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| Endless Skies and Open Roads |
| Southwest Montana, with its western-modern towns and wide valleys, might be the country's best fall road trip. |
| By David Hanson |
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| photography: Andrew Geiger |
The road goes on forever in the Gallatin Valley, which might look familiar—Robert Redford put the Gallatin River on the big screen in the 1992 film A River Runs Through It.
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Yes, it's bigger, but that's not why Montana is better. Rarely have I met someone without a fascination for this state. For some it's the "big sky" country where seemingly endless horizons make massive mountain ranges look like backyard foothills. For others, it's the crystal-clear rivers coursing through vast valleys, deep canyons, and, in October, parades of vibrant yellow cottonwood trees. Some folks just remember the days, now gone, of highway driving sans speed limit. All in all, the possibility of so much open land, the sublime scenery, and a bit of frontier lawlessness make a Montana road trip the great American escape. But we're not on a wagon train or in a BMW blasting 105 m.p.h. with the radar detector tucked away. We're Cottage Living-cruising, so we want the best Montana has to offer with a touch of down-home, a dollop of surprise, and a handful of relaxing places to kick back in this land of plenty.
photography: Andrew Geiger
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Enter Bozeman. Located at the midpoint between two of Montana's most stunning valleys—Paradise Valley and the Gallatin Valley—Bozeman is the cleaned-up ski bum of Montana towns. Walk down Main Street, with its facade of western-style shops and restaurants, and notice the fit, beautifully unkempt people sipping lattes with fit, beautifully unkempt dogs at their feet, or greet the second homers in designer cowboy hats and boots. Bozeman has recently gained a reputation as being a little more California than Montana, an unsurprising evolution in a place so well situated. But beneath the new sheen, in places like the popular and practical store Corral West Ranchwear, the simple, no-frills Montana lifestyle remains, solid as the Bridger and Gallatin mountains rising around the town.I stick around Bozeman for a day enjoying this mix of new and old, but soon I must get out and explore. I choose the Gallatin Valley first, heading south through 90 miles of river-cooled golden grasses hemmed in by snow-capped mountains that run smack into touristy West Yellowstone. I hang a left, pay a park fee, and pass some geysers, hot springs, elk, buffalo, grizzlies (not really, they're a rare sight), and lines of RVs filming it all. Then it's back north through Paradise Valley. |
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