Bozeman Area Vacation

[hobbes]

This is probably old news and maybe everyone is doing it now, but be aware that you will be required to wear a mask to go in anywhere. You can remove it once you sit down to eat.

I took my wife to Bozeman a few weeks ago.
Bozeman's downtown shopping is nothing special (at least my wife doesn't think so). Its mostly overpriced little shops crammed with college kids. However, if you aren't from MT you'll probably have a different experience.

The Western looks to have a good breakfast but both times I've tried the wait was just too long. I'm a sucker for a good breakfast at a small diner, so I'll try again. The Storm Castle Cafe near the college is supposed to be really good breakfast but the wait was longer there. We ate at the Nova a couple years ago when we couldn't get into either of the other two, it was nothing special but wasn't bad either.

 

[ewade07]

This is probably old news and maybe everyone is doing it now, but be aware that you will be required to wear a mask to go in anywhere. You can remove it once you sit down to eat.

I took my wife to Bozeman a few weeks ago.
Bozeman's downtown shopping is nothing special (at least my wife doesn't think so). Its mostly overpriced little shops crammed with college kids. However, if you aren't from MT you'll probably have a different experience.

The Western looks to have a good breakfast but both times I've tried the wait was just too long. I'm a sucker for a good breakfast at a small diner, so I'll try again. The Storm Castle Cafe near the college is supposed to be really good breakfast but the wait was longer there. We ate at the Nova a couple years ago when we couldn't get into either of the other two, it was nothing special but wasn't bad either.

Welcome to Bozeman, where everyone and their brother and his cousin go out to eat. The earlier you go the better. Back when i was in college at MSU I would go to the Storm Castle and have the dude in back whip me up custom 12 egg omelettes. I don't think he could ever figure out how i could put one of those down with toast and hasbrowns to boot.

 

[THBZN]

Western Cafe, yep.
Bagel Works if you want something tasty to go for breakfast.
Breweries -- all have something good and we have plenty of them....
Check out Vargos or Country Bookshelf (both on Main) if you like local bookstores with selections you won't find at some big box store. Vargos has a really cool out of print and hard to find hunting section that is pretty impressive.

You may want to bring some fishing gear; NR licenses are fairly inexpensive, and you can fish a lot of places in a one hour drive (Hyalite Creek, Gallatin, Madison, Yellowstone, Boulder, etc.) and it is a great way to see some cool country. As others have said, a drive to YNP puts you right on the Gallatin, so fishing is pretty straightforward.

Lodging -- Lark, AIRBNB, etc. are all good options. Pricey lodging in Bozeman, so book it now.

I would encourage a few beers at the Filling Station too....

 

[2ski]

The grizzly killer for breakfast at Maintreet overeasy is all you need. Screw the cateye or western. Or the coffee pot bakery in four corners. Jam! is another you could do breakfast or lunch.

Accommodations, Element is nice and new in downtown. Or the Lark, as mentioned.

Bars-you can't fit in in bozeman if you havent been to the Molly, Cats Paw, R Bar or Crystal. But I would choose Copper, the whiskey bar.

Breweries-MAP is best. Then Mountains Walking. Next tier would be Bozone, Outlaw and Bridger. Shine is the best taproom. And it has the Bozeman staple, LA Parilla(LA PA if you want to sound cool) I like Ale Works for food and beer, but on sheer beer selection its Shine. Travis is a good dude that owns it. There's a few breweries I wouldn't bother with. Nordic. Bunkhouse. And the new one downtown but I can't remember the name.

Food. So many good places. Open Range is good. Feast and Blackbird are two places I havent been but are supposed to be good. Bar 3 for BBQ. The Sacajawea in Three Forks. The Willow Creek Cafe in Willow Creek for ribs made with a mustard sauce. I'll stop naming place because there are a ton of good places. DM when you're getting close to that time and ill shoot you my number and you can get more in depth.

Hiking. Beehive basin in big sky ends at a mountain tain lake and big open bowl. Ousel falls in big sky is easy but ends at a nice falls. In Bozeman, the M is right there. Big M on the side of the mountain for Montana State university. Most people turn around at the M. A good hike would be to go all the way to Mt Baldy. North cottonwood. South cottonwood. Middle cottonwood. Sacajawea peak. Drinking horse is right across from the M. Literally. Sypes Canyon is a good one and can take you all the way to Baldy. You can walk around Headwaters state park, where the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin Rivers combine to start the Missouri. Lewis and Clark Caverns has hiking and tours of the Caverns. When you get here, buy the hikes around bozeman book. Only $12ish and will give you hikes around here, Livingston, Big Sky and into and around YNP. There's a crazy amount of trails here.