Beautiful Bozeman

Contributed by Kristin Stoneman, The Hive Women Overland Park

My husband and I recently spent a long July weekend in Bozeman, Montana. A first-time destination for us and one I would highly recommend if you want to get outdoors but also need to relax and enjoy a little downtime with the backdrop of mountains. The trip was a bit spontaneous and inspired by my love for the beautiful scenery I admired while watching the acclaimed Yellowstone television series. I promise it wasn’t just for Kevin Costner!

Flashback to the day I received an email from Southwest Airlines saying “Here’s the details for your upcoming trip to Bozeman, MT” with a note from my husband saying – “I booked us flights for July – we’ve never been - find a nice place to stay”!

He and I make a great team when it comes to planning travel adventures. He flies for business and almost exclusively on Southwest Airlines, so we’ve had a companion pass for many years. I love looking for accommodation options thru VRBO or other property sites that meet our getaway needs, but often we use his IHG points from travel as well. For this Montana getaway all three sources delivered.

Southwest Airlines offers an easy flight to Bozeman’s quaint airport through a connection in Denver. The airport is very easy to navigate with rental cars on site and is just 15 minutes from Downtown Bozeman and only 15 minutes from where we stayed outside Bozeman as well.

We selected a beautiful little cabin at Ross Creek Cabins that sat in a valley with mountains on each side. It was amazing and provided everything we needed for two days while we explored the area. The studio cabin we stayed in had a king size bed, full kitchen, full bath and had access to a fire pit, grill, and hot tub. Our mornings and evenings were spent catching the stunning sunrise and sunsets.

Our final day of the trip we checked in to the Kipton Armory Hotel in the heart of downtown Bozeman. Their rooftop bar and pool is a must visit with the bar open to non-guests. This location allowed us to walk everywhere in Bozeman and enjoy the great boutiques, gift shops, breweries and restaurants. My husband was intrigued by a meat vending machine we saw while I grabbed some fabulous soaps made locally.

Bozeman claims to have 300 days of sunshine each year and it delivered plenty this trip! We chose a summer getaway as we are not snow skiers but Montana has many things to do in winter with their beautiful ski resorts. Hiking and zip-lining were our chosen summer outdoor adventures.

The Palisades Falls hike was our favorite with a paved trail that was an easy hike to the beautiful waterfall at the top. The two-lane road getting there was a bit curvy but took us through some great mountain passes along the river where we saw beautiful camp sites for those who preferred a little more true outdoor adventure than our fully stocked cabin back in the valley. This hiking destination also took us by Montana’s Hyalite Reservoir where we saw locals and tourists kayaking and paddle-boarding.

Zip-lining proved to be a bit more heart-pumping! My husband and I had been zip-lining before and booked a two hour zip-line adventure from Yellowstone Zipline. The tour included several rope bridges and ladders and some very tall and very skinny platforms. At one point we looked at each other thinking “We’re getting too old for this!” but the guides were top-notch and we were glad once we were back on land that we did it. Our final zip that afternoon was across the Gallatin River where many of the scenes from the movie “A River Runs Thru It” were filmed south of Bozeman. Next time I see Brad Pitt fly fishing in that movie I’ll have a great memory to reflect on! We believed our choice to zip-line would be the easier adventure over white water rafting but we both agreed we’d do rafting next time as heights are no longer our thing.

The hike we chose the next morning at Drinking Horse Mountain Trail also proved to be a bit tough. We started out strong but it was steep and again we thought we were in better shape than what the trail demanded. But would we do it again? Absolutely! The views were just incredible and they had several benches for us old timers...uhmm...middle-stage-in-life folks to rest on throughout the hike.

The food was top notch in and around Bozeman. We made a commitment to try local, non-chain restaurants and were not disappointed. We loved catching a hearty breakfast on mornings before shopping in downtown Bozeman or heading out on a hike. We grabbed a late lunch one day at the Jump on our way to zip-lining and wished we could have come back for their live music and line dance lessons they offer in the evenings.

Things we missed: With only a three-day stay we chose not to drive farther south to Big Sky Resort or into Yellowstone National Park but they were both within 90 minutes from Bozeman and would have been great to visit and explore if we had more time. We did talk to many couples and families who adventured into Yellowstone and saw some wonderful wildlife. One gent mentioned he was a little worried the Bison were going to surround his car and was glad he had a rental.

I’d highly recommend Bozeman for a quick summer getaway. It offered us a fantastic combination of relaxation, great food and outdoor adventure. Something we both needed and loved experiencing together with the mountains as our backdrop – breathing in that clean fresh air. Yes. It was truly as beautiful as the pictures.

---

Highly recommend the following in the Bozeman area:

Places to Stay

Ross Creek Cabins Kipton Armory Hotel

Hikes and Adventures

Drinking Horse Mountain Trail Palisades Falls Yellowstone Zipline

Restaurants

Feed Cafe Revelry the Jump