Photo: clspeace

The Montana that most folks seek is all about wilderness, western mythology, and epic trout fishing. Even with the arrival of high-end eateries and increasingly expensive accommodations in iconic western American towns like Whitefish and Hamilton, you can still come away after a week or two in Montana with solitary experiences and money left in your billfold. Here’s how.

Photo: .Bala

Transportation

The best way to see Montana is by car.

Yes, there’s Amtrak and airports, but in the planes, trains, and automobiles trifecta, bet on the latter. Gas is a bit cheaper this year and as a rule Montana boasts some of the lowest petrol prices in the US.

The flexibility of your own ride allows for either intense investigation of one portion of the state, or a decent linear sample of Montana’s high mountains and vast prairies.

Lodging

For lodging, I subscribe to a “2/3 camping + 1/3 motel room” formula on a summer road trip, ideal in a place with plentiful outdoor sleeping options.

Besides Glacier National Park, there are nine national forests and several state parks to explore.

One unique lodging alternative involves rental of a historic fire lookout, ranger residence, or bunkhouse. Over 90 are available in the national forests. Cost is around $30.00 per night for four people, with varying levels of modern conveniences and accessibility.

They make excellent base camps for hiking, fishing, berry picking, or simply lying amongst the wildflowers in a nearby meadow (as a botany nerd, that’s where you’ll find me).

Montana is covered with campgrounds: private, public, developed, undeveloped. The latter works well if you are self contained and have no need for running water or flush toilets. They’re also best in terms of budgeting: free of charge.

Fancier campsites will cost no more than $15.00 per night. You can reserve ahead of time, good advice when approaching summer tourist hot spots. I tend to take my chances and have no qualms following an obscure Forest Service road a few miles to some unknown place. The further off the beaten path, the less competition for camping space and more opportunity for Montana-style peace and quiet.

Travelers needing a proper mattress, lights, and hot water, will find them in every town offering the typical low/moderate/high range of lodging options. I go low end to kick the dirt off, catch an installment of SportsCenter and regroup. A complimentary breakfast is always a plus.

Summer is high season and hotels/motels close to Glacier and Yellowstone will be spendy and without vacancies. This is when wandering far afield may prove scenically and financially beneficial.

Photo: Eric_Ulmer

In 2008, a friend and I stayed in an obscure fly-to resort for small plane enthusiasts when all the Highway 93 hotels were booked in Hamilton due to a June pow wow.

For $37.50 each we shared a cabin with a gorgeous view of the Bitterroots, the only guests of the chatty Cessna pilot/innkeeper and his wife.

Come day break, we found out we were just up canyon from Triple Creek Ranch, a five-star spot for the Travel and Leisure set starting at $325.00 a night per person. I don’t know what that extra $225.00 would have gotten us exactly, but I don’t think our dogs would have been welcome.

Food

In keeping with a camping/DIY strategy, preparing meals most of the time goes easier on the food budget. There’s not a town in Montana right now without a Saturday farmer’s market. The absence of a sales tax is another money saver. Montana offers morels in the spring, huckleberries in the summer, and trout all year long. You can acquire other foodstuffs on your own or purchase them along the way.

Dine out sparingly, saving up for something spectacular for supper one night and brunch come Sunday. For comprehensive, statewide dining recommendations, check out Munching Montana: A Road Trip Guide to Montana’s Most Unique Local Food.

Getting Priorities Straight

My cash goes to adventures:

Photo: bugeaters

A whitewater plunge in kayak or raft, a knowledgeable fishing guide, or a night’s stay at a hot springs resort with therapeutic waters pumped into my private claw-foot tub. I keep the day-to-day simple, inexpensive, sweet tasting, and scenic.

Not being much of a shopper, my souvenir and gift purchases center on things I can eat, read, or listen to. I’m certain the dozen-plus Matador Montana experts concur and can expand on these suggestions.

These general hints and an Internet click over to Travel Montana should have you cruising the fun and frugal road to my favorite geographical neighbor. See you in the huckleberry patch in a few weeks!

Community Connection

If exploring Big Sky Country sounds good to you, make sure to read up on Bike Touring Montana: Classic Big Sky Rides and 9 Montana Backpacking Trips That Will Blow Your Mind.

Photo courtesy of Travel Montana

There’s a scene in A River Runs Through It where Brad Pitt’s character is up to his waist in the middle of the Blackfoot River and yells over the roar of the rapids:

“What are they biting on?”

This beautiful cinematic moment is a summer one. But fly fishing enthusiasts know a seasonal secret: the best time to fish the iconic waters of Big Sky country is spring. Come late March/early April, winter slides off the spine of the Bitterroots as light and warmth entice Skwala stoneflies and March brown drake mayflies out of their casings.

The serious, pleasurable work of catching fish from the end of an elegant cast is about to start.

Photo: Clydehurst

Why Montana?

Besides all the attention the Norman Maclean memoir and the Robert Redford film rendition garnered, Montana has some of the best fly fishing in the world for very practical reasons: its wild fish populations have been protected since 1963 with the passage of the nation’s first stream preservation legislation.

Rather than simply throwing in stockers from hatcheries to please the masses, biologists and natural resource professionals key to the habitat of native cold water fisheries. This helps protect water quality, stream flows, and healthy stream bank vegetation.

It also ensures wily wildness in the fish at the end of your line, fish that spook when your shadow darkens the shore. In a true angler’s opinion, it’s a much more exciting catch than hooking some lunker just out of the Fish and Game truck.

Photo: bugeaters

Montana has also been ahead of the curve in terms of catch and release policy, encouraging the use of barbless hooks for decades. Better to enjoy the thrill of the “get” rather than the taste of the flesh, putting the fish back in the stream and letting them get bigger, perhaps to be caught another day (or not).

Matching the Hatch

For beginners still sorting out their new Orvis purchases, “matching the hatch” is the process of mimicking the entomological cycle of native insects when selecting your artificial fly.

A hatch in full force is an electric event to witness. Nymphs, the insect equivalent of adolescents, morph from teenagers into winged adults instantaneously. The water surface bubbles and boils with feeding trout. Depending on what species is hatching, the ichthyology can get acrobatic.

The initial urge is to tie on your best rendition of a grown-up fly and get in on the action. But before you wet a line, take a deep breath and observe.

Photo: bugeaters

It may not be the flying forms the fish are after. The way the trout moves is an excellent indicator of what’s being eaten and where. Are fish jumping clear out of the water? Caddis emergers are probably making a quick run for the surface.

Small white fish mouths opening and closing below the water so you can see them? Classic surface feeding on small midges. Tails pointed upward towards you? Nymph feast on the riverbed!

Matching the hatch is more than noticing what’s flying around you. What’s underneath a rock may be what you want to tie on your line any given spring day.

Where to Go Before Memorial Day

When it comes to spectacular trout fisheries the “west is best,” meaning the left portion of Montana is where to focus your efforts in the coming months. This includes southern Montana as well.

Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer and the crowds that come with it, so get your license, dust off the tackle box, and head to these Montana waters before school lets out.

Early April: Right now (and I mean right now) the Skwala stoneflies open the surface action on the Bitterroot and Clark Fork Rivers in NW Montana and Rock Creek in SW Montana.

April through mid-May: March Brown and Grey Drake Mayflies are big versions of the genus and make their debut each spring on the Missouri, Bitterroot and Clark Fork Rivers. It’s the season’s first large mayfly hatch. Mercurial weather usually means fishing pressure is fairly light.

Mother’s Day Mayflies: The Yellowstone River rolls through southern Montana to the border with Wyoming and the United States’ first national park. About the time we celebrate our maternal connections, mayflies pop on the surface of one of North America’s premier trout fisheries.

Community Connection:

Matador loves Montana! Check out Travel Montana, a leading Matador partner and terrific source of support in terms of food, lodging, and those all important fly fishing guides and shops.

This year’s snowmelt is pumping up Montana’s rivers right now for both fishing and paddling. If you’re interested in kayaking or floating some of the classic Big Sky runs, as well as additional information and resources for visiting Montanas’ rivers, check out our guide to Boating the Big Sky.

Photo by N. Chrystine Olson

It’s road trip season. The top tier of a state associated mainly with potatoes offers wilderness, culture, wildlife and some of the most laid back camping in the lower 48. There’s a reason why I call this corner of the world home. Come see for yourself.

Legend holds that surveyors were in an alcoholic stupor when they delineated northern Idaho from Montana. Old timers still complain Idaho was robbed of significant acreage, including the towns of Missoula, Kallispell and Butte. Looking at a map, it’s not hard to imagine a drunken error. Idaho has a very odd shape.

Like many western stories, the tale of compromised map makers is just that. Congress determined how the territories would split following natural contours along the Bitterroot Mountains, curving south to the Continental Divide. The Panhandle has a high strength to weight ratio as far as road trips go. What it lacks in width it makes up for in natural beauty and rich history all the way to the Canadian border.

Vandals, Indian Ponies, and a Classic Hotel Bar

Photo by N. Chrystine Olson

You know you’re in the northern tier of the Gem State when you set your watch back an hour to Pacific Time. U.S 95 is the primary highway running south to north towards Canada. Coming from the southern part of the state over the Snake River in Lewiston, head towards Moscow and the University of Idaho.

This is Vandal Country, so named due to the strong influx of Scandinavian farmers making the region home since the 1800’s.

Remember: the town’s name is pronounced Mos-co….with a long “o.” Locals will tell you there are no “cows” in Idaho, differentiating it from Russia’s largest city (despite what you may have seen on the drive in). Situated on the edge of the Palouse Prairie, Moscow is the home of Appaloosa horses, the preferred mounts of Indian warriors in most classic western films. This laid back college town doesn’t forget its connection to the land; grain elevators flank the city limits on each side.

A walking tour of the campus includes a lovely arboretum and botanical garden. Inexpensive motels lie between the university and downtown. Once situated for the evening, wander towards the historic Hotel Moscow for a drink in the Garden Lounge. This long established watering hole on Main Street is the best place to meet locals. Good Chinese food and a signature regional appetizer, pork and seeds, are available at the New Hong Kong Café.

After a good, cholesterol laden breakfast at The Breakfast Club (510 S. Main Street), move north past fields of winter wheat towards the Coeur d’ Alene Reservation. The non-native name for the Schitsu’umsh derives from the French, meaning Heart of the Awl, a nod by fur traders in the 18th century to the tribe’s expert trading skills.

If you are inclined for gambling and golfing, the Coeur d’Alene Casino and Raven Circle Golf Club is right off 95 south of Worley. If not, you can head on towards I- 90, heading east to Idaho Highway 97, the scenic way around the east side of Lake Coeur d’ Alene. Take the Wolf Creek Lodge exit towards St Maries.

About two miles in, Mineral Ridge Recreation Area offers a 3.3 mile loop trail where those traveling with a canine companion can stretch their legs and walk their dogs without a leash. The views from the top span over the lake, a gorgeous view any time of day, and spectacular at dawn or dusk.

Blue Highways, Secret Camping Sites, and Cycling Like a Kid

97 is a classic “blue highway,” bending with the lake’s shoreline. Hutton’s General Store is a great place to feast on wood fired pizza on the deck or to provision up for your trip. Camping awaits at Bell Bay, a jewel of a campground on the Idaho Panhandle Forest. Turn onto East Point Road, just past the fire station, following blacktop till it turns to gravel. This is an out of the way spot, taking you through green pastures, old weathered barns, and horses that will gladly canter to the fence line for an apple or carrot.

There are 15 campsites with views of the lake, hiking trails, and easy access to a swimming beach. The lower loop sites are prettiest. Best to come mid-week during the summer: “First come, first serve” no reservations taken. Tell John and Rosanne Lloyd, your campground hosts, Chrysser says “Hi” and that Beau and I will be by to see them soon. If there are clear skies, the lack of light pollution will make for lovely starlit nights around the campfire. Plan on spending a couple of days at least.

Photo by N. Chrystine Olson

After a nirvana camping experience, backtrack to 97 and continue south to the fun little town of Harrison. Rent recumbent bicycles at Pedal Pushers for a spin down the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes. This Rails to Trails stretch, once an EPA Super Fund site, was converted by the Northern Pacific Railroad and Bunker Hill Mining Company for the bicycling set.

Take a right on the path towards Chatcolet Bridge and riparian areas flush with nesting ospreys, yellow warblers, and cinnamon teals. In the early part of summer you may see baby grebes tucked on their mama’s back for a piggyback swim along the Chain Lakes. Binoculars come in handy. Riding one of these laid back cycles is the closest thing to being a ten year old riding your Schwinn Spider bike on a summer day.

Harrison is a full service community of about 500 souls. The Denise Oliver Gallery features local artists: the hand carved wooden bowls by Larry Ritter are affordable, elegant and practical, a perfect souvenir to bring back home. One Shot Charlies is a geographically desirable watering hole for a well deserved post-ride beer. For those with an icy sweet tooth, opt for an ice cream cone at the Creamery. Accommodation options include everything from a bed and breakfast or a motel, to coveted camping spots on the shore by the marina.

Coeur d’Alene, Silent Movies, and Ancient Cedars

Soaked in the small town Panhandle charm, continue moving on 97. At the junction with Route 3, loop back on the Interstate and head west to the burgeoning city of Coeur d’Alene. The town hops in the summer; the high rise construction surrounding Coeur d’Alene Resort testifies to the new found popularity CDA holds for the well-to-do. No matter; there’s plenty to do for those without deep pockets.

Motels book up early, so reservations might be a good idea. I am more than happy to put up anyone during their stay. Couch and loft available on Rathdrum Creek, a 20 minute drive from town. Save your cash for a flight around the lake, launching and landing on the water with a WWII pilot.

For the more terrestrial minded, hike up Tubb”s Hill to the left of the resort, or for the aquatically inclined, rent a sea kayak on the dock. Afterwards, munch on classic burgers at Hudson’s, a CDA institution since 1927.

Coeur D’Alene is walking and cycling friendly, and there are loads of shops, art galleries, and restaurants clustered together on Sherman Avenue. There’s also the local Coeur d’Alene Brewing Company, a block off downtown on 209 E. Lakeside Ave. Quaff, a huckleberry ale, is a wonderfully thirst quenching seasonal brew. Wednesday evenings in the summer, a good chunk of downtown gives way to the Kootenai County Farmer’s Market.

Art Walks happen the first Friday of every month, a relaxing way to enjoy some of the excellent wines produced in eastern Washington and hob knob with the painters and sculptors whose work is on display.

With your “city fix” satisfied for a day or three, work your way from I-90 to State Highway 41 on into northern Idaho’s forests and more freshwater lakes. Don’t forget an out-of state fishing license, available at most local stores in Priest River. Highway 57 directs you to Priest and Upper Priest Lakes.

Several state run camping grounds along the west side are available, all taking reservations online. These are prime locales for camping, fishing, canoeing, and if your timing is right, huckleberries. If you motor along the east side of the lake, don’t miss Lion’s Head, where silent film star and pioneer movie producer Nell Shipman created wildlife themed movies in the 1920’s. This is also the heart of grizzly country, so take proper precautions if leaving food behind in camp for any day trips. You can be ticketed by an State of Idaho park ranger if you don’t.

Finally, you can’t leave the Panhandle without exploring the Roosevelt Grove of Ancient Cedars. Some of the trees are over 3000 years old. Oh, the stories those weathered branches could tell– and probably do– when the wind is just right.

In a few short miles outside the cedar grove, Washington State awaits, as does Route 1, heading into Canada.

There is so much to see in northern Idaho. We had record breaking snowfall this winter, so rivers are running strong and the rapids wild and western. For more Idaho trip planning resources, visit www.visitidaho.org.