Western Trip - Montana Owners Club

BandJ · 05-13-2005, 01:50 AM

We are taking a 7 week trip beginning August 10. Our planned route is leaving from Kentucky, going north through Indiania, Illinois, Iowa,South Dakota, Montana and ending up at Yellowstone.

After a stay at yellowstone, we will head to Utah, Colorado, Texas, Louisina and back home to Kentucky.

I would appreciate any information on MUST SEE places, Sites, Campgrounds, etc.

Thank you

sreigle · 05-13-2005, 04:43 AM

Have a great trip! There are many, many, many places where you could spend much of that seven weeks. If you want, click the Our RV Travels link in my signature and skim through the index to get any ideas you want. We've not been to all the places you are going (yet) but have been in some of them.

Montana Sky · 05-13-2005, 10:28 PM

BandJ,
Iowa has some really neat places to stop like Amana. Once into SD you could stop at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, also hit Al's Oasis in Chamberlain as our cross the Missouri River. Al's has a nice gas station and burger king with huge parking lot. Makes a good stop for lunch. Of course there is the Famous Wall Drug that everyone must stop at in Wall. =) Rapid City is a must stay for some time spent in the Black Hills. Private message me for my suggestions on that area. Once into Wyoming you have Devils Tower right outside of Moorcroft. Sheridan has a great fuel stop at the Port of Entry exit. It is either a Mobil or Exxon. Heading up into Montana you have Little Bighorn Battlefield which is half way between Sheridan, Wy and Billings MT. If you are going farther west in Montana Bozemann is a pretty town, and Missoula is nice as well if you might be thinking of heading into Glacier National Park. These are just a few of the many great places along the way. Sorry to be so long winded I am pretty sure this is one of my most favorite routes to take heading West to East and back. Enjoy the journey.

sreigle · 05-14-2005, 02:13 AM

Good list, MontanaSky. If I may add one, the Badlands National Park is just off I-90, not far from Wall. We just spent a few hours there but it didn't take long. We took a couple of the shorter hikes but you can see the Badlands in a couple of hours if you're in a hurry. Take more time if you want to do some exploring.

For the Custer Battlefield Site, we stayed at Hardin KOA, a couple miles north of Hardin, MT. There's some parks closer to the battlefield, too. If you're in to history from that period, the Custer Battlefield is quite an experience, or was for us anyhow.

Pompey's Pillar National Monument is northwest of Hardin from 35 to 55 miles, depending on your route, on I-94. It's a place visited by Lewis and Clark and even has an inscription of one of their names.

From a website: "A boardwalk leads to Capt. Clark's signature and to the top of the pillar. Trails lead visitors past a replica of Captain Clark's canoes and to a view of the 670 mile-long Yellowstone River."

Montana_1985 · 05-14-2005, 02:22 AM

WE agree!! Go thru the Custer State Park...i've never seen buffalo and mountain goats all in one hour!!(and all the other critters in the park!)
Go to Moab, Utah on your travel..Arches NP is there, as well as some other beautiful areas... Moab is 30 mi. S of I15 (I90?)...can't remember off the top of my head(it's too early in the AM right now)...

Happy trails!!!!!!

HamRad · 05-14-2005, 03:11 AM

It looks like everyone has already listed all the "MUST SEE" spots.... or at least many of them. Some we did and some we missed. We'll get them the next time..... For your visit to the Custer Battlefield area... We stayed at a great park. It's relatively new. The name is 7th Ranch. It is just south of the monument. You can actually see the monument area on the horizon from the park. The park is a bit weird to get to... but worth the effort. If you're traveling with horses it even has a corral for your use. Needless to say we'll stay there again.

The problem with all these places is that you need days, weeks and in some cases months to really do them justice. They are so huge and so varied.

Yellowstone is a destination in and of itself. I think I could spend years there. As pretty as it is in winter I'd have to move south. :-) You have set yourself a very large agenda..... Good luck and enjoy.

HamRad

awaywego · 05-14-2005, 02:15 PM

BandJ,
As everyone have already mentioned, you could spend weeks in just about any of these areas.
These are some photos we took when we were out that was and you may find some interesting for the areas you have mentioned.

http://community.webshots.com/user/awaywego

Hope you have a safe and enjoyable trip.

sreigle · 05-14-2005, 03:05 PM

Wow, lots of great pictures there, awaywego! I've saved the link to your site as I need more time to peruse them all. Thanks for the link.

awaywego · 05-14-2005, 03:28 PM

Thanks Steve,
1750 + or- a few.
I tried to put it on signature like you have yours but the site wouldn"t let me.
Never was a computer whiz.

Montana Sky · 05-14-2005, 08:11 PM

Steve,
Thanks for remembering the Badlands. I grew up in Rapid City before moving to Spokane, WA almost 11 years ago. Have had many great hiking/biking trips through the Black Hills and the Badlands. Oh the memories of that area still brings such a smile to my face. I guess you could say that is why I end up in Rapid City at least 2-3 times a year.

sreigle · 05-15-2005, 04:34 AM

Haven't tried or really seen the park HamRad mentioned but will check it out next time we're out that way. The reason we went with the Hardin KOA even though I'm usually not a fan of KOA parks is that when I called, the owner said "oh, you want to stay a week? I guess if you want to stay that long it'll be $100." That was for full hookups and the sites were decently spaced and the park was not very busy. So we jumped on that one. The $100 was total cost.

I think we alluded to the Black Hills area when Rapid City and Custer State Park were mentioned. We spent 11 nights in the area (at Hill City, in the middle of the Black Hills) and that was not enough. A few things in the area -- Custer State Park (I think we did the nature/wildlife auto tour seven or eight times-buffalo, wild burros making smudges on your windows, antelope, mountain goats, etc.), Needles Highway (eye of the needle), Spearfish Canyon drive, Deadwood (be sure to go up the hill to the cemetery and see the graves of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane), Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument (more below),

If you happen to be in the Black Hills the first FULL weekend in June, that's the one and only time each year you can actually trek up onto the arm of the monument. The cost, if I recall, is $3 and 3 cans of food. It's a Volksmarch. The roundtrip hike is 10km, or 6.2 miles, taken at your own pace. Well worth the hike.
Crazy Horse Postcard, page 1
Crazy Horse Postcard, page 2

If you want to see some pictures of the area, click on Our RV Travels below, then on 2004 Postcards, then scroll down until you see the Black Hills postcards. Those postcards are dated July, although we were actually there in late May and early June.

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