans A, B, C, and D all failed. We ended up at Lindberg Lake via the recommendation of another camp host, too tired of driving to care what the site looked like (the lakeside spots here are actually very beautiful, but we didn’t get one).
The next morning, we left early for Whitefish to spend some time with my parents and a few days off travelling. At this point, we had covered a lot of ground since Denver in not very many days, and a few days at “home” were just what we needed.
- M
