Montana suggestions?

[mshea]

I've never toured Montana. Thinking of July for a two to three week round trip, mostly off the beaten path with a 2WD, maybe 4WD if I can find a rental. Glacier NP won't be on the itinerary. I'd be flying in and I'm wondering what city to use as a base. I'll occasionally stay in hotels/motels, but I'll ship ahead camping gear as well. I'll certainly shoot the vast vistas, but I'm also attracted to abandoned and dilapidated structures of all sorts. Anyone have suggestions for any or all of the above?

Thanks,
Merrill

[Peter McLennan]

Beartooth Pass. MT 212.  "The most beautiful road in America" At the south end of the pass, continue down to Cody, WY where there are superb museums of the west. Then, come back over the pass again. Alternatively, turn W at the south end of the pass and loop around the north edge of Yellowstone NP to Gardiner, MT.

Anywhere along the north slope of the Absarokas is lovely.   

The Roscoe Steak House.  Roscoe, MT.  A half hour west of Red Lodge, MT.

Lewis and Clark Caverns  (State Park)  Near Whitehall, MT

Bannack State Park, a half hour west of Dillon, MT.  Superb old ghost town.  Two dozen buildings.

[nokk]

i'll second beartooth pass.  beautiful roadway.  livingston, mt is a great starting point for that drive.  it's a cool old town with lots of neon lights on the main drag.  bozeman is another cool town (about an hour west of livingston).  there's some great roads around that area.  us 89 and us 191 heading from these two towns to yellowstone are worth the trip, even if you don't plan on exploring yellowstone.

bannack state park is worth the trip.  quite a few of the buildings are open for exploration.

garnet is another good ghost town, but it was harder to access than bannack.

us 2 is long ride, but very pretty and has some great old buildings.  i shot a beautiful old church up there about 2 years before it fell down.  it also goes along the southern part of glacier national park without making you get on going to the sun rd or use a national park pass.

[mshea]

We were planning on two weeks but cut our trip short by a week. If you're thinking of heading that way, especially with grand scenics in mind, think again. It's so hazy from the CA and OR fires that mountains are nothing but grey-blue ghosts in the distance. Oh well...